— Website sponsor —
— Website sponsor —
Alan Walker was appointed manager at the start of season 2002-03 and that season was arguably the most successful since joining the Southern League, the club eventually finishing ninth after a fine end of season run. That run continued into the 2003-04 with the a club record of 26 league matches unbeaten being ended in December 2003, at which point the Angels were comfortable leaders of the Eastern Division. Walker left the club shortly after due to a loss of sponsorship and the Angels replaced him with player-manager Tony Dolby. After an initial period of mixed results, Dolby steadied the ship and brought in Mike Rutherford as assistant coach before keeping the Angels in the title battle until the penultimate game of the season. The Angels finally finished in third, the club’s highest position in the Southern League for more than 25 years.
The 2004-05 season started a new era in the Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division, and it began well with an unbeaten run of six games in the late summer, but the Angels were in the bottom three by the end of November, where they would stay for the rest of the season, and despite a late comeback were unable to claw themselves out of the relegation zone.
The Angels bounced back into the Premier Division at the first attempt, in the most dramatic of fashions, after a rollercoaster 2005-06 season. Tonbridge were undefeated until October but a bad run of results threatened to undermine the promotion bid, but the Angels always did enough to stay in the play-off places and a late surge secured third place and with it home advantage in the play-offs. Tooting & Mitcham were defeated in the Semi-Final match before a dream Final pitted the Angels at home to old Kent rivals Dover Athletic. The Lilywhites were beaten 3-2 in front of a new record Longmead Stadium attendance of 1,863.
In 2006/07 the club reached the 4th qualifying round of the FA Cup again, losing 1-0 at home to Newport County. It was also a season in which Jon Main broke all the club’s scoring records with 44 goals including seven hat- tricks. Main would go on to break Paul Emblen's transfer record by signing for AFC Wimbledon in November 2007 for "an undisclosed record fee".
Following an FA Cup 4th qualifying round defeat at Ware in October 2007 the Angels parted company with manager Tony Dolby and Tommy Warrilow was appointed. The club finished 8th in the Ryman Premier and had a good run in the FA Trophy, beating Blue Square Premier side Oxford United before losing to AFC Wimbledon in the next round at Longmead, a game which drew a crowd of 2,281.
In 2008/09 the Angels finished third in the Ryman Premier but lost to Carshalton Athletic in the play-offs. The close season saw a major ground development. The old covered stand, which had been transported from the Angel Ground to Longmead in 1980, was a hollow shell except for a pathway and 200 temporary seats. It was completely refurbished and transformed into a smart 720 capacity all-seater stand.
In 2009/10 the Angels missed out on the play-offs but after a poor start to the 2010/11 season they embarked on a run of just one defeat in eighteen matches and put themselves in contention for a play-off place. That place was eventually won and Harrow were beaten 3-2 after extra-time in the semi-final to set up a final with Lowestoft Town at Longmead Stadium. A nail biting match in front of a record competitive crowd of 2,411 saw the Angels just edge out their Suffolk visitors 4-3 to take their place for the first time in the Football Conference South Division – their highest ever place in the non-league pyramid.
The Angels were to stay three seasons at that level, finishing as high as 9th in their first season, before being relegated back to the Isthmian Premier at the end of season 2013/14. Manager Tommy Warrilow also resigned at the same time. His place was taken by Steve McKimm who had been coach at Sutton United and whilst his first season in charge saw a flirtation with relegation, there followed an immediate change in fortune with 4th place achieved in 2015/16 and a play off semi-final appearance against East Thurrock United. Despite a 2-0 loss there was optimism for the 2016/17 season. That optimism was well founded with a 4th Qualifying round appearance in the FA Cup against Dartford and a promotion challenge that in the end saw the club one position and one point away from a play off place.
While 2017/18 didn't quite live up to the heights of the previous two seasons, in 2018/19 McKimm's side matched their 4th placed effort of three years previous, but this time went one better by winning the play-offs beating Haringey Borough, Merstham and Metropolitan Police to return to the National League after a five-year absence.
It was a tough opening half of the campaign for the Angels back in non-league’s Step 2 but a definite improvement in form from the the turn of the year saw them eventually placed in 15th position on an unweighted points per game formula following the cessation of the 2019/20 competition due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The aforementioned pandemic again caused havoc with the following season (2020/21), with National North and South competitions eventually being declared null and void in February. The Angels did however reach the 1st Round Proper of the FA Cup for the first time since 1972/73 where the excitement of Longmead hosting live national TV was not quite matched by the result, a 7-0 defeat at the hands of EFL Bradford City!
With fans allowed back into Longmead following the pandemic, and attendances moving upwards hopes were high for a successful 2021/22 season on the pitch but the league campaign was somewhat underwhelming with mathematical safety in National South only secured in the penultimate fixture. As compensation there was a record breaking run in the FA Trophy (5th Round) with two National League sides eliminated in the process. At the end of the season Steve McKimm was replaced by Jay Saunders as full time 1st team manager.
The club entered a new era in season 2022/23 with the summer installation of a FIFA approved 3G surface which was opened on Saturday, 20th August for the visit of Hampton and Richmond Borough, unfortunately it was an inauspicious beginning with a 4-1 defeat. Thankfully, this was not a foretaste of things to come as Jay Saunders’ first season at the club ended with a creditable ninth place finish, just four points off the play offs. The end of the season brought farewell to two legendary figures at the club with Sonny Miles leaving the club with a record 527 appearances to his name whilst in the boardroom, chairman Dave Netherstreet also stepped down after five years at the helm. Sophie Purves has replaced Dave as the club’s chair.
Season 2023/24 saw further consolidation as a National South club with a 14th place finish. At the end of the season, farewells were said to Jonny Henly, who left the club having made a record 304 goalkeeping appearances.
