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1997–98 Kent Football League

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The 1997–98 Kent Football League season (known as the Winstonlead Kent League for sponsorship reasons) was the 32nd in the history of the Kent Football League, a football competition in England.

The League structure comprised two divisions: Division One and Division Two with the latter known as the Reserves Section (reserves teams were not permitted in Division One). Additionally there were two league cup competitions: the Challenge Cup for the Division One clubs and another for the teams in the Division Two.

Following this season the two divisions, Division One and Two were renamed the Premier Division and Division One respectively..

Division One

Kent Football League Division One
Season1997–98
ChampionsHerne Bay
PromotedFolkestone Invicta
Matches played462
Goals scored1,587 (3.44 per match)

The league featured 22 clubs, 21 of which competed in the previous season together with one additional club:

Also, Furness changed their name to Swanley Furness,[3] and Woolwich Town changed their name to Erith Town.[4]

The division was won by Herne Bay for the second season in succession,[5] and for the fourth time during the 1990s.[6][7] Runners-up Folkestone Invicta took promotion to the Southern League.[8]

Corinthian finished bottom of the table for the second season running, and resigned at the end of the season[9] after seven years in the Kent Football League. The club withdrew from senior football for several years in order to concentrate on its youth teams.[10]

Swanley Furness also resigned from the league despite finishing fourth in the table, dropping down to Division Two due to the club's lack of floodlights[3] which were a requirement from the following season.[11]

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Season End Notes
1 Herne Bay 42 34 5 3 105 29 +76 107
2 Folkestone Invicta 42 31 4 7 127 42 +85 97 Promoted to the Southern League Southern Division
3 Sheppey United 42 27 10 5 110 63 +47 91
4 Swanley Furness 42 22 9 11 86 50 +36 75 Resigned to Division Two
5 Greenwich Borough 42 21 11 10 83 42 +41 74
6 Cray Wanderers 42 20 11 11 70 50 +20 71
7 Beckenham Town 42 21 7 14 67 54 +13 70
8 Whitstable Town 42 19 11 12 72 54 +18 68
9 VCD Athletic 42 17 14 11 88 62 +26 65
10 Lordswood 42 18 9 15 70 64 +6 63
11 Tunbridge Wells 42 17 6 19 73 76 −3 57
12 Thamesmead Town 42 15 9 18 69 70 −1 54
13 Ramsgate 42 14 9 19 80 85 −5 51
14 Hythe United 42 15 5 22 75 103 −28 50
15 Faversham Town 42 14 12 16 62 68 −6 49[a]
16 Slade Green 42 12 13 17 58 67 −9 49
17 Deal Town 42 15 4 23 76 97 −21 49
18 Chatham Town 42 12 12 18 56 66 −10 48
19 Erith Town 42 12 6 24 48 86 −38 42
20 Canterbury City 42 8 6 28 45 96 −51 30
21 Crockenhill 42 6 2 34 31 133 −102 20
22 Corinthian 42 2 5 35 36 130 −94 11 Resigned from the league
Source: FCHD
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ Faversham Town were deducted five points.[12]

Challenge Cup

The 1997–98 Kent Football League Challenge Cup was won by Greenwich Borough.[13]

The competition was contested by the 22 teams from the Division One over five rounds: the first three were a single match knock-out followed by the semis-finals on an aggregate basis (home and away matches) and the final match played on a neutral ground (at Folkestone Invicta F.C.[14] this season).

Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
               
Herne Bay 5
Erith Town 2
Herne Bay 5 1 6
Sheppey United 0 1 1
Tunbridge Wells 3[a]
Sheppey United 7[a]
Herne Bay 0
Greenwich Borough 1
Greenwich Borough 2
VCD Athletic 1
Greenwich Borough 6 1 7
Cray Wanderers 0 1 1
Cray Wanderers 1
Swanley Furness 0
  1. ^ a b After extra time, score at 90 minutes 3–3

Sources:

  • Quarter-finals: "Weekend Results: Winstonlead Kent League: Division 1 Cup Quarter-Finals". Kent Today. 2 February 1998. p. 35. Retrieved 19 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  • Semi-finals: "Weekend Results: Kent League, Division 1 Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg". Kent Today. 23 March 1998. p. 35. Retrieved 19 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.; "Weekend Results: Winstonlead Division 1 Cup Semi-Final 2nd Leg". Kent Today. 30 March 1998. p. 35. Retrieved 19 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  • Final: "Weekend Round-up: Winstonlead Kent League: Division 1 Cup final". Kent Today. 5 May 1998. p. 32. Retrieved 19 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Second Round

First Round

Sources:

Reserves Section

The letter "R" following team names indicates a club’s reserves team.

The 1997–98 Division Two featured reserves teams (which were not permitted in Division One) from Kent and the adjacent area based clubs whose first team played in Division One and other higher ranked leagues. There was a League Cup competition for the teams in the section.

Division Two

Kent Football League Division Two
Season1997–98
ChampionsSittingbourne R
Matches played342
Goals scored1,260 (3.68 per match)

The season commenced with the 20 clubs who had competed in the division the previous season, however Faversham Town R withdrew in October and their playing record was expunged.[15]

Prior to the season Furness R changed their name to Swanley Furness R.[3]

The division was won by Sittingbourne R.[16]

At the end of the season two clubs left the division: Tonbridge R resigned from the league and transferred to the Suburban League[17]; and Corinthian R[9] who withdrew from senior football to concentrate on its youth teams.[10]

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Season End Notes
1 Sittingbourne R 36 25 7 4 105 35 +70 82
2 Tonbridge R 36 24 9 3 93 34 +59 81 Transferred to the Suburban League
3 Thamesmead Town R 36 22 6 8 67 40 +27 72
4 Swanley Furness R 36 20 5 11 79 45 +34 65
5 Folkestone Invicta R 36 20 5 11 69 57 +12 65
6 Dartford R 36 21 7 8 75 49 +26 64[a]
7 Dover Athletic R 36 19 6 11 85 49 +36 63
8 Lordswood R 36 17 8 11 71 51 +20 59
9 Herne Bay R 36 17 7 12 75 57 +18 58
10 Margate R 36 16 7 13 60 59 +1 55
11 Hastings Town R 36 14 7 15 85 69 +16 49
12 Chatham Town R 36 10 10 16 47 61 −14 40
13 Ramsgate R 36 11 4 21 60 94 −34 37
14 Whitstable Town R 36 10 5 21 59 89 −30 35
15 Hythe United R 36 11 2 23 62 103 −41 35
16 Corinthian R 36 9 5 22 47 74 −27 32 Resigned
17 Beckenham Town R 36 7 6 23 40 86 −46 27
18 Crockenhill R 36 7 5 24 38 98 −60 26
19 Deal Town R 36 5 3 28 43 110 −67 18
Source: "Winstonlead Kent League: Final Table 1997-98: Division 2". Kentish Gazette. 21 May 1998. p. 71. Retrieved 19 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ Dartford R were deducted six points

Division Two Cup

The 1997–98 Kent Football League Division Two Cup was won by Thamesmead Town R.[18]

The competition was drawn for the initial twenty teams from Division Two (prior to the resignation of Faversham Town R) and comprised five rounds: the first three were a single match knock-out followed by the semis-finals on an aggregate basis (home and away matches) and a single match final on a neutral ground (at Whitstable Town F.C.[19] this season).

Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
               
Herne Bay R 6
Hythe United R 2
Herne Bay R 5 1 6
Folkestone Invicta R 1 1 2
Folkestone Invicta R 1
Dartford R 0
Herne Bay R 1[b] 4p[c]
Thamesmead Town R 1[b] 5p[c]
Thamesmead Town R
Swanley Furness R
Thamesmead Town R 1 1[a] 2
Sittingbourne R 1 0[a] 1
Lordswood R 1
Sittingbourne R 2
  1. ^ a b After extra time, score at 90 mins: 0–0
  2. ^ a b After extra time, score at 90 mins: 0–0
  3. ^ a b Penalty shoot-out

Sources:

Second Round

First Round

Sources:

References

  1. ^ "VCD Athletic at FCHD". FCHD. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Old club pays the ultimate penalty". Dover Express. Dover. 26 June 1997. p. 77.
  3. ^ a b c "Swanley Furness at FCHD". FCHD. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Erith Town FC – A Brief History". Erith Town Youth F.C. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  5. ^ "First Division past winners / runners-up". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Herne Bay F.C. – New history". Herne Bay F.C. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Herne Bay at FCHD". FCHD. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Folkestone Invicta 1997–98". Folkestone Invicta F.C. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Soccer: Corinthian Football Club...". Gravesend Messenger. Aylesford. 24 June 1998. p. 63.
  10. ^ a b Bauckham, David (26 October 2016). "The Last Corinthian". Centre Circle Publishing. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  11. ^ "Warning for clubs without lights". Canterbury Times. Canterbury. 22 January 1998. p. 74.
  12. ^ "Kent League 1992–2011". Non-League Matters. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  13. ^ "League Cup Winners since 1923". SCEFL. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Football Fixtures: Saturday: Winstonlead Kent League: Division 1 Cup Final". Herne Bay Times. Canterbury. 30 April 1998. p. 63.
  15. ^ "Club in hot water with youth league". Faversham Times. Faversham. 22 October 1997. p. 48.
  16. ^ "Reserves First Division winners / runners-up". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  17. ^ "Tonbridge leave league". Kent Messenger. Aylesford. 19 June 1998. p. 84.
  18. ^ "Reserves Division(s) League Cup". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  19. ^ "Sporting Week Ahead: Saturday: Soccer: Winstonlead Kent League: Division 2 Cup final". Kent Today. Aylesford. 6 April 1998. p. 35.
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