We are reintroducing a team for under 18 players next season to provide a complete path for players coming through our youth teams that start at under 6 and run through every age group to under 16. Without this step it has meant that our U23 team has been a very young team compared to many of the opposing teams and is quite a step up from playing in our U16 side. The new U18 team will allow players to develop in the right environment before they take the next step up but of course it is not a rigid structure and if a player is good enough then they can play at a higher level including our First Team.

While our senior teams play in the Southern Combination leagues, the U18 team will be playing in the Combined Counties Youth League where there are East and West Divisions. At this stage the make up of the divisions for next season have yet to be announced as new teams such as ours can come along. Last season the East Division included local teams Horley Town and Redhill along with clubs around the south-west of Greater London and one has to assume that AFC Wisla Krakow do not actually play in Poland. Matches in this league are played on Thursday evenings.

The trials for anyone interested in joining our new team will be held at Lingfield College in St Pier's Lane which is off Racecourse Road near Lingfield Racecourse. The trials will start at 10:30am and run through to noon. If you are interested then please book a place by either emailing lingfieldfcu18@gmail.com or contacting 07793 241551. A flyer is attached to this article.