1998–99 Kent Football League

The 1998–99 Kent Football League season (known as the Winstonlead Kent League for sponsorship reasons) was the 33rd in the history of Kent Football League a football competition in England.

The League structure comprised two divisions: a Premier Division together with a Reserves Section league, Division One. The two divisions had been renamed respectively from Division One and Division Two of the previous season. Reserves teams were not permitted in the Premier Division. Additionally there were two league cup competitions: the Challenge Cup for the Premier Division clubs and another for the teams in the Reserves Section.

From this season onwards the grounds where Premier Division matches were played were required to have floodlights.[1]

Premier Division

Kent Football League Premier Division
Season1998–99
ChampionsRamsgate
Matches played342
Goals scored1,021 (2.99 per match)

The league featured 19 clubs which had competed in the previous season, no additional clubs joined the league this season.

The league was won by Ramsgate for the second season in succession.[2]


At the end of the season Crockenhill resigned and joined the Kent County League.[3]


League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Season End Notes
1 Ramsgate 36 26 5 5 93 24 +69 83
2 Deal Town 36 24 9 3 78 24 +54 81
3 Greenwich Borough 36 24 4 8 64 28 +36 76
4 Thamesmead Town 36 20 14 2 57 19 +38 74
5 Crockenhill 36 19 10 7 62 38 +24 66[a] Resigned to the Kent County League
6 Chatham Town 36 18 11 7 61 40 +21 65
7 VCD Athletic 36 16 9 11 61 51 +10 57
8 Whitstable Town 36 15 9 12 60 52 +8 54
9 Beckenham Town 36 13 11 12 51 47 +4 50
10 Slade Green 36 11 11 14 58 49 +9 44
11 Sheppey United 36 11 8 17 50 59 −9 44[b]
12 Herne Bay 36 9 9 18 34 51 −17 36
13 Lordswood 36 8 12 16 47 71 −24 36
14 Cray Wanderers 36 8 9 19 53 66 −13 35[c]
15 Canterbury City 36 9 8 19 34 73 −39 35
16 Faversham Town 36 9 5 22 41 80 −39 29[d]
17 Erith Town 36 8 5 23 33 79 −46 29
18 Hythe United 36 7 7 22 38 65 −27 28
19 Tunbridge Wells 36 5 8 23 46 105 −59 23
Source: "League Tables Update: Winstonlead Kent League: Final Table: Premier Division". Tunbridge Wells Courier. 28 May 1999. p. 91. Retrieved 21 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ Crockenhill were deducted one point.
  2. ^ Sheppey United were awarded three points for match of 26 September 1998 lost 1–2 versus Faversham Town, who fielded an ineligible player.[4]
  3. ^ Cray Wanderers were awarded two points.
  4. ^ Faversham Town were deducted the three points gained from match of 26 September 1998 won 2–1 versus Sheppey United, for fielding an ineligible player.[4]

Challenge Cup

The 1998–99 Kent Football League Challenge Cup was won by Deal Town.[5]

The competition was contested by the 19 teams from the Premier Division 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.[6] this season).

Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
               
Chatham Town 0
Deal Town 2
Deal Town 1 2 3
Ramsgate 0 2 2
Cray Wanderers 0
Ramsgate 1
Deal Town 1
VCD Athletic 0
Herne Bay 1
VCD Athletic 4
VCD Athletic 0 1 1[a]
Crockenhill 0 1 1
Crockenhill 2
Hythe United 0
  1. ^ VCD Athletic won on away goal

Sources:

Second Round

First Round

Sources:

Reserves Section

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

The 1998–99 Reserves Section comprised a single division. The promotion of reserves teams into the Premier Division was not permitted. There was a single League Cup competition for the teams in the section.

Division One

Kent Football League Division One
Season1998–99
ChampionsDeal Town R
Matches played342
Goals scored1,239 (3.62 per match)

The division featured teams from 19 clubs, 16 of which were from the previous season together with three additional teams[1]

The division was won by Deal Town R.[7]

At the end of the season Crockenhill R resigned from the league and the remainder of the teams were allocated to two new equally ranked, geographically based divisions, Division One North and Division One South.[3]

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Season End Notes
1 Deal Town R 36 28 6 2 114 25 +89 90 Moved to Division One South
2 Dover Athletic R 36 28 2 6 109 33 +76 86
3 Margate R 36 23 11 2 85 25 +60 82[a]
4 Swanley Furness 36 20 4 12 69 46 +23 67[b] Moved to Division One North
5 Thamesmead Town R 36 18 9 9 91 65 +26 65[c]
6 Folkestone Invicta R 36 19 7 10 98 70 +28 64 Moved to Division One South
7 Ramsgate R 36 17 10 9 74 62 +12 61
8 Hastings Town R 36 15 9 12 54 67 −13 54 Moved to Division One North
9 Lordswood R 36 15 6 15 67 69 −2 51 Moved to Division One South
10 Dartford R 36 14 7 15 60 64 −4 49 Moved to Division One North
11 Sittingbourne R 36 13 10 13 57 57 0 46[d] Moved to Division One South
12 Chatham Town R 36 13 4 19 57 79 −22 43 Moved to Division One North
13 Beckenham Town R 36 11 8 17 46 49 −3 39[e]
14 Herne Bay R 36 10 7 19 54 75 −21 37 Moved to Division One South
15 Canterbury City R 36 11 4 21 42 91 −49 37
16 Cray Wanderers R 36 8 6 22 46 83 −37 30 Moved to Division One North
17 Hythe United R 36 7 3 26 39 99 −60 24 Moved to Division One South
18 Crockenhill R 36 4 10 22 45 94 −49 22 Resigned
19 Whitstable Town R 36 5 3 28 32 86 −54 18 Moved to Division One South
Source: "The Winstonlead Kent League: Division One". Folkestone Herald. 20 May 1999. p. 71. Retrieved 21 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ Margate R were awarded two points
  2. ^ Swanley Furness were awarded three points
  3. ^ Thamesmead Town R were awarded two points
  4. ^ Sittingbourne R were deducted three points
  5. ^ Beckenham Town R were deducted two points

Division One Cup

The 1998–99 Kent Football League Division One Cup was won by Dover Athletic R.[8]

The competition for the 19 teams from the Division One 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. Although the final was scheduled to be at Herne Bay F.C. it was agreed to move it to the home ground of one of the two competing clubs - Dover Athletic won the coin toss.[9]

Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
               
Swanley Furness 4[a] 3[b]
Whitstable Town R 4[a] 1[b]
Swanley Furness 0 1 1
Dover Athletic R 0 3 3
Sittingbourne R 0[c] 0[d] 2p[e]
Dover Athletic R 0[c] 0[d] 3p[e]
Dover Athletic R 2
Deal Town R 0
Hythe United R 0
Deal Town R 10
Deal Town R 3 0 3
Dartford R 2 0 2
Folkestone Invicta R 2
Dartford R 3
  1. ^ a b After extra time
  2. ^ a b Replay
  3. ^ a b After extra time
  4. ^ a b Replay, after extra time
  5. ^ a b Penalty shoot-out

Sources:

Second Round

First Round

Sources:

References

  1. ^ a b "Kent League gets lit up". Dover Express. Dover. 25 June 1998. p. 76.
  2. ^ "Premier Division past winners / runners-up". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Just the ticket: The Reserve division...". Folkestone Herald. Folkestone. 23 June 1999. p. 79.
  4. ^ a b c "(column 5) *Faversham Town...". Faversham Times. Faversham. 25 November 1998. p. 67.
  5. ^ "League Cup Winners since 1923". SCEFL. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Football Results And Fixtures Service: Fixtures: Saturday, May 1: Winstonlead Kent League: Premier Division Cup Final". Dover Express. Dover. 29 April 1999. p. 71.
  7. ^ "Reserves First Division winners / runners-up". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Reserves Division(s) League Cup". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  9. ^ Winter, Mark (8 April 1999). "Bari or Borough? It's no real contest!". Dover Express. Folkestone. p. 68.