The Whites 2024/25 pre-season schedule…
Pre-season kicks off with a flurry of away games as we head to Sevenoaks and Margate, before hosting Ramsgate at Crabble, then on the road again to Whitstable.
We then welcome Welling, Tonbridge Angels and Ashford to the Megger Community Stadium before the start of the 24/25 campaign.
The schedule:
Saturday 6 July, 3pm – Sevenoaks FC (A)
Tuesday 9 July, 7.45pm – Margate FC (A)
Saturday 13 July, 12pm – Ramsgate FC (H)
Tuesday 16 July, 7.45pm – Whitstable Town (A)
Saturday 20 July, 3pm – Welling United (H)
Saturday 27 July, 3pm – Tonbridge Angels (H)
Saturday 3 August, 3pm – Ashford United (H)
Home pre-season games will be priced at £8 for adults, £6 for concessions, U11s FREE with a paying adult, free entry for 24/25 Season Ticket Holders. There is still time to purchase your season ticket with our early bird discount, you can order your 2024/25 season ticket from reception at Crabble, online at our club shop, or download an application form by clicking here.
Archives: News
Matty Holness Signs for 24/25
Dover Athletic Football Club are delighted to announce that defender Matty Holness has signed his first contract and will remain at the Megger Community Stadium for the 2024/25 season.
Matty is a product of the Dover Athletic Academy and made his first team debut against Yeovil on the final day of the 23/24 campaign. Matty spent most of the season on loan at Erith & Belvedere FC and was man of the match in our Kent Senior Cup game against Beckenham.
Academy Boss and First Team Assistant Mike Sandmann has said:
Matty has progressed extremely well during his time at the Academy. He is a front foot defender, quick and aggressive and will only continue to improve. I am really looking forward to seeing how he progresses over the coming season
Mike Sandmann
Matty is the second player to put pen to paper at Dover for next season, signing a one year deal.
Manager Jake Leberl has said:
Matty trained brilliantly with us all of last season and really stood out, he has very good attributes with a great mentality and I am looking forward to seeing him develop & progress
Jake Leberl
George Nikaj Signs for 24/25
Dover Athletic Football Club are delighted to announce that forward George Nikaj has agreed terms to remain at the Megger Community Stadium for the 2024/25 season.
George is a product of the Dover Athletic Academy and made his first team debut during the 21/22 season in the National League. George has since made 51 National League South appearances in the last two campaigns and was named Away Player of the Season 23/24.
George is the first player to put pen to paper at Dover for next season, and the first piece of the puzzle for Jake and Mike’s side as they build for the new season.
Jake has said “We are delighted to have retained George, who has signed a one year contract on his 21st birthday. George has had offers from teams in higher divisions but he has chosen to stay loyal to the club and sees it as the best place for his development and to achieve his own ambitions. I look forward to seeing what he can deliver in the upcoming campaign”
Crust the Process
We are delighted to announce plans for a new pizza and beer outlet that will open at the Megger Community Stadium next season, and we would like you, the supporters, to decide the name!
The new outlet will be in place of the current Town End Tea Hut, and we anticipate beers being allowed on the terraces (subject to a change in our licensing). We are running a competition for supporters to send us ideas to name the new outlet, with the prize for the winner being a block-of-5 ticket and a free pizza at all of those five games attended.
Please use the form below to submit your suggestion and we look forward to updating you with a name and further progress soon!
2023/24 Retained List
Dover Athletic can confirm our retained list following the conclusion of the 2023/24 season:
The following players have options taken up by the club:
Archie Hatcher
Henry Young
The following players have been offered new contracts & received retained letters under the Bosman Ruling:
George Wilkinson
Luke Baptiste
George Nikaj
Roman Charles-Cook
The following players are in talks with the club, and we will update supporters throughout the close season as to the outcome of these negotiations:
John Oyenuga
Freddie Oliver
Jacob Mensah
Jaiden Drakes-Thomas
Bailey Akehurst
Nick Dembele
Matty Holness
The following player was offered a contract but have rejected to explore options elsewhere:
Charlie Naylor
The following players have been invited back for preseason:
Dontai Stewart
Kai Neil-Gray
Kai Garrett
The following loan players have returned to their parent club and we are grateful for the excellent service they gave in their time at DAFC. We also extend our thanks to parent clubs Watford and Reading:
Scott Holding
Matthew Rowley
And finally, the following contracts expire this summer and they have not been offered renewed playing terms:
Iffy Allen
We are grateful to all departing players for their contributions this season.
Hatcher invited to Blackburn trial
We can confirm that academy player Archie Hatcher is spending the next two weeks on trial with Championship side Blackburn Rovers!
The Dover Academy player made his way into the first team last season, he combines his football development whilst continuing his studies at The Abbey School.
Academy Boss Mike Sandmann has said
“We would like to wish Archie good luck as he starts his two week trial with Blackburn. It goes to show the strength of our young players that are coming through that professional clubs are taking notice, as a club we are proud to be giving them the opportunity”
Good luck Archie!
Club Statement: Citadel Partnership
Dover Athletic Community Trust in conjunction with Dover Athletic FC are delighted to announce that agreement has been reached with the Dover Citadel for the Trust to exclusively use the multisport artificial surface at the Citadel site for the next three years with an option to extend for a further two years,
The potential to extend the agreement to include the Sports Hall and Gym facilities exists subject to demand.
The all-weather pitch will become the centre of community activities which will extend beyond just football activities in conjunction with our grass pitch facilities.
We will soon make further announcements on pitch availability.
Dover Chairman Jim Parmenter said” I have been talking with David de Min, Graham Martin and Kim de Min for several weeks now, they are extremely enthusiastic about being involved in the community and helping Dover Athletic Community Trust and Megger achieve as much as possible within the community.
They have also become very interested in helping the football Club and I hope that this announcement is the start of a long and beneficial relationship.
I would like to thank David, Graham, Kim and Nigel for their positive approach during our discussions.
David de Min CEO and founder of the Citadel Dover commented.
“It’s a pleasure and an honour to be a proud sponsor of Dover Athletic and to assist with their community projects.
What Jim and Sally have achieved for the Dover Community is inspirational. I knew it was a good match when I walked in with one of my partners Graham Martin, an ex Crystal Palace stalwart and supporter and saw a Crystal Palace shirt signed by Ian Wright ( from the 2015 FA cup match) proudly displayed on the wall!!
I am very excited for the future and how we can collectively make #Destination Dover”
Ticket Prices to drop
We’re dropping ticket prices for the 2024/25 season with an adult able to watch Whites from as little as £11 per game.
We’ve listened to the fans and have done our very best to come up with ticket pricing, that will balance both the need to provide value to our loyal supporters, whilst ensuring the club can drive towards financial sustainability, as we rebuild our club with the community at its heart.
With all revenue from ticket sales going directly to the cost of running the club and our first team, it is an important income stream that enables our fans to directly impact the money available to support Jake in building a competitive team, thus success on the pitch.
Season Tickets
As always our season tickets are the most cost effective way to watch Whites play at home. Our Early bird offer runs from May until the end of June and an adult will be able to watch for as little as £11 per match.
We’ve heard you – paying a lump sum for season tickets makes them less accessible for some fans and so this year we are happy to announce that we have a facility to split the payment across 2 months (May and Jun) when purchasing online.
You’ll be able to order or renew your season ticket at our club shop (dafcdirect.com) very soon.
As always our season tickets also include pre-season friendlies.
Early Bird | Full Price | |
Adult | £231 | £294 |
Concessions – O60 | £210 | £273 |
Concessions – U18 | – | £50 |
Under 11 | FREE with Adult | FREE with Adult |
Block-of-5
Our block of 5 tickets are back again this season, by popular demand. An option for fans that can’t make every game, but are looking for a saving through a multi-buy offer.
Adult | £67 |
Concession | £62 |
On the gate
As announced recently, to improve supporter experience and to reduce cash handling and banking costs, we will move to a cashless setup at Crabble. We will accept cards on all turnstiles, but don’t worry, if you have a need to use cash, we’ll be able to take payment at the club reception. We will also soon offer ‘game vouchers’ online, through our clubshop to allow payment in advance.
Our on-the-day pricing has been lowered as far as possible, but we hope that with the more attractive pricing and accessible offers, that fans will opt for an upfront commitment, whether that be a season ticket or Block-of-5.
Adult | £15 |
Concession – O60 | £14 |
Concession – U18 | £9 |
Under 11 | FREE |
We want to thank you all for, not only your support, but also your important input into our pricing for next season. We know that we will not be able to please everyone, but hope that by listening to the fans, providing cheaper and more accessible ticketing pricing, and improving purchasing options, you’ll get onboard and support Jake and the team (both on and off the pitch) – to re-build our club with the community at it’s heart.
We will have further updates on Hospitality packages and the extra value we will provide coming very soon.
Up the Whites!
Ground Plans for Next Season
Dover Athletic have announced changes to operational arrangements at the Megger Community Stadium for next season.
Chairman Jim Parmenter said, “We have listened carefully to suggestions and input from supporters as well as reviewing our operation with a view to modernisation.
Our aim is to improve supporter experience by reducing queues and waiting time and with the majority now wishing to use cards for payment making that process easier and quicker.”
All our turnstiles and catering outlets will be fitted with fast card readers and the bars with new card reading tills, the Stadium will become cashless (card only) in the turnstiles although a cash facility will be retained at reception for use by anyone who is genuinely struggling to pay by card for entry. Supporters will also be able to purchase programmes at the turnstile with one simple payment.
The turnstile for season ticket holders will become season tickets only in order to reduce queues there, which I know has caused some concern amongst our season ticket holders this season.
To improve hygiene and reduce queues our catering outlets will be card only as will the club shop and the bar.
The 50/50 draw will remain a cash payment and initially it will remain possible to purchase a programme using cash .
We sincerely hope that supporters will work with on these initiatives, and we will welcome feedback so that we can further improve matchday experience for our supporters.
Community Trust Update
As we have come to the end of the football season, although the results on the pitch may not have been what we all wanted, off the pitch we have been taking the small steps towards making Dover Athletic a more inclusive community club.
From quiz nights to raffles, community days to sponsoring books, launching a provision for girls’ football to matchday visits from local grassroots teams, creating a sensory room to hosting the Dover School Games Year 1 & 2 football tournament, donating various raffle prizes to other local causes and charities to craft fairs, attending community days to walking football and plenty more.
None of these things could have been achieved without the generous support from our club sponsor Megger, along with the amazing support from the fans and volunteers involved with each and every one of these activities. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for getting behind the Community Trust and the projects we are trying to make a success and I look forward to continuing building our community links with you all through the close season and into next season.
Vikki