OPPOSITION NOTES: WALTON & HERSHAM

Gloucester City travel to Walton & Hersham in the Southern League Premier Division South play-off semi-finals on Wednesday, April 30.

The Southern League Premier Division South league campaign came to a conclusion on Saturday, with City finishing up in fourth place on 77 points, earning us a chance to get promoted via the play-offs.

Our opponents ended the season in third on 83 points, meaning they have the opportunity to have the home advantage on Wednesday night.

Our opponents' season so far:

Walton & Hersham have had an outstanding end to their season, only losing one game in 2025, 1-0 away at fellow play-off side Dorchester Town on April 12.

They have picked up more points than anyone else in 2025, with 49 points in the 20 games played, with AFC Totton the next-best side in that time, picking up 40 points.

On top of this, their home form across the season has been exemplary, having only lost once at the Elmbridge Xcel Sports Hub all season, being a 0-1 loss to Taunton Town on November 5.

Their good season has been figure-headed by the goalscoring record of Polish forward Dawid Rogalski, who has found the net 23 times this season, level for goals with City's Joe Hanks.

Three of those 23 goals came against City this season, once in the 4-4 draw at Walton & Hersham, and twice to come back from 1-0 down against City to win 1-2 at the TigerTurf Stadium.

The Swans', like City, have been in great goalscoring form in their final three fixtures this season, scoring 11 times in 4-2, 1-5 and 2-0 wins, compared to City's 12 goals scored in 7-0 and 1-3 wins, as well as a 2-2 draw on the final day of the season.

Head-to-head:

Gloucester City and Walton & Hersham have met twice this season, ending in a memorable 4-4 draw, and a 1-2 win for Walton & Hersham.

The first meeting came on November 23, with the Swans' going into half-time 4-0 up, with goals from Rogalski, Johl Powell and Mason Obeng following an own-goal from City 'keeper Jared Thompson.

The Tigers roared into action in the second-half and battled back to draw 4-4 thanks to goals from Ty Duffus, Kieran Phillips, and a brace from Joe Hanks including a 92nd minute equaliser, having also had a goal disallowed for a controversial foul moments before.

We then hosted Walton & Hersham at the TigerTurf on March 1. After a entertaining but goalless first-half, City opened the scoring on 55 minutes through Ed Williams, but it was Walton & Hersham's turn to stage a comeback, and turned it around to win with two goals from Dawid Rogalski in the 65th and 88th minute.

Walton & Hersham profile:

Walton & Hersham were founded in 1945, after a merger between Walton FC and Hersham FC. They are currently managed by Billy Rowley, who was appointed just after the end of the 2023/24 season.

In 2019, the club was bought by a group of students, Thomas Bradbury, Reme Edetanlen, Jack Newton, Sartej Tucker, Ben Madelin, Calogero Scannella and Stephan Karidis, who have brought the club to life both off the pitch as well as on it.

This group, who state they are the youngest owners in world football, have overseen three promotions since taking charge, and off the pitch they have managed to build their social media presence massively, and have over 1,000,000 followers on TikTok.

They play at the Elmbridge Xcel Sports Hub, moving there in 2017, following a £20m redevelopment on the complex.

We will be hosted by Walton & Hersham on Wednesday evening, with the chance to progress to the Southern League Premier Division South play-off final, where the winner will either travel to AFC Totton, or host Dorchester Town, depending on who wins in the other play-off match on the night.