Step off the tram and take a walk through Croydon Crematorium, following the public footpath onto a desire line worn into the ridge, and suddenly, through gaps in the fences, a football ground opens up before you.
Admittedly, this is not the official entrance. That is accessed on the opposite side, through a playground or via residential streets. The wind disturbs the netting, there to trap stray balls, atop the fences which form the stadium’s perimeter. There is one small covered stand. Not immediately obvious is the recently refurbished clubhouse with a bar for supporters to congregate.
Welcome to Thornton Heath, the Mayfield Road stadium and the home of the Rams: AFC Croydon Athletic — an English non-League side co-owned by a world-famous rapper and an Ivory Coast forward with almost 300 Premier League appearances.
Mayfield Road (Matt Woosnam/The Athletic)
This is far from the luxury to which Stormzy and Wilfried Zaha have become accustomed, but that is the point.
The pair, both from Croydon, bought this club a little over a year ago to give something back. This is a deprived corner of south London, but one with a heightened sense of community — a word that is important to the pair.
Zaha graduated through nearby Crystal Palace’s youth ranks and played 458 times for their first team, but the connections with the Premier League side whose stadium, Selhurst Park, is just two miles up the road do not end with him. Andrew Johnson, who played for Palace, Everton, Fulham and England, is the director of football. Their new manager, appointed on Monday, is former Palace coach and caretaker manager Keith Millen, born in Croydon.
Millen’s assistant, Michael Kamara, coaches at Palace’s academy. And the squad is littered with ex-Palace youth-team players who didn’t quite make the grade. Two made Premier League appearances. One is an Under-17 World Cup winner with England.
The team, who compete in the Isthmian League South East at step eight of the English football pyramid, train on occasion at Palace’s Beckenham academy with its indoor dome. The ties between the clubs could not be stronger. And it is Danny Young who pulls everything together.
The former Palace head of player care is now chairman at Croydon Athletic and is the club’s third co-owner. He has a close relationship with Zaha, on loan at Lyon from Galatasaray, and helped establish the player’s football academy locally.
Young (left), Millen and Croydon Athletic’s CEO Jordan Davis (Croydon Athletic FC)
Young has relentlessly pursued former Palace youngsters, many of whom were once highly rated, to offer them a platform to showcase their talent.
Luke Dreher is among those. An intelligent, technically proficient and combative midfielder, he made the substitutes’ bench for Palace at Manchester United in April 2016 as a 17-year-old. A Premier League debut arrived as a late substitute on the final day of the 2018-19 season. Yet his progress thereafter was repeatedly frustrated by injuries.
He will be 26 later this month. “It’s just enjoyable to be back playing on the pitch,” Dreher tells The Athletic. “The level is irrelevant.
“If I sit there and think about (the injuries) then it would get to me, but you have to play the cards you’ve been dealt. Some of my injuries were quite unfortunate. It is a bit disheartening. Deep down, I know I could be playing at a very good level, but that hasn’t happened. So this is a good fit.
“I’ve missed so much football. You forget the good parts because I’ve dealt with being injured, being isolated away from the team, not having a club for a year. I wasn’t seeing any positive side of football. If this can just reignite that, then that’s what I’m after.”
Dreher, with two goals in three games as a substitute, is starting to rekindle his love of the game. Young, who the midfielder says “had been calling non-stop for two years”, knows he can play at a much higher level if he proves his fitness. To achieve that, the club are carefully managing his minutes in a no-pressure environment, away from trials where he busted a gut to impress only, invariably, to break down.
This rehabilitation is the true aim of the ‘project’, and a recurring theme from the conversations with the players.
Dreher playing for Palace in a pre-season friendly against Hertha Berlin in 2019 (Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)
Dreher is considering coaching, something his former Palace team-mate Sam Woods is also pondering. Also 26, the defender made 16 appearances for Palace, Hamilton Academical and Plymouth Argyle, then featured for Barnet and Bromley in the National League before a recurrent ankle injury saw him quit full-time football in favour of going part-time with the Rams.
“Having the right ownership is key for any club,” says Woods. “Knowing Wilf from Palace, he’ll want to get this club up because he’s local as well. He wouldn’t buy it if he wasn’t serious about it. That was definitely a key thing.
“Promotion last year (from the National League with Bromley) has made me want more. It feels like an exciting project to be a part of and it’s a little bit like Wrexham with (actor and co-owner) Ryan Reynolds where we can potentially go up the leagues.”
Then there is Nya Kirby, an England youth international who won that Under-17 World Cup in 2017. Having been released by Palace in 2022 after loans at Blackpool and Tranmere Rovers, he joined Croydon at the start of this season following a spell with Oxford City in the National League last year.
“I’m hoping to bring that winning mentality into the group,” he says, “even though I feel the boys already have that. Hopefully, I just add to it.”
The 24-year-old now runs his own chauffeur business and commutes to training from Hertfordshire. Like his team-mates, he dismisses any suggestion of extra pressure as a result of the club’s star owners.
“It helps more than anything,” says Kirby. “He’s (Zaha) watched some of the games every time he’s in London. It gives the boys a bit of energy having someone who’s played the game at such a high level watching you, knowing that you have to perform.”
Zaha playing for Lyon in their derby win over Saint-Etienne this month (Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Brandon Pierrick became the second-youngest player to feature in the Premier League for Palace when he stepped off the bench after 83 minutes in a 1-1 draw with Norwich City on New Year’s Day in 2020. Four days later, he started in an FA Cup third-round defeat by Derby County, and ended that Covid-interrupted season by playing at Anfield.
His career became nomadic in the years that followed, with a loan to Kilmarnock, a move to Denmark with Vejle and a stint at Dover Athletic. But he was convinced to return to Croydon last season at the start of the club’s journey under Zaha, Stormzy and Young.
“Every week, every game, every team we play, we get comments,” he says. “Some of the things we hear, if you knew the backstory… it’s just not accurate at all. There’s a lot of eyes and attention. But it’s just because everyone deep down wants to be here and they can’t. It’s just jealousy.
“We were playing one game and (an opponent) was asking for a ball to get put back in play. He was just saying: ‘Can’t you lot give us one of yours? You probably own thousands, look who your owners are’. If you’re hearing that famous owners have invested in a club, obviously you’re going to want to pay more attention to it. Then there’s also the type of players we have.”
Pierrick (left) celebrates scoring against Knaphill FC in last season’s Combined Counties Premier League South play-off final (Warren Little/Getty Images)
The youngest of the Palace youth team alumni is David Omilabu. A 22-year-old forward who can play as a striker or a winger, he was released a year ago and initially joined Maidenhead United, making 14 National League appearances. He joined Croydon Athletic in the summer.
“Opponents throw it in our faces and we laugh, just play and prove to them that we’re more than our owners,” he says. “Yes, they’re the owners of our club but we’re the players and we’re going to stamp our authority on what AFC Croydon is about.
“People are hearing about us a bit more and now we’re trying to fight for (a second) promotion. Our names will be out there again and we will prove to everyone what we’re about.”
Michael Phillips was on the cusp of Palace’s first team and travelled to Hong Kong with Frank de Boer’s side for the pre-season Premier League Asia Trophy in 2017. But his senior football has come in the National League. His day job now revolves around mentoring children who have become embroiled in gangs and others with special educational needs, as well as running his own football academy at his former school, Oasis Academy Shirley Park, in Croydon.
Phillips, 27, can endure a two-hour commute from his home to work and training — but he still left Hemel Hempstead, “five minutes from my doorstep”, to rejoin Croydon Athletic. “They were closer, they were higher up, but I had been happy at Croydon. I want to progress outside of football, but also help this club get as high as possible.”
Woods, Phillips, Pierrick, Omilabu and Dreyer (Matt Woosnam/The Athletic)
Young hopes Palace fans who once watched these youngsters in the youth setup will come down to Mayfield Road when the Premier League club are not playing. Some might be tempted to call it an old boys’ network, but this is all mutually beneficial. It is about offering these players a second chance.
GO DEEPER
Zaha, Stormzy and AFC Croydon Athletic: An unlikely deal explained
Scattered around Croydon Athletic’s ground, tagged to the fences, are banners advertising the Wilfried Zaha academy, with whom Young is also involved. The idea of buying the club effectively stemmed from the desire to expand that venture.
“I was looking for another place for Wilf to do his soccer school,” Young says. Croydon Athletic were in financial peril, with the initial conversations quickly developing into talk of a potential takeover. “Wilf said: ‘That’s where I scored my first goal for Palace. I used to climb over the fence and play all the time in the summer,’ and the conversations just escalated.
“It took nine months but he was all over it, pushing it. Stormzy and Wilf are close friends so, when he found out about it, he was like: ‘You have to get me involved, too’. They grew up on either side of this ground. They know what it’s like to not have stuff, and what we want to do with the community.
“We want to give the players confidence and a stopgap to do something bigger.”
Stormzy (centre in the black tracksuit) celebrates Croydon Athletic’s promotion last season at Knaphill FC (Warren Little/Getty Images)
Many will wonder whether wealthy backers are simply throwing cash at the playing squad, paying hefty wages to attract so many former Palace youngsters so far down the pyramid.
Young disputes that. “We have to manage what we can afford. Whatever people might think, these boys have their own reasons for coming here: to show they can get back up again.
“I’ll never stand in their way. We’re putting them in the shop window again. We had (former Palace and Senegal defender) Pape Souare for four games and Ebbsfleet United (in the National League) took him straight away. Last year we had (ex-Palace youth-team players) Reece Hannam and David Boateng, and they’re playing in Germany now.
“You’d be very surprised by what they get paid. If we want to do what we do off the pitch, we definitely can’t afford to spend that on the pitch as well. But if they take the hit financially now, they can benefit long-term.
“We take lads who’ve been at high levels and it’s not worked out. They can get lost. But we know what they’re capable of. We’ll give them time to get their confidence back and progress.”
Young saw Croydon Athletic promoted last season (Warren Little/Getty Images)
An initial influx of investment wiped out the club’s debt. An astonishing £180,000 ($230,000) was spent on clearing the mess left by fly-tippers on the Mayfield Road site. But alongside the ambition to climb through the leagues, there is an underlying desire to build something far more substantial for this community.
The Rams’ academy hosts around 130 players between under-nines and under-18s. The oldest age group won their respective league last season. The new owners have established a women’s team, who also play at the stadium and won their league last term. They are top this time around, too. For those who cannot afford it, Zaha and Stormzy subsidise the academy and women’s teams’ fees and kits.
“All this shows what can be done if you put things in place and give people a base, a home,” Young says. “It’s not about ploughing money into it, especially not on the football side. It’s about having a club that sustains itself. We have a duty to keep it away from relying on the owners to spend money. That’s why it’s going to be so heavily focused on the community.”
Improving the infrastructure further is a priority. The club are in talks with Croydon Council over purchasing the stadium and plan to make significant enhancements, including lighting the track that forms the approach to the ground. They intend to put in facilities for education purposes, to build a padel court and introduce walking football sessions.
“We see this as a massive community hub,” adds Young. “We want to build it slowly to make sure it’s sustainable and get the community involved. Our sponsors, Seat Unique, are local too. Keith (Millen) is a Croydon boy. We want to build a place where people can come day and night. We don’t want to exclude people who don’t play football.
“But you need a team that can compete, as that’s the only way people will start hearing about what we’re doing. Croydon Athletic has been here a long time before we came and will be a long time after. But it has to mean something (to the co-owners). To get here they’ve really had to want it. This is a passion project for them.”
Stormzy is a regular at Croydon Athletic games (Warren Little/Getty Images)
Stormzy was in the dressing room after their play-off victory last season, and the three-time Brit Award-winning rapper watched from the terraces as the club’s FA Cup qualifying match with Horley Town was televised by the BBC in August last year, shortly after they purchased the club. Zaha follows games from France, coming over to watch in person when his schedule allows.
This is not a plaything. They are invested emotionally as well as financially. “I’m massive on longevity,” Young says. “We need to map it out properly.”
He insists it does not need to be a rapid rise but, after promotion last season, Croydon Athletic are 10th in the Isthmian League South East and have been on a 10-game unbeaten run under Kamara’s guidance as interim manager. With Millen now in charge and the recent addition of Woods and Dreher, they have every chance of progressing faster than anticipated.
The sun was setting for the day when The Athletic arrived at Mayfield Road, but this is a club on the rise.
(Top photos: Getty Images; designed by Eamonn Dalton)
