It’s the first Kent derby of the season against our closest rivals.

Dover Athletic

After a tight opening half-hour, Jake Leberl’s men took charge with an 8-0 foray against Potters Bar Town. It was the perfect way to start the season and will have given the boys confidence going into a huge home clash on Tuesday night against our local rivals Folkestone.

Henry Young (knee) and Kieron Agbebi remain unavailable with injury. We anticipate that Alfie Matthews international clearance will have come back ready for Tuesday night.

From the Manager

“We are going into the first home game of the season, a new era. Like I keep saying, I want the people that have stayed away to give these boys a chance. Come and have a look. The fans at Potters Bar were fantastic. But people have got to be patient, as we go there’s going to be bumps in the road. You know the famous old saying ‘never too high, never too low’. We’re enjoying Saturday’s win and really look forward to focusing on the big derby game on Tuesday night.”

Match Sponsor

Tuesday’s Match Sponsor is London-based private household recruitment company Exclusive Household Staff (EHS), founded by Dover-born John Pettman who has been a lifelong Dover Athletic fan spanning more than 30 years. John also owns the Exclusive Butler School (EBS) which provides Butler Training globally to the world’s elite. Over the past few seasons John has provided either a professional EHS Butler or an EBS Trainee Butler at each home game to host the VIP lounge and look after visiting owners and Directors. Having supported the club for three decades, his favourite players over the years have been (Sir) David Leworthy, Ricky Reina, and Ricky Miller for their attacking threat, as well as fond memories of Jason Bartlett, Lee Shearer, Brian Horne, and Olly Shultz for their defensive prowess!

Kit

Dover Athletic will line up in our white home shirt with black shorts, with Mitch Walker in the pink keepers strip. Folkestone will play in away kit of Red and White.

The Opposition

Folkestone’s opening game saw a 1-1 draw against Carshalton. Both goals came in the first 15 minutes as Dominic Vose’s opener for Carshalton was cancelled out by Evans Kouassi after Jamie Mascoll’s effort came back off the crossbar.

Manager, Andy Drury joined Folkestone Invicta for the first time as a player in January 2022 for a 2-month spell before taking up a managerial post at Whitstable Town. He returned to Invicta as a player-coach under joint managers Micheal Everitt and Roland Edge in the summer of 2023 before taking over as manager in December.

Former Dover players in the Folkestone squad include experienced fullback Chris Sessegnon (brother of Steven and Ryan Sessegnon) who joined the Whites in 2012 before moving to Ebsfleet the following season. Joel Odeniran, a Dover Academy graduate who featured once for the Whites in our Kent Senior Cup game against Beckenham Town last season. Defender Peter Ojemen who made 21 appearances in a white shirt last season. You may also recognise their left back Jamie Mascoll who trialed for us in preseason.

The Venue

We look forward to welcoming our friends over the hill to the Megger Community Stadium. More information on getting to the ground can be found here: https://doverathletic.com/visit-crabble/

Megger Community Stadium. Crabble Athletic Ground, Lewisham Road, Dover, Kent, CT17 0JB.

Admission  

Adults: £15
Concessions: £14
U18: £9
U11: FREE with a paying adult

We now only accept card on the gate and operate a cashless ground.

It was a warm afternoon in Kings Langley as Dover thrashed Potters Bar Town 0-8 in the season opener, putting the Whites at the top of the table for the first match week! 

The game started evenly, with Potters Bar arguably having the best chance of the first 20 minutes, as they got in behind and forced Walker into a fantastic stop to his left. The hosts also had other chances in the first half to go a goal up but did not convert. Dover looked nervous for the first 25 minutes and were struggling a bit to find their feet. 

However, the first goal did eventually come and it went the way of Dover. A lovely clipped ball from Stewart was nodded home at the back post by George Nikaj, who carried on his scoring run from preseason into this opening game. 

Nikaj then set up the second not long after, assisting Baptiste with a nice ball across the box for the Dover man to jab home for goal number two. 

The scoring for the first half was nowhere near finished, as another lovely ball came in from the left which landed at the feet of Soares Junior, who rifled his effort into the top left corner to make it 0-3 to the Whites. 

One more goal was to follow for Dover, with Nikaj pouncing on a short back pass from the centre half. Our number 10 rounded the goalkeeper and slotted home his second and Dover’s fourth before half time. The game was fully in the control of Jake Leberl’s men. 

The second half started just how the first ended, with Dover dominating the play. Chances were coming for the away side, mainly from wide positions with Sesay and Stewart being the most dangerous on the left with their excellent deliveries.

It wasn’t until the 65th minute that Dover added a fifth. A good effort by substitute Drakes-Thomas was parried straight into the path of Nikaj, who tapped in his hattrick with ease. Soon after, Sesay delivered a fantastic cross into the box which was headed out only as far as Pont, who smashed in number 6 for the Whites. 

Dover weren’t finished there either. Goal number 7 came from a well delivered corner and it was Tennent who found himself free in the box to head home for his first goal for the club. 

Drakes-Thomas was the last of the scorers in Hertfordshire, his goal coming in the 89th minute and what a goal it was. Some nice footwork in the box allowed him some extra space and he finished past the goalkeeper on his weaker right foot to seal a memorable victory for Dover. 

It was a record equalling win for the Whites in the season opener, but a tough derby against local rivals Folkestone Invicta awaits us all on Tuesday night, with Jake Leberl’s men looking to make it two wins from two to start the season off. 

Match Report by Fred Deveson

Potters Bar Town 0

Dover Athletic 8
George NIKAJ (33′)
Luke BAPTISTE (42′)
Ruben SOARES-JUNIOR (45′)
George NIKAJ (47′)
George NIKAJ (65′)
Harrison PONT (68′)
Joe TENNENT
 (80′) Jaiden DRAKES-THOMAS (89′)

Lineups:

Potters Bar Town: 1 Seb Stacey, 2 Prosper Keto, 3 Layne Eadie, 4 Jamie Dicks, 5 Isaac Currie, 6 Ronnie Henry, 7 Samrai Gebrai, 8 Joe Re, 9 Steve Cawley, 10 Max Jessop, 11 Ore Bello. SUBS: 12 Daniel Aldana, 14 Calvin Ekpiteta, 15 Ryan Hayes, 16 Hamid Salam, 20 Finn Rushton

Dover Athletic: 1 Mitch WALKER, 2 Roman CHARLES-COOK, 3 Fuad SESAY, 5 Joe TENNENT, 6 Luca COCORACCHIO, 7 Luke BAPTISTE, 10 George NIKAJ, 11 Lindell STEWART, 14 Ruben SOARES-JUNIOR, 16 Harrison PONT, 23 George WILKINSON. SUBS: 4 Jeremiah GYEBI, 9 Eniye AMGBADUBA, 15 Tamas AMGBADUBA, 19 Jayden SILCOTT-BROWN, 20 Jaiden DRAKES-THOMAS

Isthmian League – Premier Division
Attendance: 204
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: The Orbital Fasteners Stadium

We are delighted to offer fans the opportunity to purchase a replica of this seasons pink ‘home’ keeper shirt.

As worn by Mitch Walker, the keeper shirt will be short sleeve. In order to pre-order, we will need shirts to be prepaid before 5pm on Friday 6th September. Turn around time will be 6-8 weeks, but should be here just in time for Christmas!

Price: £46.50 – kids shirts will also be available.

For more information and to order please email [email protected], phone the office on 01304 822373 or pop in to the office on a match day.

Watch it here: https://youtu.be/qnJumXQw31U

In the second part of this interview with Justin Allen, Jake discusses the recent squad rebuild, talks through each of the players signed, and highlights his aims for a positive season.

Watch it here: https://youtu.be/LLKDgbPmMGA

In this interview with Justin Allen, Jake discusses the end of preseason and the start of the competitive season. He reflects on the challenges of rebuilding the team.

Jake emphasises the importance of community involvement and a positive atmosphere, fan support and commercial backing for the club’s success. Jake stresses his commitment to contributing positively to the club he loves, hoping to build a strong and united team and community.

In Part 2 Jake talks through all of this summers signings and what they bring to the squad.

We are delighted to announce the signing of forward Alfie Matthews.

The 23 year old began his youth career at Arsenal, joining their academy at the age of eight and spending over a decade there. During his time at Arsenal, he trained with the first team and made notable progress through the youth ranks​. He was capped for England at U16 level, where he scored on his debut. He later joined Crystal Palace U23s. Matthews has most recently played for NLS sides Hemel Hempstead, Braintree and Welling.

Alfie has made 69 National League South appearances scoring 10 goals, he has also featured in U18 Premier League and Premier League 2.

Welcome to Crabble, Alfie!

(Subject to clearance)

We are delighted to announce the signing of defender Fuad Sesay. The left-back started his career with Sheffield Wednesday, where he made a significant impact in the U18 and U21 teams. Fuad rejoins us after being part of last season’s squad having made 3 appearances in our National League South campaign.

Welcome back to Crabble, Fuad!

Don’t miss your chance to sponsor Sesay this season. Home £100, Away £90, Home and Away £180. You’ll be named in our Matchday Magazine for duration of the season and named on doverathletic.com for the season. You’ll have the chance to meet Fuad and receive his shirt at the end of the season. All sponsors are entered into a prize draw to win 2 X Premier Club day passes for the last game of the season. To purchase, please contact the office by phone on 01304822373, or alternatively pop into reception on a matchday.

Dover Athletic Football Club are delighted to announce that midfielder Jaiden Drakes-Thomas has agreed terms to remain at the Megger Community Stadium for the 2024/25 season.

Before joining Dover Athletic in March last season, Jaiden Drakes-Thomas was part of the Colchester United U21 squad and had previously featured for Sevenoaks Town.

Don’t miss your chance to sponsor Jaiden this season. Home £100, Away £90, Home and Away £180. You’ll be named in our Matchday Magazine for duration of the season and named on doverathletic.com for the season. You’ll have the chance to meet Jaiden and receive his shirt at the end of the season. All sponsors are entered into a prize draw to win 2 X Premier Club day passes for the last game of the season. To purchase, please contact the office by phone on 01304822373, or alternatively pop into reception on a matchday.