2003–04 Kent Football League

The 2003–04 Kent Football League season (known as the Go Travel Kent League for sponsorship reasons) was the 38th in the history of Kent Football League a football competition in England.

The League structure comprised three divisions: a Premier Division together with a Reserves Section comprising newly formed Divisions One and Two – the latter two made from teams featured in previous seasons Division One North and Division One South, with the six highest ranked teams from each division from the previous season placed in the new Division One and the remaining clubs into Division Two. 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 two divisions of the Reserves Section.

Premier Division

Kent Football League Premier Division
Season2003–04
ChampionsCray Wanderers
PromotedCray Wanderers
Matches played272
Goals scored881 (3.24 per match)

The league featured 17 clubs, 15 of which competed in the previous season together with two additional clubs:

At the end of the season Cray Wanderers were promoted to the Isthmian League Division One.


League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Cray Wanderers 32 22 4 6 88 35 +53 70 Promoted to the Isthmian League Division One
2 Thamesmead Town 32 22 3 7 72 38 +34 69
3 VCD Athletic 32 21 5 6 65 29 +36 68
4 Maidstone United 32 19 10 3 71 30 +41 67
5 Whitstable Town 32 19 5 8 77 52 +25 62
6 Hythe Town 32 17 7 8 51 41 +10 58
7 Erith Town 32 17 2 13 53 45 +8 53
8 Greenwich Borough 32 14 8 10 57 53 +4 50
9 Ramsgate 32 11 11 10 49 46 +3 44
10 Herne Bay 32 11 7 14 50 49 +1 40
11 Sevenoaks Town 32 12 1 19 40 57 −17 37
12 Beckenham Town 32 9 8 15 39 53 −14 35
13 Lordswood 32 9 5 18 34 68 −34 32
14 Tunbridge Wells 32 8 6 18 30 57 −27 30
15 Slade Green 32 7 8 17 42 47 −5 29
16 Deal Town 32 5 4 23 37 71 −34 19
17 Sporting Bengal United 32 1 2 29 26 110 −84 5
Source: FCHD
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results

Home \ Away BEC CRA DEA ERI GRE HER HYT LOR MAI RAM SEV SLA SPB THA TUN VCD WHI
Beckenham Town 0–2 4–0 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–0 1–2 0–7 1–1 3–0 0–0 4–1 3–0 1–2 0–1 1–3
Cray Wanderers 3–1 4–0 1–0 1–3 2–1 3–1 3–0 2–3 4–1 2–0 2–0 10–0 3–1 1–1 1–1 2–3
Deal Town 0–0 1–5 0–2 1–3 1–2 0–2 1–3 1–2 2–4 0–2 2–1 7–0 2–5 0–2 0–1 0–3
Erith Town 3–0 1–4 2–1 4–2 2–0 1–1 0–2 3–2 1–4 2–1 2–1 6–0 1–1 2–0 1–3 3–0
Greenwich Borough 1–3 0–4 3–3 1–0 3–1 0–3 2–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 3–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–2
Herne Bay 3–1 0–2 3–3 4–2 4–0 0–1 3–0 1–2 0–3 3–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–2
Hythe Town 1–3 1–1 3–2 1–0 2–1 3–1 3–1 1–4 3–0 4–1 1–0 2–0 0–4 0–0 2–1 1–0
Lordswood 1–1 1–5 2–1 0–2 3–3 0–4 1–3 1–1 0–0 0–1 1–0 3–0 0–3 0–0 0–5 2–4
Maidstone United 0–0 2–1 5–0 1–0 2–0 2–2 1–1 4–0 2–2 1–1 3–2 2–1 1–0 0–0 2–1 1–1
Ramsgate 1–1 1–2 0–3 0–2 2–2 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 6–0 4–3 3–1 0–0 1–4
Sevenoaks Town 1–2 0–3 2–1 3–0 1–3 1–0 2–1 3–1 0–3 1–4 3–0 3–2 0–3 0–1 1–2 3–2
Slade Green 0–2 2–2 2–0 1–2 3–3 2–2 1–4 4–0 1–1 0–1 0–1 4–1 0–2 1–1 1–2 6–1
Sporting Bengal United 0–2 2–3 0–2 2–4 0–5 1–1 0–3 0–1 1–5 2–2 0–3 1–4 1–4 2–5 1–3 0–5
Thamesmead Town 2–0 3–2 2–1 1–0 2–0 3–0 4–0 4–2 0–4 2–0 4–1 1–0 3–2 3–2 1–0 2–4
Tunbridge Wells 3–2 0–3 0–1 0–2 1–4 3–2 2–1 2–3 1–3 1–3 1–0 0–3 0–4 0–1 0–4 0–4
VCD Athletic 4–0 1–3 2–1 5–0 2–0 2–5 5–0 1–0 1–2 2–0 2–1 0–0 3–2 3–2 1–0 4–1
Whitstable Town 6–2 4–2 0–0 3–1 4–2 2–3 1–1 2–3 3–2 2–0 4–2 3–1 2–0 0–4 1–0 1–1
Source: Herne Bay FC: team pages (archived)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Challenge Cup

The 2003–04 Kent Football League Challenge Cup was won by Thamesmead Town.

The competition was contested by the 17 teams from the Premier Division, following a preliminary round there were four further rounds: the first two 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. this season).

Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
               
Deal Town 0
Herne Bay 1
Herne Bay 1 2 3
Cray Wanderers 4 0 4
Erith Town 0
Cray Wanderers 1
Cray Wanderers 0
Thamesmead Town 1
Thamesmead Town 3
Ramsgate 0
Thamesmead Town 2 3[a] 5
Maidstone United 0 4[a] 4
Hythe Town 0
Maidstone United 1
  1. ^ a b after extra time

First Round

Preliminary Round

Sources: Herne Bay FC: team pages (archived)

Reserves Section

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

The 2003–04 Reserves Section comprised two new divisions with promotion and relegation possible between them. They were formed from the previous seasons Division One North and Division One South, with the six highest ranked teams from each division from the previous season placed in the new Division One and the remaining clubs into Division Two. Promotion from the Reserves Section into the Premier Division was not permitted. There was a single League Cup competition for all teams in the section.

Division One

Kent Football League Division One
Season2003–04
ChampionsCorinthian
Matches played132
Goals scored472 (3.58 per match)

The newly formed single Division One featured twelve clubs, the six highest ranked teams from each of the previous seasons Division One North (Cray Wanderers R, Thamesmead Town R, Danson Furness, Corinthian, Erith Town R and Dartford R) and Division One South (Deal Town R, Herne Bay R, Dover Athletic R, Ashford Town (Kent) R, Ramsgate R and Hastings United R).

At the end of the season champions Corinthian and runners-up Dover Athletic R resigned from the league – the former were the only non-reserves team to have won a division in the Reserves Section.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Season End Notes
1 Corinthian 22 15 4 3 79 32 +47 49 Resigned from the League
2 Dover Athletic R 22 14 4 4 61 30 +31 46
3 Thamesmead Town R 22 11 4 7 42 25 +17 37
4 Hastings United R 22 11 1 10 47 53 −6 34
5 Herne Bay R[a] 22 9 6 7 37 34 +3 33
6 Cray Wanderers R 22 8 6 8 33 34 −1 30
7 Ashford Town (Kent) R 22 8 3 11 29 37 −8 27
8 Erith Town R 22 7 6 9 32 42 −10 27
9 Deal Town R 22 7 2 13 29 43 −14 23
10 Danson Furness[a] 22 6 5 11 30 49 −19 23
11 Ramsgate R 22 5 7 10 26 52 −26 22
12 Dartford R 22 5 4 13 30 44 −14 19
Source: FCHD (team pages) & Kent League: Danson Furness v Herne Bay (archived)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
  1. ^ a b Danson Furness v Herne Bay R ruled 0–0 draw, one point to each team

Results

Home \ Away ASH COR CRA DAN DAR DEA DOV ERI HAS HER RAM THA
Ashford Town (Kent) R 2–2 0–2 1–0 7–0 2–4 2–1 0–1 3–2 1–2 2–0 3–2
Corinthian 1–0 6–3 11–0 2–1 5–2 1–3 3–0 7–1 5–1 7–1 5–0
Cray Wanderers R 1–1 1–5 4–1 0–0 1–2 0–2 3–0 1–2 1–2 0–0 1–0
Danson Furness 4–0 2–5 3–4 2–1 0–3 1–2 2–2 2–1 –[a] 0–1 3–2
Dartford R 4–0 1–1 1–3 2–1 0–1 1–2 0–0 6–0 0–4 4–1 2–2
Deal Town R 0–0 3–3 0–1 0–1 2–0 0–3 0–2 5–1 1–2 0–2 0–5
Dover Athletic R 2–0 4–2 1–1 1–3 3–2 3–1 2–2 5–2 3–1 10–0 1–1
Erith Town R 0–1 0–4 0–0 3–3 3–1 4–1 0–4 3–4 3–0 2–2 1–2
Hastings United R 1–2 6–1 2–1 3–0[b] 1–0 1–3 3–2 5–1 3–1 4–4 3–1
Herne Bay R 1–0 1–1 3–3 1–1 1–2 3–1 5–0 4–0 2–0 1–1 0–1
Ramsgate R 4–2 0–1 1–2 1–1 3–2 3–0 0–5 0–2 0–2 2–2 0–3
Thamesmead Town R 3–0 0–1 2–0 1–0 5–0 1–0 2–2 1–3 3–0 5–0 0–0
Source: Herne Bay FC: team pages (archived) & Cray Wanderers FC (archived) & Kent League: Danson Furness v Herne Bay (archived) & Kent League: Amendment to Division One Table – Hastings United v Danson Furness (archived) & FCHD (team pages)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
  1. ^ unplayed match; ruled as 0–0 draw, one point to each team
  2. ^ score of match abandoned after 82 minutes at 3–0 allowed to stand as final result

Division Two

Kent Football League Division Two
Season2003–04
ChampionsErith & Belvedere R
Matches played156
Goals scored570 (3.65 per match)

The newly formed Division Two featured thirteen clubs, the six lowest ranked teams from the previous seasons Division One North (Chatham Town R, Beckenham Town R, Tunbridge Wells R, Lordswood R, VCD Athletic R and Erith & Belvedere R) and five (following the withdrawal of Margate R) from Division One South (Sittingbourne R, Folkestone Invicta R, Maidstone United R, Whitstable Town R and Hythe Town R) together with two additional clubs:

At the end of the season Erith & Belvedere R and Maidstone United R were promoted to Division One and Groundhoppers left the League after one season.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Season End Notes
1 Erith & Belvedere R 24 15 6 3 56 21 +35 51 Promoted to Division One
2 Maidstone United R 24 14 4 6 57 33 +24 46
3 Beckenham Town R 24 14 4 6 51 30 +21 46
4 Whitstable Town R 24 13 6 5 50 36 +14 45
5 Sevenoaks Town R 24 13 5 6 45 39 +6 44
6 Groundhoppers 24 13 2 9 59 47 +12 41 Resigned from the League
7 Chatham Town R 24 10 8 6 54 37 +17 38
8 Hythe Town R 24 10 3 11 30 39 −9 33
9 Folkestone Invicta R 24 7 3 14 43 47 −4 24
10 Tunbridge Wells R 24 6 4 14 36 67 −31 22
11 Lordswood R 24 5 3 16 26 54 −28 18
12 Sittingbourne R 24 4 5 15 27 63 −36 17
13 VCD Athletic R 24 4 3 17 36 57 −21 15
Source: FCHD (team pages)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results

Home \ Away BEC CHA EAB FOL GRO HYT LOR MAI SEV SIT TUN VCD WHI
Beckenham Town R 3–4 2–0 4–3 0–2 3–1 2–1 0–1 3–0 3–2 7–1 2–0 1–4
Chatham Town R 1–1 1–0 5–2 1–3 1–1 3–1 1–4 0–1 1–1 4–0 3–0 1–2
Erith & Belvedere R 2–0 1–1 1–0 3–1 0–0 1–1 2–0 4–2 2–2 5–1 5–1 1–0
Folkestone Invicta R 0–0 2–3 1–2 1–3 1–0 3–0 0–2 1–2 3–0 4–4 1–2 0–1
Groundhoppers 0–2 3–3 3–6 0–2 1–1 4–0 2–3 0–3 8–0 3–2 2–1 0–2
Hythe Town R 0–1 2–1 0–5 2–0 2–3 1–0 1–0 0–2 3–0 4–3 4–3 3–0
Lordswood R 0–4 3–3 2–1 1–4 1–2 3–0 2–3 1–3 2–0 2–0 0–2 1–4
Maidstone United R 1–1 1–2 1–1 5–0 5–3 2–0 5–0 2–3 4–1 4–1 1–0 2–2
Sevenoaks Town R 0–3 3–1 2–2 2–2 4–3 0–1 4–1 3–2 1–0 3–1 2–1 1–1
Sittingbourne R 2–3 0–0 0–1 0–5 1–2 1–0 1–4 0–0 4–2 3–3 3–1 1–2
Tunbridge Wells R 1–0 0–8 0–2 3–1 1–5 4–0 2–0 0–1 2–2 0–2 2–1 0–2
VCD Athletic R 3–5 1–4 0–5 1–4 2–4 1–2 0–0 2–4 4–0 7–0 2–2 0–1
Whitstable Town R 1–1 2–2 0–4 4–3 1–2 4–2 2–0 6–4 0–0 6–3 2–3 1–1
Source: Herne Bay FC: team pages (archived) & FCHD (team pages)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Reserves Cup

The 2003–04 Kent Football League Reserves Cup was won by Cray Wanderers R.

The competition was contested by all 25 teams of the Reserves Section over a total of five rounds: the first three were single match knock-out rounds, followed by the semi-finals on an aggregate basis (home and away matches) and then the final match played on a neutral ground (at Chatham Town F.C. this season).

Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
               
Groundhoppers 0
Sevenoaks Town R 1
Sevenoaks Town R
Cray Wanderers R
Cray Wanderers R 1
Thamesmead Town R 0
Cray Wanderers R 1 [a]
Maidstone United R 0[a]
Corinthian 7
Dover Athletic R 0
Corinthian
Maidstone United R
Dartford R 0
Maidstone United R 2
  1. ^ a b after extra-time, score after 90 minutes: 0–0

Second Round

First Round

Byes for the remaining seven clubs

Sources: Kent League (archived) & Herne Bay FC: team pages (archived) & Beckenham Town FC: results (archived)

References