“Some things don’t need comment.”
For years, Don Strapzy has said this as he watched SE Dons, his words becoming part of the soundtrack of a football club built on ambition, personality and a belief that the game belongs to everyone.
But when Alex Teniola scored in the 95th minute to complete a remarkable comeback against Chichester, the phrase found a new audience. The Dons were 2-1 down before scoring twice in added time to win 3-2. Don Strapzy’s comment went viral, capturing the kind of football drama that needs no embellishment.
There was more to come. A 5-1 win away to former National League club Weymouth followed, leaving the Dons one win away from the first round of the FA Cup.
Three seasons ago, they were playing football in the Sunday League. Now, after six games in their first FA Cup campaign, including a replay, they prepare to face Sholing in the fourth qualifying round, with Leicester City, Sheffield Wednesday or Reading among the clubs awaiting in the next round.
The Dons have already beaten four teams from the top flight. They are one of only three clubs left in the competition to have started in the extra preliminary round.
This is not supposed to happen. But then, the Dons have never been particularly interested in what’s supposed to happen.
“We’re normal people who dare to be great,” said Don Strapzy Sky Sports.
And this, perhaps, is the point.
The club, founded in 2014 by south-east London rapper Don Strapzy, real name Andrew McHugh, and his friends, has grown from a Sunday League team to a football club, a content platform and a community with more than 250,000 YouTube subscribers.
Don Strapzy founded SE Dons together with friends in 2014
The videos have taken supporters inside the dressing rooms, on the touchlines and into the lives of the people who make the club what it is. In 2024, a link with Forest Hill Park opened the door for Saturday football. Promotion followed and the name SE Dons was adopted for the 2025/26 campaign.
Their FA Cup debut came in August. A 2-0 win against Erith Town at their home ground, The Garrison, announced their entry into the competition.
Now, the dream is becoming hard to hold on to.
“I’ve been talking to my dad about it all the time,” Don Strapzy said. “My dad, he’d have a Guinness, and we’d get carried away. Like, ‘Son, we’re going to the third round, we’re going to get Man Utd.’
“And I’d say, ‘Dad, we’re getting ripped off.’
That conversation now has a different weight. His father, affectionately known as Mr Old Skool, has since passed away. So did his mother, Paula, who was a familiar presence around the club and helped with the outfits.
The legacy of ‘Mr Old Skool’ John McHugh (right) lives on through SE Dons (cc: DonStrapzy_)
Their names remain woven into the Dons.
“It’s allowed me to keep my parents’ names alive,” said Don Strapzy. “My mom, anything about Paula. People who haven’t met her, I hear my mom’s name all the time.
“My dad, Mr. Old Skool, he was a gentleman. He genuinely loved the club.”
Don Strapzy explained that after losing Paula, the club gave his dad something to look forward to every week. Now, shirts bearing Mr. Old Skool’s name and fans chanting for him in the 70th minute offer a way for his son to honor that legacy.
His faith, too, is central to the story.
“My life could have gone so differently,” he said. “I have friends who have left. They’re not coming back.
“My life could have gone the way it did if it wasn’t for my father, my mother and my faith in God.”
For all the jokes about European football, the ambition is genuine. Don Strapzy has no intention of pretending otherwise.
“If we manage to beat Sholing, I’m wondering, do we want the big draw now? Or do we try to get one we can get through?” he said.
“The way God is writing this script right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get to the third round.”
Meanwhile, the Europa League has already entered the conversation.
“We’ve been dreaming big since the beginning,” he said Sky Sports News. “If we can win the FA Cup, we will be in the Europa League next season.”
Tongue firmly in cheek, perhaps. But the Dons have earned the right to dream.
Teniola knows better than most what that trust looks like on the other side. Before joining the club, the striker played for Baiteeze Squad, one of the Dons’ biggest rivals in the Sunday League. He described their rivalry as Man Utd-Arsenal of that level, with hundreds attending matches helping to turn grassroots football into a spectacle again.
However, when the opportunity to join the Dons came, Teniola recognized something familiar.
“I’ve always been a SE Dons player,” he said. “I wear my heart on my sleeve. And that’s the kind of culture that has been bred at SE Dons.”
His late winner against Chichester was a reminder of why he fits. Introduced in the 85th minute, he kept his composure to slot the ball under the keeper and celebrate with his teammates.
“I can never explain the feeling of scoring a winner,” he said. “It’s one of the best feelings in the world.”
The goal also had a personal significance. Teniola’s nickname, “Teniola Time”, dates back to a late goal for Tonbridge Angels around a decade ago. His latest intervention has given the name another chapter.
Alex Teniola scores the winner in injury time as SE Dons beat Chichester in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup (cc: TeniolaTime)
For Don Strapzy, the importance of the right characters goes beyond goals.
“You’re not just a footballer,” he said. “You need the right characters in your dressing room, the right leaders, the right mentality.”
Big G, the club’s longtime captain and goalkeeper, understands this better than most. George Kamurasi is of royal descent in Uganda’s Tooro Kingdom and can often be heard on a match day shouting the Dons spirit from between the sticks.
His story reflects the extraordinary lives behind the badge. His pain, including the death of his parents, has also helped form a club where remembrance and belonging are never far from the surface.
“What you see on camera is real,” Teniola said. “No one is acting.”
This authenticity is the Dons’ greatest asset. Viking-style celebrations, music, travel support and catchphrases may have helped them build an audience, but football is now matching the spectacle.
Don Strapzy has no illusions about what comes next. Sholing are two divisions above the Dons and have their FA Cup dream to defend. There will be no bypassing them.
But a place in the first round would put a club born into Sunday League football alongside storied Premier League sides. For a band that once dreamed of taking on Manchester United for a drink and a chat, that would be something.
“It’s history, bro,” said Don Strapzy. “We are literally making history.”
The Dons have spent years building their boat to conquer new shores. One more win could take them somewhere they’ve never been before.
And if Teniola finds himself back in the right place at the right time, maybe the commentary will take care of itself.
Some things don’t need comment. Some things just have to be seen.
