1988–89 Kent Football League

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The 1988–89 Kent Football League season (known as the Winstonlead Kent League for sponsorship reasons) was the twenty-third in the history of the Kent Football League, a football competition featuring teams based in and around the county of Kent 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 Division Two.

Division One

Kent Football League Division One
Season1988–89
ChampionsHythe Town
PromotedHythe Town
Matches played380
Goals scored1,225 (3.22 per match)

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

The league was won, for the first occasion by Hythe Town[2] - whose reserves team completed a Division Two league and cup double.

At the end of the season champions Hythe Town were promoted to the Southern League Southern Division[3] and both bottom clubs, Chatham Town and Herne Bay, were re-elected to continue their membership of the division.[4]

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Season End Notes
1 Hythe Town 38 29 3 6 133 41 +92 90 Promoted to the Southern League Southern Division
2 Deal Town 38 24 4 10 80 35 +45 76
3 Faversham Town 38 22 7 9 68 36 +32 73
4 Darenth Heathside 38 20 8 10 69 44 +25 68
5 Sittingbourne 38 18 12 8 59 43 +16 66
6 Alma Swanley 38 18 10 10 66 46 +20 64
7 Cray Wanderers 38 19 7 12 67 53 +14 64
8 Whitstable Town 38 18 9 11 75 42 +33 63
9 Ramsgate 38 19 6 13 66 61 +5 63
10 Slade Green 38 17 10 11 60 59 +1 61
11 Tunbridge Wells 38 16 8 14 58 57 +1 56
12 Kent Police 38 16 5 17 61 74 −13 53
13 Crockenhill 38 11 12 15 52 51 +1 45
14 Danson 38 12 5 21 55 67 −12 41
15 Metropolitan Police (Hayes) 38 11 7 20 50 83 −33 40
16 Greenwich Borough 38 8 15 15 53 56 −3 36[a]
17 Beckenham Town 38 8 10 20 41 68 −27 34
18 Thames Polytechnic 38 8 10 20 44 83 −39 34
19 Chatham Town 38 3 8 27 41 105 −64 17 Re-elected
20 Herne Bay 38 3 4 31 27 121 −94 13
Source: "Kent League 1966–92: 1988–89". Non League Matters. Retrieved 22 May 2024., "England – Kent League: Final Table Kent League (Division 1) '88–'89". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ Greenwich Borough were deducted three points.

Challenge Cup

The 1988–89 Kent Football League Challenge Cup was won, for the only occasion in their history, by Alma Swanley.[5]

The competition, contested by all twenty clubs in Division One, comprised five single match tie rounds (with the first round featuring four ties) culminating in the final which was played on a neutral ground (at Sittingbourne F.C.[6] this season).

Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
            
Whitstable Town 3
Hythe Town 1
Whitstable Town 2
Alma Swanley 4
Alma Swanley 1
Tunbridge Wells 0
Alma Swanley 1
Ramsgate 0
Deal Town 1
Greenwich Borough 0
Deal Town 0[a]
Ramsgate 1[a]
Ramsgate 2
Danson 0
  1. ^ a b After extra time (score at 90 minutes: 0–0

Second Round

First Round

Sources:

Reserves Section

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

Division Two featured mostly reserves teams (which were not permitted in Division One) from clubs from Kent and the adjacent area 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
Season1988–89
ChampionsHythe Town R
Matches played342
Goals scored1,209 (3.54 per match)

The league featured nineteen clubs including one non-reserve team, Snowdown Colliery Welfare for their final season in the league; sixteen of the clubs had competed in the division the previous season together with three additional clubs:[1]

The division was won by a resurgent Hythe Town R[7] - who had been re-elected to the league after ending the previous season in the bottom two – part of a league and cup double.

At the end of the season: Chatham Town R, Deal Town R and champions Hythe Town R withdrew from the division; Snowdown Colliery Welfare, who were founder members of the league in 1966, had their registration cancelled by the League as the club no longer held the league requirement of Senior status - the Kent County FA had, owing to the club's long spell of ten seasons in Division Two, ruled the club of Intermediate status;[4] bottom club Herne Bay were re-elected to continue their membership of the division.[8]

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Season End Notes
1 Hythe Town R 36 27 4 5 112 31 +81 79[a] Resigned
2 Ashford Town R 36 24 4 8 67 32 +35 76
3 Dover Athletic R 36 22 7 7 102 45 +57 73
4 Hastings Town R 36 21 6 9 83 49 +34 69
5 Sittingbourne R 36 18 11 7 84 52 +32 65
6 Sheppey United R 36 19 6 11 89 45 +44 63
7 Cray Wanderers R 36 19 3 14 75 61 +14 60
8 Ramsgate R 36 16 7 13 65 60 +5 55
9 Faversham Town R 36 14 10 12 62 57 +5 52
10 Thames Polytechnic R 36 12 11 13 50 54 −4 47
11 Greenwich Borough R[b] 36 15 5 16 65 72 −7 47[c]
12 Snowdown Colliery Welfare[d] 36 14 9 13 61 60 +1 44[e] Registration cancelled
13 Folkestone R 36 9 10 17 56 77 −21 37
14 Beckenham Town R[f] 36 10 8 18 43 67 −24 35[g]
15 Deal Town R 36 9 7 20 37 99 −62 34 Resigned
16 Thanet United R[h] 36 7 9 20 48 79 −31 30
17 Whitstable Town R 36 8 6 22 38 74 −36 30
18 Chatham Town R[i] 36 6 7 23 43 91 −48 24[j] Resigned
19 Herne Bay R 36 4 6 26 29 104 −75 18 Re-elected
Source: "Non League Tables for 1988–1989: Kent League Division Two". Non League Matters. Retrieved 14 June 2024.; "Final Tables: Winstonlead Kent League Division Two". Kentish Express. 11 May 1989. p. 64. Retrieved 14 June 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Note: The source tables are net of the goal deductions to Greenwich Borough R, Beckenham Town R, Snowdown Colliery Welfare, Thanet United R and Chatham Town R)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ Hythe Town R were deducted six points for league rule breaches (cancelling fixtures)[9]
  2. ^ Greenwich Borough R were deducted three points and three goals for playing irregularities - the deducted goals have been reinstated in the table
  3. ^ Greenwich Borough R were deducted three points
  4. ^ Snowdown Colliery Welfare were deducted seven points and seven goals for playing irregularities - the deducted goals have been reinstated in the table
  5. ^ Snowdown Colliery Welfare were deducted seven points
  6. ^ Beckenham Town R were deducted three points and four goals for playing irregularities - the deducted goals have been reinstated in the table
  7. ^ Beckenham Town R were deducted three points
  8. ^ Thanet United R were deducted one goal for playing irregularities - the deducted goal has been reinstated in the table
  9. ^ Chatham Town R were deducted one point and one goal for playing irregularities - the deducted goal has been reinstated in the table
  10. ^ Chatham Town R were deducted one point

Division Two Cup

The 1988–89 Kent Football League Division Two Cup was won by Hythe Town R[10] part of a league and cup double.

The competition, contested by all nineteen clubs in the division, comprised five single match tie rounds (with the first round featuring three ties) culminating in the final (played at Hythe Town F.C.).[11] this season).

Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
Hythe Town R 2[a] 5
Sheppey United R 2[a] 1
Hythe Town R 2
Cray Wanderers R 1
Hastings Town R 2
Cray Wanderers R 3
Hythe Town R 3
Folkestone R 1
Chatham Town R 0
Greenwich Borough R 8
Greenwich Borough R 0
Folkestone R 4
Deal Town R 1
Folkestone R 4
  1. ^ a b After extra time (score at 90 minutes: 1–1)

Second Round

First Round

Sources:

References

  1. ^ a b Hudd, Tony (23 June 1988). "Clubs in danger of being cut off". Kentish Express. Ashford. p. 80.
  2. ^ "First Division past winners / runners-up". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Hythe make the grade". Kentish Express. Ashford. 25 May 1989. p. 80.
  4. ^ a b Rees, Mike (15 June 1989). "Kent League is hit by team withdrawals". Sheerness Times Guardian. Larkfield, Maidstone. p. 46.
  5. ^ "Archives: League Cup Winners". SCEFL: Southern Counties East Football League. February 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  6. ^ "Soccer Results and Fixtures: Fixtures: Saturday: Winstonlead Cup final". Kentish Express. Ashford. 27 April 1989. p. 86.
  7. ^ "Reserves First Division winners / runners-up". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Soccer". Kentish Express. Ashford. 15 June 1989. p. 80.
  9. ^ "Final Chance". Folkestone Herald. Folkestone. 21 April 1989. p. 80.
  10. ^ "Reserves Division(s) League Cup". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Local Football Results & Fixtures: Fixtures: Saturday: Winstonlead Kent League Division Two Cup Final". Folkestone Herald. Folkestone. 21 April 1989. p. 78.