Interrobang News

But it’s also attracting interest from eagle-eyed gamblers, with AFC Totton still underdogs for the clash with bookmakers hours after Dorking announced their surprise signing. Is there any chance Dunn will really play 90 minutes, or is this a social media rouse from a club who’ve got more X followers than any other team in the Conference South?

Injury crisis for Wanderers – but what about Sullivan?

Dunn’s arrival follows the club’s regular goalkeeper Harrison Foulkes being ruled out for four weeks with a spleen injury.

Wanderers say Dunn’s signing is because they are “unable to secure a replacement” in time for the Conference South clash with AFC Totton – with the club claiming that Dunn is “set to make his debut at Meadowbank this Saturday”.

Newly-promoted Totton, sitting fourth in the league table with four wins and a draw from their opening seven games, were already set to provide a tough test for Dorking. The Wanderers are mid-table in 11th, currently three points behind their Hampshire opponents. But that test could become significantly harder if they field a goalkeeper who hung up his gloves from amateur football in 1997, with North Holmwood reportedly among Dunn’s former suitors.

The club’s website lists Foulkes as their only first-team squad goalkeeper – but Dorking have a B team who ply their trade in the Southern Combination Football League, and Louie Sullivan is their shot stopper. He played for the first-team in a pre-season friendly in July – in a 7-0 win over Bourne Town. 

It is currently unclear why Sullivan cannot play on Saturday – whether registration rules are having any sort of impact, and why Dunn can sign for the club but other local goalkeepers cannot. 

Before their recent league game at Hornchurch, Dorking tweeted an “all smiles from the GK union!” message showing two goalkeepers entering the pitch – including Sullivan, who is also an ambassador for Hawk Goalkeeping. However, despite travelling the 50 miles to East London, Sullivan was not named on the substitutes’ bench. 

Interrobang News today (5 September) checked in with Dorking’s very helpful and friendly press office – who also weren’t able to confirm the situation with Sullivan’s eligibility for the game. Senior sources at AFC Totton were very sceptical as to whether Dunn will be Dorking’s goalkeeper for the match.

Is a big Totton win now a real possibility?

The speculation makes Saturday’s betting markets very interesting for non-league punters.

Bookies were either slow to react to Dorking’s announcement, or largely nonplussed. 

As of Thursday evening (4 September), and many hours after the news had made great waves on social media, AFC Totton were still 11/4 underdogs on SkyBet for the game. But prices haven’t really moved much into Friday – Dorking, seven places below Totton in the league table, are still favourites to win the game with all major online bookmakers. Interestingly, Bet365 have even shared the news on their website, noting that despite the “goalkeeping crisis”, Dorking remain favourites.

Big prices have also been available on a hefty away win. Totton winning by four or more goals was 80/1 on Betway; while Totton winning the fixture and more than 2.5 goals being scored in each half was 50/1.

Even if Dunn proves to be a safe pair of hands, those prices are surely unbelievably inflated given the uncertainty that now exists around this game.

And what of AFC Totton’s strike power? Among their squad is former Cardiff City and Bristol City forward Jay Emmanuel-Thomas – who joined the club after being released on parole after being sentenced to four years imprisonment for his involvement in attempting to smuggle cannabis into the UK. However, he does not appear to have featured for Totton since pre-season, so may not be troubling Dunn this weekend.

The club had another famous name – Charlie Austin – on their books last season, but he swapped Dorking for Basingstoke Town over the summer. Instead, Totton’s firepower could come from the prolific Tony Lee – who scored twice in a recent league win over Tonbridge Angels, and has also bagged against Torquay United, Eastbourne Borough and Chesham.

Dorking’s meteoric rise means they’re no strangers to publicity

The story is the latest headline grabber from Wanderers – who have enjoyed a meteoric and impressive rise up the football pyramid under the stewardship of Marc White. In addition to his credentials in football management and ownership, White has had business success in marketing – and it is difficult not to speculate whether Dorking’s announcement is everything it seems.

The club was formed in 1999 by a group of friends – playing parks football, but would go into secure 12 promotions in 23 seasons – to rise from the Crawley & District League League, all the way to the National League, though they were relegated back to the sixth tier in 2024.

White has been involved from the very beginning. 

Publicity stunt, or Dunn deal?

This could all be a publicity stunt – or perhaps Dorking’s charismatic manager and owner White making some sort of statement to the league about registering new players.

Dunn could be taken off the field after just a few minutes of playing time – adding a few curious bums on seats to the gate, getting Dorking talked about on social media, and backing up the announcement Dunn will start the game – only for Sullivan to enter the fray moments into the match. Any such event would be in a similar vein to musician Pete Doherty’s five minute cameo appearance for Margate FC, before being substituted ahead of a concert the same day. That, however, was in a friendly against Tonbridge Angels, and not a competitive fixture. The Libertines – Doherty’s band – are the sponsors of Margate’s shirts.

He may also not feature in the game at all. Or – as Dorking currently say – this could all be true, and he is set to not only become the oldest player to ever play for Dorking, but presumably one of, if not the oldest, to play in the top six tiers of English football for many years. Dunn reportedly has only played walking football recently, and not been a regular shot stopper for 28 years.

In 2015, a little higher up the football pyramid, former England goalkeeper Dave Beasant became the oldest individual to be selected in a match day squad in Football League history – warming the bench for Stevenage Borough in a League Two play-off semi-final against Southend United at the age of 56, but he never got on the field. Starting a competitive league game is a different thing altogether.

Regardless, there’ll be a few more people than usual on Saturday afternoon joining Dorking’s 52,600 X followers to see if Dunn starts the game, and – if so – how the fan’s stint as temporary custodian will play out. Dunn deal, or dud news? We’ll find out on Saturday afternoon – as will some hopeful punters,

Photos in this piece reproduced with kind permission of Dorking Wanderers FC, and AFC Totton. The image of AFC Totton’s Tony Lee was taken by Harvey Gerring.