Dorking Wanderers’ new co-owners have given chairman-manager Marc White fresh backing as he targets a return to the Football League and ambitions of turning the non-League club into a global force.
US entrepreneur Frank Villares and his wife, Debra Tucker, became co-owners and growth investors during the summer, while a consortium led by former professional ice hockey player James Sixsmith also acquired a shareholding.
White, who helped establish Dorking with friends in 1999 and has remained at the club ever since, believes the additional investment can accelerate the next phase of a remarkable rise through the football pyramid.
Dorking have climbed from Crawley and District Division Five to the National League, securing 12 promotions along the way. Their highest finish came in 2022-23, when they placed 16th in the fifth tier.
They are now back in the National League South, where they sit eighth and three points behind leaders Maidstone United. White says the immediate objective is to win promotion again within the next two seasons before making a serious attempt to reach the EFL.
Dorking Wanderers’ new investment
Villares first became involved through Dorking’s Rise With Us campaign, which invited members of the public to buy shares in the club. The scheme aimed to raise £180,013 but brought in £333,180 from 746 investors.
White said Villares and Tucker had been searching for a deeper involvement in English football after previously considering several clubs.
“Frank and Debra are massive English football fans and there’s this huge enthusiasm for the English pyramid in the US as that’s the one thing the US money can’t buy,” he said.
White said the couple had looked at four or five clubs before a proposed deal collapsed, prompting him to remind them that Dorking was an option. He described them as ideal partners because they trusted the existing structure while also wanting to play an active role.
“They’re perfect because they trust us to run it, but they want to be involved as well. This is just the beginning,” White said.
He added that Sixsmith and fellow consortium member Daryl Cumberland could become increasingly involved as Dorking progress through the divisions.
White stressed that the new funding did not mean the club was financially secure indefinitely. Instead, he said, it would allow Dorking to strengthen areas away from the pitch, with the hope that improved commercial performance would create more money to invest in the team.
“The investment has made things easier. But in football, everything you do, whether it’s on or off the field, costs a lot of money,” he said. “We’re by no means set for life, not in a million years.”
White’s EFL ambition
Dorking’s behind-the-scenes progress has been documented by the club’s Bunch of Amateurs YouTube channel, which has more than 200,000 subscribers. White said the club recorded half a billion unique views globally last year, with supporters and viewers regularly joining matches from Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
He wants the club to use that audience to build a wider community around Dorking while continuing to compete for promotion.
“I feel like we really want to be the whole world’s local club,” White said. “We want to just like continue to put the club on a global reach – and we identify with the fact that winning will be a part of that. So we have to find a way to win.”
White’s plan is for a second stage of development, which he calls “V2”, following the club’s journey from park football to the National League.
“I think we need to get promoted again really soon. Next year or two minimum. We then need to try and do a bit of a double and then try and break into the Football League,” he said.
One potential complication is that White does not hold the coaching qualifications required to manage in the EFL. He remains determined to be in the dugout if Dorking reach that level.
“We’ll take care of that, that’s fine,” he said. “The dream really is to be in there. I’d love it.”
Dorking’s next match is away to Dover Athletic, who are one place and one point above them in the National League South. White expects his side to remain in contention despite injuries and the pressures of the season.
“Dorking are always in the mix, so we’ll be there again,” he said.
