{"id":42544,"date":"2025-05-28T12:39:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T12:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/kitroomcollective\/?p=42544"},"modified":"2025-06-07T16:44:51","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T16:44:51","slug":"exclusive-marc-white-on-all-things-dorking-touchline-outfits-kit-culture-and-climbing-the-pyramid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/kitroomcollective\/?p=42544","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Marc White on All Things Dorking- Touchline Outfits, Kit Culture and Climbing The Pyramid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1999, Marc White and three of his mates set up a team for nothing more than a laugh. Starting out in step 17 of English football, the very bottom of the football pyramid, Dorking Wanderers were just a bunch of mates with a vision that barely went beyond the pub trip after the game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was no grand plan, nothing fancy,\u201d White revals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe vision was just to have a good social network of friends playing football. It was simply something to do on a Saturday afternoon. When we started, you\u2019d pay five quid, put the nets up yourself, and head to the pub afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a Saturday league team with a Sunday league ethos.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now one of England\u2019s most viral managers, Marc White began his journey on the pitch as a player for Dorking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was a goal-scoring left-winger with more fat than pace to burn,\u201d White laughs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The early kits they selected, very much like the team, were improvised and cobbled together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt actually was just different ideas. At different times we went with different kits, we had an Inter Milan sort of look initially.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a team from the fashion capital of the world didn\u2019t quite fit Dorking\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEventually, we settled on red and white because those are the colors of the local rugby club and the town itself. Once we became the biggest team in Dorking and started doing really well, it just made sense to adopt the town\u2019s colors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 25 years, 12 promotions, and only one relegation, Dorking Wanderers now compete in the National League South, just two promotions away from competing in League Two.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The club\u2019s meteoric rise hasn\u2019t been without its challenges, and White reveals the off-field struggles that came with climbing the leagues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe used council pitches for years. After six or seven years, the first thing we did was put a rope around the pitch. Then, over time, came floodlights, changing rooms, tea bars, and eventually a 200-seater stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve probably spent around \u00a32 million in the last three years just to be able to play in the National League. The higher we go, the more it\u2019s about money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just like the facilities, the kits had to evolve to match the club\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s gone from like the local landlord of the pub giving us 200 quid for a kit to having a five year sponsorship deal with Macron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery single side of the club, we’re pretty much professional in every sense of the word.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of this remarkable ascent is captured in A Bunch of Amateurs<\/em>, a fly-on-the-wall YouTube series documenting the everyday running of the club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The series has become a viral sensation, racking up 400 million unique views last year, turning Marc White into a social media star, largely down to his lively touchline antics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of their most viewed videos, each with over 2 million views, feature fans poking fun at White\u2019s touchline outfits, and he\u2019s always quick to fire back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen things like the \u2018your wife\u2019s jeans\u2019 videos come out, it\u2019s just everyday life for us, especially when you\u2019re starting out in step 17. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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