2021–22 Sutton United F.C. season explained

Club:	Sutton United F.C.
Season:	2021–22
Chairman:	Bruce Elliott
Manager:	Matt Gray
Stdtitle:	Ground
Stadium:	Gander Green Lane
League:	League Two
League Result:	8th
Cup1:	FA Cup
Cup1 Result:	Second round (eliminated by Bristol Rovers)
Cup2:	EFL Cup
Cup2 Result:	First round (eliminated by Cardiff City)
Cup3:	EFL Trophy
Cup3 Result:	Runners-up
League Topscorer:	David Ajiboye Isaac Olaofe Alistair Smith (8)
Season Topscorer:	Isaac Olaofe Alistair Smith (9)
Highest Attendance:	4,010 v Bradford City, 30 April 2022
Lowest Attendance:	770 v Stevenage, 30 November 2021
Average Attendance:	3,089
Largest Win:	4–0 v Carlisle United, 25 September 2021
Largest Loss:	1–4 v Leyton Orient, 20 November 2021 1–4 v Bradford City, 30 April 2022
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Prevseason:	2020–21
Nextseason:	2022–23

The 2021–22 Sutton United F.C. season was the 95th edition of competitive association football and first season in the English Football League played by Sutton United Football Club, a professional football club based in Sutton in the London Borough of Sutton, England. They won, and were therefore promoted from, the National League in 2020–21 to earn entry into the EFL League Two.^{[1] [2]} The club contested in this season's edition of the FA Cup; and for the first time, in the EFL Cup and EFL Trophy. The season ran from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022.

Background

See also: List of Sutton United F.C. seasons. The 2020–21 season was Matt Gray's second full season as Sutton United manager, having taken over the role in May 2019. Sutton finished the season as champions of the 2020–21 National League to gain promotion out of non-League football for the first time in the club's 123-year history, and into League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.^[2]

As EFL rules require that all matches have to be played on grass surfaces, Sutton began work on tearing up their artificial pitch at Gander Green Lane in order to meet the requirements on 31 May 2020.^[3]

Pre-season

Sutton United announced they would have friendlies against Brentford XI,^[4] Chesham United,^[5] Maidstone United,^[6] Haringey Borough,^[7] Aldershot Town,^[4] Dartford^[6] and Barnet^[8] as part of the club's pre-season preparations.

On 12 July, it was announced the scheduled friendly against Brentford XI was off due to players coming into contact with an individual testing positive for COVID-19, the club confirmed they would travel to face Chesham United instead.^[5] On 15 July, the upcoming game against Maidstone United was called off due to a positive COVID-19 test result in the Sutton squad.^[9]

Competitions

League Two

See main article: 2021–22 EFL League Two.

Matches

Sutton's full league fixture were released on 24 June 2021.^[10]

FA Cup

See main article: 2021–22 FA Cup.

Sutton United were drawn away to Hayes & Yeading United in the first round.^[11]

EFL Cup

See main article: 2021–22 EFL Cup.

U's were drawn away to Cardiff City in the first round.^{[12] [13]}

EFL Trophy

See main article: 2021–22 EFL Trophy.

See also: 2022 EFL Trophy Final.

United were drawn into the group stages alongside AFC Wimbledon, Crystal Palace U21s and Portsmouth.^[14] The group stage fixtures were announced on July 15.^[15]

Transfers

Transfers in

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2021					Free transfer	^[16]
1 July 2021					Free transfer
1 July 2021					Undisclosed
1 July 2021					Undisclosed	^[17]
6 July 2021					Free transfer	^[18]
9 July 2021					Free transfer	^[19]
1 October 2021			Harry Palmer	Unattached	Free transfer	^[20]
14 January 2022					Free transfer	^[21]

Transfers out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
30 June 2021				Retired	Released	^[23]
30 June 2021					Released	^[24]
30 June 2021			Callum Kealy		Released	^[25]
30 June 2021			Jude Mason		Released	^[26]
30 June 2021			Joash Nembhard		Released	^[27] ^[28]
30 June 2021			Bradley Pearce		Released	^[29]
30 June 2021					Released	^[30]
31 October 2021			Harry Palmer		Released	^[31]
31 January 2022					Undisclosed	^[32]

Loans out

Start date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Date until	Ref.
28 August 2021			Adam Lovatt		26 September 2021	^[33]
24 September 2021			Kylian Kouassi		24 October 2021	^[34]
21 October 2021			Adam Lovatt		14 March 2022	^[35]
26 October 2021			Kylian Kouassi		4 March 2022	^[36] ^[37] ^[38]
2 November 2021			Filip Chalupniczak		1 December 2021	^[39]
15 January 2022			Brad House		31 January 2022	^[40]
3 March 2022			Roman Charles-Cook		31 March 2022	^[41]

Squad statistics

Appearances

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	EFL League Two		EFL Cup		EFL Trophy		FA Cup		Total
				Apps	Starts	Apps	Starts	Apps	Starts	Apps	Starts	Apps	Starts
1	GK		Dean Bouzanis	44	44	1	1	6	5	2	2	53	52
2	DF		Jonathan Barden	21	18	1	1	3	3	1	1	26	23
3	DF		Ben Wyatt	16	13	0	0	7	6	1	1	24	20
4	DF		Coby Rowe	15	12	1	1	4	3	1	1	21	17
5	DF		Ben Goodliffe	43	43	1	1	7	7	2	2	53	53
6	DF		Louis John	36	36	0	0	6	6	1	1	43	43
7	FW		David Ajiboye	43	42	1	1	4	2	2	2	50	47
8	MF		Kenny Davis	20	12	1	1	4	3	1	1	26	17
9	FW		Omar Bugiel	39	27	1	1	4	2	2	2	46	32
10	MF		Harry Beautyman	19	12	1	1	3	3	0	0	23	16
11	MF		Will Randall	28	18	0	0	5	5	2	2	35	25
12	GK		Stuart Nelson	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
13	GK		Brad House	0	0	0	0	3	3	0	0	3	3
14	MF		Craig Dundas	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	0
15	MF		Craig Eastmond	31	31	1	1	6	4	1	1	39	37
16	FW		Isaac Olaofe	27	18	0	0	5	2	2	2	34	22
17	FW		Tobi Sho-Silva	7	4	0	0	4	2	1	0	12	6
18	MF		Adam Lovatt	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3
19	FW		Ricky Korboa	14	3	0	0	5	4	1	0	20	7
20	MF		Enzio Boldewijn	39	27	1	0	7	4	2	0	49	31
22	DF		Joe Kizzi	32	31	0	0	7	7	1	1	40	39
23	GK		Harry Palmer	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	DF		Robert Milsom	38	37	1	1	5	2	2	2	46	42
25	FW		Donovan Wilson	38	23	1	1	7	6	2	0	48	30
26	FW		Richie Bennett	38	22	1	0	8	5	1	0	48	27
27	FW		Kylian Kouassi	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
29	MF		Alistair Smith	33	28	1	0	5	4	1	1	40	33
32	GK		Filip Chalupniczak	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total				46		1		8		2		57

Goals

			Player	EFL League Two	EFL Cup	EFL Trophy	FA Cup	Total
1	FW	16	Isaac Olaofe	8	0	1	0	9
	MF	29	Alistair Smith	8	0	1	0	9
3	FW	7	David Ajiboye	8	0	0	0	8
	FW	25	Donovan Wilson	4	1	3	0	8
5	MF	11	Will Randall	4	0	1	2	7
	DF	24	Robert Milsom	7	0	0	0	7
7	DF	22	Joe Kizzi	6	0	0	0	6
	FW	26	Richie Bennett	6	0	0	0	6
9	FW	9	Omar Bugiel	4	0	0	0	4
10	DF	5	Ben Goodliffe	3	0	0	0	3
	MF	15	Craig Eastmond	1	0	2	0	3
	FW	19	Ricky Korboa	2	0	1	0	3
13	DF	4	Coby Rowe	1	1	0	0	2
	DF	6	Louis John	1	0	1	0	2
	MF	10	Harry Beautyman	2	0	0	0	2
	MF	20	Enzio Boldewijn	2	0	0	0	2
17	MF	8	Kenny Davis	1	0	0	0	1
	FW	17	Tobi Sho-Silva	0	0	1	0	1
	Own goals			1	0	1	0	2
	Total			69	2	12	2	85

Assists

			Player	EFL League Two	EFL Cup	EFL Trophy	FA Cup	Total
1	DF	24	Robert Milsom	7	0	0	0	7
	FW	25	Donovan Wilson	4	0	1	2	7
3	FW	7	David Ajiboye	5	1	0	0	6
	MF	20	Enzio Boldewijn	5	0	1	0	6
	FW	26	Richie Bennett	5	0	1	0	6
6	FW	9	Omar Bugiel	4	0	0	0	4
7	DF	22	Joe Kizzi	3	0	0	0	3
8	MF	8	Kenny Davis	2	0	0	0	2
	MF	29	Alistair Smith	1	0	1	0	2
10	GK	1	Dean Bouzanis	1	0	0	0	1
	DF	5	Ben Goodliffe	0	0	1	0	1
	DF	6	Louis John	1	0	0	0	1
	MF	10	Harry Beautyman	1	0	0	0	1
	MF	11	Will Randall	0	0	1	0	1
	MF	15	Craig Eastmond	1	0	0	0	1
	FW	19	Ricky Korboa	0	0	1	0	1
	Total			40	1	7	2	50

Clean sheets

width=10	No.	width=150	Player	width=100	EFL League Two	width=100	EFL Cup	width=100	EFL Trophy	width=100	FA Cup	width=100	Total
1		17	0	3	1	21
13	Brad House	0	0	3	0	3
	Total	17	0	5	1	23

Disciplinary record

No.	Pos.	Name	EFL League Two		EFL Cup		EFL Trophy		FA Cup		Total
1	GK	Dean Bouzanis	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
2	DF	Jonathan Barden	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
3	DF	Ben Wyatt	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
4	DF	Coby Rowe	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
5	DF	Ben Goodliffe	5	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	6	0
6	DF	Louis John	7	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	8	0
7	FW	David Ajiboye	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	0
8	MF	Kenny Davis	4	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	6	0
9	MF	Omar Bugiel	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
15	MF	Craig Eastmond	4	2	1	0	2	0	1	0	8	2
16	FW	Isaac Olaofe	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
19	FW	Ricky Korboa	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
20	MF	Enzio Boldewijn	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	0
22	DF	Joe Kizzi	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	6	0
24	DF	Robert Milsom	7	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	9	0
26	FW	Richie Bennett	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1
29	MF	Alistair Smith	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
Total			63	3	2	0	10	0	4	0	79	3

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sutton United promoted to League Two for first time in their history. Sky Sports. 23 May 2021. Matthew. Treadwell. 24 May 2021.
2. Web site: Sutton United 3–0 Hartlepool United. 23 May 2021. BBC Sport. Owen. Phillips. 24 May 2021.
3. Web site: Sutton United: Replacing pitch will cost promoted club over £500,000. 1 July 2021. BBC Sport.
4. Web site: Friendly schedule completed . Sutton United FC . 25 June 2021 . 25 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210625183320/https://www.suttonunited.net/friendly-schedule-completed/ . dead .
5. Web site: Tuesday night change of fixture . Sutton United FC . 12 July 2021 . 11 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210711172428/https://www.suttonunited.net/tuesday-night-change-of-fixture/ . dead .
6. Web site: Third friendly confirmed . Sutton United FC . 7 June 2021 . 7 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210607190622/https://www.suttonunited.net/third-friendly-confirmed/ . dead .
7. Web site: First friendlies confirmed . Sutton United FC . 3 June 2021 . 3 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210603130822/https://www.suttonunited.net/first-friendlies-confirmed/ . dead .
8. Web site: Third friendly confirmed. Farnborough FC . 23 June 2021.
9. Web site: Maidstone game cancelled . Sutton United FC . 15 July 2021 . 15 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210715182335/https://www.suttonunited.net/maidstone-game-cancelled/ . dead .
10. Web site: Familiar faces for U’s EFL debut . Sutton United FC . 24 June 2021 . 24 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210624080316/https://www.suttonunited.net/familiar-faces-for-us-efl-debut/ . dead .
11. News: EFL Clubs Enter The Emirates FA Cup, Following Sunday’s First Round Proper Draw . 18 October 2021 . The Football Association . 17 October 2021.
12. Web site: U’s head to Cardiff in Carabao Cup as EFL extends deal . Sutton United FC . 24 June 2021 . 24 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210624205856/https://www.suttonunited.net/us-head-to-cardiff-in-carabao-cup-as-efl-extends-deal/ . dead .
13. Web site: Cardiff date and kick off time confirmed . Sutton United FC . 5 July 2021 . 5 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210705133839/https://www.suttonunited.net/cardiff-date-and-kick-off-time-confirmed/ . dead .
14. Web site: Papa John’s Trophy – Dons, Palace and Pompey . Sutton United FC . 24 June 2021 . 24 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210624212450/https://www.suttonunited.net/papa-johns-trophy-dons-palace-and-pompey/ . dead .
15. Web site: Papa John’s Trophy fixture details . Sutton United FC . 15 July 2021 . 15 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210715195728/https://www.suttonunited.net/papa-johns-trophy-fixture-details/ . dead .
16. Web site: Welcome Joe Kizzi, Ricky Korboa and Alistair Smith . Sutton United FC . 1 July 2021 . 1 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210701112019/https://www.suttonunited.net/welcome-joe-kizzi-ricky-korboa-and-alistair-smith/ . dead .
17. Web site: Donovan Wilson makes move from Bath permanent . Sutton United FC . 11 June 2021 . 11 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210611132036/https://www.suttonunited.net/donovan-wilson-makes-move-from-bath-permanent/ . dead .
18. Web site: Welcome Enzio Boldewijn . Sutton United FC . 6 July 2021 . 6 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210706133122/https://www.suttonunited.net/welcome-enzio-boldewijn/ . dead .
19. Web site: Welcome Richie Bennett . Sutton United FC . 9 July 2021 . 9 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210709163004/https://www.suttonunited.net/welcome-richie-bennett/ . dead .
20. Web site: Northampton v Sutton preview and squad news . Sutton United FC . 1 October 2021.
21. Web site: Stevenage v Sutton preview and squad news. Sutton United FC . 14 January 2022.
22. Web site: Tanto rejoins on loan . Sutton United FC . 31 August 2021.
23. Web site: It’s been a long journey but I have decided to hang the boots up and retire from professional football. . . 18 September 2021.
24. Web site: Browne returns to Stones . Wealdstone FC . 23 June 2021.
25. Web site: An Aussie Joins The Wanderers. Dorking Wanderers FC . 24 June 2021.
26. Web site: Hey, Jude. isthimian.co.uk . 12 September 2021.
27. Web site: Squad news . Sutton United FC . 2 June 2021 . 2 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210602192517/https://www.suttonunited.net/squad-news-4/ . dead .
28. Web site: Jones Continues to Add to Tudors Squad. Non League Today. 28 October 2021.
29. Web site: Pearce joins Welling United from Sutton. nonleaguedaily.com . 15 July 2021.
30. Web site: SIMPSON SIGNS!. Hemel Hempstead Town Twitter. 17 September 2021.
31. Web site: Maidenhead United sign keeper Harry Palmer on short-term deal . Maidenhead Advertiser . 18 January 2022.
32. Web site: Tobi Sho-Silva joins Carlisle. Sutton United FC. 1 February 2022.
33. Web site: Would you Adam and Eve it? . Tonbridge Angels FC . 15 September 2021.
34. Web site: Sutton v Carlisle preview and squad news . Sutton United FC . 23 September 2021.
35. Web site: We’re loving that Adam has signed for rest of season . Tonbridge Angels FC . 28 January 2022.
36. Web site: Kylian Kouassi joins on a months loan . Chesham United FC . 19 November 2021.
37. Web site: Loan News . Chesham United FC . 26 November 2021.
38. Web site: Sutton v Rochdale preview . Sutton United FC . 4 March 2022.
39. Web site: The club is excited to announce Philip Chalupniczak has joined the club on a short term loan from @suttonunited ⚫️⚪️. Twitter. 6 November 2021.
40. Web site: Debut for Brad House in goal today!. Twitter. 16 January 2022.
41. Web site: Academy Scholar joins South Park . Sutton United FC . 3 March 2022.