Sutton will kick off the 2019-20 pre-season campaign helping the celebrations of an old rival as we visit Redhill on Saturday 6th July in a game to mark Redhill's 125th anniversary. The clubs were adversaries in the Athenian League for over 40 years until Sutton progressed to the Isthmian League in 1963, and met three years later in the Surrey Senior Cup final when Redhill won 4-3, their last success in the competition. Since then meetings have been rarer, but we did play Redhill, who finished the season in mid-table in the Combined Counties League, two seasons ago in the Surrey Senior Cup, winning 2-1 at Gander Green Lane. Chairman Bruce Elliott commented: ''We have always enjoyed a good relationship with Redhill, and we are delighted to be able to help them celebrate their 125th anniversary and to congratulate them on this achievement.''
Two weeks later on July 20th, U's will renew rather more recent acquaintances with Paul Doswell and several players as we visit Westleigh Park to take on Havant & Waterlooville, the third time in the last ten years that the clubs have met in pre-season action in Hampshire, the most recent in summer 2017 when U's won 5-2.
Matt Gray's squad will also face tenants Sutton Common Rovers, who followed up their runners-up place in the Combined Counties League by lifting the Premier Challenge Cup at the weekend. The game will be on Friday 26th July at Gander Green Lane. The sides met in the season just finished in the Surrey Senior Cup, U's winning 2-0.
We are in the process of confirming arrangements for announcing several other friendlies, and hope to be able to have news of these within the next few days.