The man who fired AFC Portchester into Step 4 football has decided to leave the club in search of more regular game time.

Marley Ridge wrote himself into Portchester folklore forever after scoring the goal on 78 minutes at Cowes Sports on April 8, 2025, which secured the Wessex League Premier Division title and with it promotion to the Pitching In Isthmian League South Central Division.

He joined the Royals ahead of the 2021-22 season and to date he has made 219 appearances for the club.

In his four years with the Royals he has proved to be a regular goalscorer too. So much so that the 38 goals he has netted during his time at The OnSite Group Stadium puts him in joint 11th place on the club’s all-time highest goalscorers list.

During the 2022-23 season he scored 15 goals, with two stand out goals from outside the penalty area in the home game with Hamble Club in March 2023 immediately coming to mind.

Last season he netted ten goals – including that history making strike at Cowes Sports – and the last goal he scored for the Royals was the memorable equaliser at Gloucester City in this season’s FA Cup run.

Ridge is immensly popular with the fans after helping the club to win five major honours – the Hampshire Senior Cup in 2024 and completing the quadruple of Wessex League Premier Division, Wessex League Cup, Russell Cotes Cup and Portsmouth Senior Cup last season.

He has decided it is time to seek a move away from AFC Portchester to get more regular game time. So far this season he has appeared 30 times for the Royals in a mixture of starts and substitute appearances.