“Some things don’t need an explanation.”
For years Don Strapzy has been saying this while watching SE Dons, his words becoming part of the soundtrack of a football club that believes in ambition, personality and the game for all.
But the phrase found a new audience when Alex Teniola scored in the 95th minute to complete a remarkable turnaround against Chichester. The Dons trailed 2-1 before scoring twice in extra time to win 3-2. Don Strapzy’s comment went viral and featured football drama that needed no embellishment.
There was more to come. A 5-1 win away to former National League club Weymouth saw the Dons move out of the first round of the FA Cup with a win.
Three seasons ago they were playing Sunday League football. Now, after six matches in their first FA Cup campaign, they are set to face Sholing in the fourth qualifying round with Leicester City, Sheffield Wednesday or Reading among the clubs awaiting in the next round, including a replay.
The Dons have already beaten four major league teams. They are one of three clubs left in the competition, which began in an extra preliminary round.
It doesn’t have to happen. But then the Dons were never particularly interested in what would happen.
“We’re normal people who dare to be big,” said Don Strapzy Sky Sports.
And maybe that’s the point.
Founded in 2014 by south-east London rapper Don Strapzy, real name Andrew McHugh, and friends, the club has grown from a Sunday league team to a football club, content platform and community with over 250,000 YouTube subscribers.
Don Strapzy founded SE Dons in 2014 with his friends
The videos took supporters into the dressing rooms, touchlines and into the lives of the people who make the club what it is. A link with Forest Hill Park in 2024 opened the door to Saturday football. A promotion followed and the name SE Dons was adopted for the 2025/26 campaign.
Their FA Cup debut took place in August. Garrison, who won 2-0 over Erith Town at home, announced that they have come to the competition.
Now it becomes difficult to maintain the dream.
“I always talked to my dad about it,” Don Strapzy said. “Dad, he’d get the Guinness and we’d get carried away. Like, ‘Son, we’re in the third round, take Man Utd.’
“And I’d say, ‘Dad, let’s go.’
This conversation now carries a different weight. His father, affectionately known as Mr. Old Skool, has since passed away. So is his mother, Paula, who he met at the club and helps with sets.
‘Mr Old Skool’ legacy lives on through John McHugh (right), SE Dons (cc: DonStrapzy_)
Their names remain attached to the Dons.
“It allowed me to keep my parents’ names alive,” said Don Strapzy. “My mom, everything for Paula. People who don’t know her, I hear my mom’s name all the time.
“My dad, Mr. Old Skool, he was a gentleman. He really 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 singing for him in the 70th minute offer his son a way to honor that legacy.
His faith is also central to the story.
“My life could have gone very differently,” he said. “I have friends who are gone, they will not come back.
“If it wasn’t for my father, my mother and my faith in the Lord, my life could have gone this way.”
For all the jokes about European football, the ambition is genuine. Don Strapzy isn’t going to do it any other way.
“If we can beat Sholing, I ask myself, do we want a big tie now? Or are we going to try to get a tie that we can potentially go through?” he said.
“The way God is writing this script right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get to the third round.”
The European League has already entered the conversation.
“We dreamed big from 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 wish.
Teniola knows better than most what this belief looks like on the other side. Before joining the club, the forward played for one of the Dons’ big rivals in the Sunday League, Baiteeze Squad. He described their rivalry as that level of Man Utd-Arsenal, with hundreds of people turning out for matches that helped make football a spectacle again.
When the opportunity came to join the Dons again, 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 bred at SE Dons.”
His late winner against Chichester was a reminder of why he is fit. Entering the field in the 85th minute, he kept his composure and passed the ball under the goalkeeper and sent his teammates into celebration.
“I can never explain the feeling of scoring the winner,” he said. “It’s one of the best feelings in the world.”
The goal also had personal significance. Teniola’s nickname “Teniola Time” refers to a late goal for Tonbridge Angels nearly a decade ago. His last intervention gave the title 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 football player,” he said. “You need the right characters, the right leaders, the right mentality in your dressing room.”
Big G, the club’s long-time captain and goalkeeper, understands this better than most. George Kamurasi is of royal descent in Uganda’s Tooro Kingdom and often calls out the Dons spirit from between the sticks on match day.
His story reflects the extraordinary lives behind the badge. Her own grief, including the death of her parents, has helped shape a club where remembrance and belonging are never far from the surface.
“What you see on camera is real,” Teniola said. “Nobody’s moving.”
This originality is the greatest asset of the Dons. Viking-style celebrations, music, traveling support and interesting expressions may have helped them build a following, but football now suits the spectacle.
Don Strapzy is under no illusions about what’s next. Sholing are two divisions above the Dons and have their own FA Cup dream to defend. They cannot be ignored.
But the right place in the first round put a club born in Sunday League football alongside teams with a Premier League background. It would be one thing for a group that once dreamed of taking on Manchester United over a drink and a chat.
“It’s history, bro,” Don Strapzy said. “We are literally making history.”
The Dons spent years building their own boats to conquer new shores. One more win could take them to a place they’ve never been before.
And if Teniola finds himself in the right place at the right time again, maybe the interpretation will take care of itself.
Some things need no explanation. Some things just have to be seen.