First Team

Bumper 2026-27 pre-season schedule set out

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Walthamstow are set for a bumper pre-season, as manager Gifton Noel-Williams prepares his team for the upcoming Isthmian Division One North campaign.

Things will kick off on the 4th of July with a game against Eastern Senior League South side Newbury Forest, which will be followed by a trip to Wormley Rovers, where Ryan Wade – who won the Essex Senior League with Walthamstow as a player – is manager.

The two highlights of pre-season will be the visit of a Watford XI to Wadham Lodge on 18 July, and a game against a celebrity XI on 21 July. This celebrity game will feature as the Kaylen Dennis Cup, in memory of the Stow youngster who tragically lost his life while playing.

Split squads will feature in three games in two days, as Stow play West Essex at Home, and then Hadley and Romford away simultaneously.

Things will end away to Herne Bay on the 1st of August, ahead of the season proper starting on 8 August.

The full pre-season schedule is as follows:

  • Saturday 4 July, 3pm – Newbury Forest (A) – Westlands Playing Fields
  • Tuesday 7 July, 7.45pm – Wormley Rovers (A)
  • Wednesday 8 July, 8pm – SOUL Tower Hamlets (H) – Wadham Lodge 3G
  • Saturday 11 July, 3pm – Ilford (H) – Wadham Lodge 3G
  • Tuesday 14 July, 7.45pm – Fisher (A)
  • Saturday 18 July, 3pm – Watford XI (H) – Wadham Lodge stadium
  • Tuesday 21 July, 7.45pm – Celeb XI (H) – Wadham Lodge stadium
  • Friday 24 July, 7.45pm – West Essex (A) – Wadham Lodge stadium
  • Saturday 25 July, 3pm – Hadley (A)
  • Saturday 25 July, 3pm – Romford (A)
  • Tuesday 28 July, 7.45pm – Hemel Hempstead Town (A)
  • Saturday 1 August, 3pm – Herne Bay (A)