Wingate & Finchley vs Cray Wanderers – Isthmian Premier – Saturday 20th December, 12.30 pm
Cray Wanderers play the final away match of 2025 on Saturday with a visit to North London to face Wingate & Finchley. Please note the kick off time of 12.30pm.
Cray will come into the game at least for a couple of hours aiming to get back into the playoff places lying in 7th place but on 32 points just two behind 4th placed Dartford.
The Wands will be looking to bounce back from last Friday’s home defeat to Whitehawk where after a very positive first half topped off with Lateef Adaja’s smart finish was the least they deserved for the performance. However second half Whitehawk fought back to win 2-1 but overall the damage on the Saturday wasn’t too much with Cray still very much in touching distance of the playoffs.
Away form this season has been one of Cray’s strengths with just one defeat in eleven games and that was at league leaders Folkestone and are currently unbeaten in the last three away from home with the last win at Potters Bar Town on 6th December.
Wingate & Finchley after a slow start to the season have risen up to 14th place in the league table on 26 points and benefited from a ten game unbeaten league run to move them up and away from the bottom four especially as the Blues have had to play more away games than home and included impressive wins at Hashtag United, Cheshunt, Brentwood Town (5-0), Dartford and Dulwich Hamlet.
They are without a win in five in the league but have drawn the last two at home against Billericay Town and Carshalton Athletic. Last time out were beaten 1-4 at Cray Valley PM with Ayyuba Jambang scoring a late consolation.
It was a cracking game when the two sides met at Flamingo Park on 16th August with Cray winning 3-2 with goals from Nods Bobomurodov, Frankie Raymond and George Brooke after Wingate fought back from two down to level through Camilo Restrepo and Caolin McGettigan. The last visit for the Wands to Wingate & Finchley was on the 29th January with the home side winning 1-0 with a Ben Watt goal in injury time.
This is always a tough fixture for the Wands and with both teams looking to head to Christmas with three points this should be an entertaining encounter.
This match can be viewed live via https://www.clubbertv.co.uk
DIRECTIONS & ADMISSION – WINGATE & FINCHLEY
Maurice Rebak Stadium, Summers Lane, Finchley, London N12 0PD
ADMISSION PRICES
Adults – £14 (Online: £13)
Conc (OAP 65+, student, disabled) – £9 (Online: £8)
10-16 yrs: £5
Under 10: Free
NHS staff and carer of disabled: Free
Online sales: https://www.wingatefinchley.com/first-team-match-tickets
Cash and card are accepted at all sales points at the stadium.
Programmes: Online
Supporting ID required for concessions or full price admission will be charged
Driving
The simplest way to get to stadium is to get on to the A406 North Circular Road.
If coming from the West (eg via M1), go past Henlys Corner (taking the left fork after the traffic lights) and then drive for about 1 mile. The exit to take is the one immediately after a BP garage. Take the slip road and then turn right at the lights onto the A1000.
If coming from the East (eg via A10, M11) take the A1000 turn off. At the end of the slip road turn left at the lights. Go straight over the next set of lights, then after 100m pass through another set of lights. Then at the next set of lights turn right into Summers Lane. The Stadium is a few hundred metres down on the right hand side.
Car Parking
Please be aware NOT to park in the Rugby Club next door, as they will close their gates and lock you in. There are plenty of nearby streets, although please note not to park on the kerbs and also some surrounding roads have yellow lines.
The Club car park on matchdays is available for Club Officials (Home & Away), Players, Staff and VIP guests only.
Blue Badge Parking: 4 free spaces are available on the front forecourt.
Tube:
The nearest Underground station is West Finchley Station (Northern Line – High Barnet branch).
The station is a 10/15 minute walk away from the Ground. Alternatively go to East Finchley Station (also on the Northern Line, High Barnet branch) and get a 263 bus heading north towards Barnet. Get off at the bus stop just after the Summers Lane traffic lights
National Rail
The nearest station is New Southgate in Travelcard Zone 4, approximately 1.5 miles from the Abrahams Stadium. Trains are operated by First Capital Connect and can be picked up from Finsbury Park.
At the top of the station steps take the right hand gangway which brings you onto Station Road. Head left up Station Road towards bus stop. The regular 382 service to Millbrook Park goes via Summers Lane and takes about 5-10 minutes. You will need to alight at the Woodgrange Avenue stop, which is a short walk to the ground.
Nearest Pubs: The nearest pubs are the Elephant Inn in North Finchley which is also a Thai Restaurant around 0.6 miles away with the Tally Ho (Wetherspoons) similarly located.
If coming in to East Finchley then the Old White Lion and the Bald Faced Stag are a bit of trek on foot but the 263 bus will take you will take you from there close enough to the ground.
Finchley is an area of the LB of Barnet which has three town centres in East Finchley, North Finchley and Finchley Central (Church End) and developed from the late 1800’s with connections to the Great North Railway. The area is quite artistic and has been the site of a number of films and TV locations. Finchley was the home of the Goons’ Spike Milligan and there is a bronze statue in the Stephens House and Gardens in East End Road. It was also the constituency of Margaret Thatcher from 1959-1992 and former speaker of the house John Bercow. Also singer-songwriter George Michael was born in East Finchley and Spice Girl Emma Bunton was born in Finchley. The area has a large Jewish community and the original Wingate club who Cray Wanderers played in the 1950’s were formed in honour of an Israeli soldier Orde Wingate and to combat Anti-Semitism and the current set up was formed in 1991 as a merger of the Wingate and Finchley football clubs.
