Liam Blaney on a great season for Wingate and Finchley ending in a narrow play-off defeat

Wingate and Finchley take on Enfield Town in the play-off semi final – Credit – Martin Addison

Wingate & Finchley had one of the most successful seasons in their history in 2023/24. The Blues managed a 4th place finish with a tally of 76 points, meaning that they qualified for the Isthmian Premier Division playoffs.

Unfortunately this proved a step too far, with a narrow 1–0 defeat in front of over 2,000 spectators at Enfield Town, who eventually won in the final and will be promoted into the National League South for 2024/25.

The success of this season has not come overnight and is the culmination of a lot of hard work by the management team, led by club legend and all-time record appearance holder Ahmet Rifat, who took over during the previous season when the Blues were rooted to the bottom of the table. His first game in charge was a 5–0 victory and there was no looking back as he led the Summers Lane side to safety.

A large part of the success this season was thanks to a huge number of goals scored, with the front three of Anointed Chukwu, Elliot Long and Ruben Carvalho combining to score over 60 league goals between them.

A prime example of their ruthless scoring ability was a 6–2 victory over Canvey Island, all three scoring a brace on that day. Unsurprisingly, Long was named players’ player of the season and Carvalho secured the supporters’ award.

The squad that Rifat has assembled during the course of his time in charge is young and exciting, with an average age of around 24 across the whole of this season, and talented young players throughout the side, as well as the aforementioned frontline.

The Blues will be looking to keep this excellent squad together to push for another top-half finish in 2024/25. Pre-season fixtures are already scheduled this summer, with local visits to the likes of Hadley and Ware while we welcome Peterborough and Watford U23 to the Maurice Rebak Stadium.

As chairman Aron Sharpe alluded to during the club’s end of season awards ceremony, there is a real optimism around the club after the success of this season, as demonstrated by a growth in attendance of 34% compared with the previous campaign, and a growing number of young people involved in the club.

Wingate are always looking for enthusiastic volunteers – if you’d like to get involved in the club, please contact us at wingatefinchley.com

Read end of season reviews from supporters of the borough’s other football clubs: Barnet, Hadley and Hendon.

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else. £84 annual supporters get a print copy by post and a digital copy of each month's before anyone else.