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1978–79 Kent Football League

The 1978–79 Kent Football League season was the thirteenth in the history of the Kent Football League, a football competition featuring teams based in and around the county of Kent in England.

Following the decision taken previously to form a second division[1] from this season the League structure comprised two divisions: Division One (now for clubs' first teams only) and a newly formed Division Two (to take the reserves teams which were no longer permitted in Division One, however this division was not limited to just reserves teams) with the latter becoming known as the Reserves Section. 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

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Kent Football League Division One
Season1978–79
ChampionsSheppey United
Matches played306
Goals scored915 (2.99 per match)

The league featured eighteen clubs, the fifteen non-reserves teams that had competed in Division One the previous season together with three additional clubs:[2]

The league was won by Sheppey United,[7] their third championship in seven seasons and part of a league and cup double.

League winners Sheppey United and fourth placed Medway both applied to join the Southern League for the following season however, their applications were unsuccessful.[8]

At the end of the season Crockenhill were re-elected to continue their membership of Division One whilst bottom club Snowdown Colliery Welfare had their application to drop to Division Two approved.[9]

League Table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Season End Notes
1 Sheppey United 34 22 11 1 73 28 +45 55
2 Hythe Town 34 21 7 6 71 34 +37 49
3 Faversham Town 34 22 5 7 71 37 +34 49
4 Medway 34 18 10 6 64 27 +37 46
5 Whitstable Town 34 18 7 9 52 35 +17 43
6 Sittingbourne 34 16 7 11 57 42 +15 39
7 Tunbridge Wells 34 15 6 13 51 52 −1 36
8 Darenth Heathside 34 10 12 12 42 38 +4 32
9 Deal Town 34 13 6 15 40 50 −10 32
10 Ramsgate 34 14 4 16 42 59 −17 32
11 Slade Green Athletic 34 8 13 13 46 47 −1 29
12 Herne Bay[a] 34 10 10 14 49 59 −10 28[b]
13 Dartford Glentworth 34 9 10 15 40 52 −12 28
14 Cray Wanderers 34 9 9 16 50 65 −15 27
15 Erith & Belvedere 34 8 9 17 49 48 +1 25
16 Kent Police 34 10 4 20 46 67 −21 24
17 Crockenhill 34 7 7 20 43 73 −30 21 Re-elected
18 Snowdown Colliery Welfare 34 4 7 23 29 102 −73 15 Resigned to Division Two
Source: "Kent League Tables: Kent League (Division 1) '78–'79". SCEFL. 7 May 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2024., "Town's Results This Season: Final Table". Whitstable Times. 1 June 1979. p. 29. Retrieved 12 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.: (Note: The tables in both sources are net of Herne Bay's goal deduction)[10]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ Herne Bay were deducted two points and two goals for fielding an ineligible player [10] (the deducted goals have been added back in this table).
  2. ^ Herne Bay deducted two points.

Challenge Cup

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The 1978–79 Kent Football League Challenge Cup was won by Sheppey United,[11] who completed a league and cup double. The competition, contested by all eighteen clubs in the league, comprised five single match tie rounds (with the first round featuring two ties) culminating in the final which was played on a neutral ground (at Sittingbourne[12] this season).

Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final

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Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
Faversham Town 2
Tunbridge Wells 0
Faversham Town 2 1[c]
Sheppey United 2 2[c]
Sheppey United 1 1[a]
Darenth Heathside 1 0[a]
Sheppey United 4
Herne Bay 1
Cray Wanderers 1
Herne Bay 2
Herne Bay 3
Hythe Town 1
Dartford Glentworth 1 1[b]
Hythe Town 1 3[b]
  1. ^ a b Replay, after extra time (score at 90 minutes 0-0)
  2. ^ a b Replay
  3. ^ a b Replay

Second Round

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First Round

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Sources:

Reserves Section

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

The newly formed 1978–79 Division Two was formed to take the reserves teams (which were now not permitted in Division One) of clubs whose first team played in Division One and other higher ranked leagues – but was not limited to reserves teams. There was a League Cup competition for the teams in the section.

Division Two

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Kent Football League Division Two
Season1978–79
ChampionsMedway R

The league featured reserve teams from eleven clubs: Dover R, previously in Division One; Faversham Town R, Medway R and Sittingbourne R from the New Brompton League; Deal Town R, Herne Bay R, Hythe Town R, Margate R, Ramsgate R from the Kent Amateur League; together with Cray Wanderers R and Darenth Heathside R.

Medway R were the inaugural league winners [13] and were unbeaten over the twenty match league campaign.

At the end of the season Margate R resigned from the league.[14]

(The table below is not the final table, maximum potential matches per team = 20)

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Season End Notes
1 Medway R 20 16 4 0 59 16 +43 36
2 Herne Bay R 18 13 2 3 41 24 +17 28
3 Darenth Heathside R 17 9 3 5 37 17 +20 21
4 Faversham Town R[a] 18 8 5 5 29 23 +6 20[b]
5 Dover R 18 7 5 6 37 27 +10 19
6 Deal Town R[c] 18 5 7 6 20 25 −5 15[d]
7 Margate R 16 5 4 7 23 24 −1 14 Resigned
8 Hythe Town R 18 3 7 8 25 32 −7 13
9 Cray Wanderers R 13 4 1 8 18 36 −18 9
10 Sittingbourne R 19 3 3 13 26 50 −24 9
11 Ramsgate R 17 2 1 14 13 54 −41 5
Updated to match(es) played on 8 May 1979 & matches played on 18th & 19th May 1979. Source: "County Soccer Details: Kent League: Division 2". Kentish Express. 11 May 1979. p. 23. Retrieved 12 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Note: Table is net of Deal Town R and Faversham Town R goal deductions) & "Soccer Details: Kent League: Division 2". Kent Messenger. 25 May 1979. p. 34. Retrieved 12 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive. for results of 18th & 19th May 1979.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ Faversham Town R were deducted one point and one goal for fielding an ineligible player[15] (the deducted goal has been added back in this table).
  2. ^ Faversham Town R were deducted one point.
  3. ^ Deal Town R were deducted two points and one goal for fielding an ineligible player[15] (the deducted goal has been added back in this table).
  4. ^ Deal Town R were deducted two points.

Division Two Cup

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The 1978–79 Kent Football League Division Two Cup was won by Dover R with Darenth Heathside R runners-up.[16]

For the competition the eleven clubs from Division Two were arranged into two geographical groups and played each team on their group on a home and away basis. The winners of the groups advanced to the final.[4]

Deal Town R, Dover R, Herne Bay R, Hythe Town R, Margate R and Ramsgate R were included in one group,[2] with the remaining clubs, Cray Wanderers R, Darenth Heathside R, Faversham Town R, Medway R and Sittingbourne R in the other.

References

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  1. ^ "Clubs in Favour of Division 2". Whitstable Times. Whitstable. 26 August 1977. p. 3.
  2. ^ a b "Three New Clubs in the Kent League". East Kent Times and Mail. Ramsgate. 5 July 1978. p. 14.
  3. ^ "Cray Wanderers". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Peter tops poll". The Courier. Tunbridge Wells. 7 July 1978. p. 32.
  5. ^ "Heathside Sports". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Erith & Belvedere". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  7. ^ "First Division past winners / runners-up". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Two Turned Down". East Kent Times and Mail. Ramsgate. 15 June 1979. p. 17.
  9. ^ "Sport Shorts: Crockenhill...". Evening Post. Larkfield, Maidstone. 3 July 1979. p. 23.
  10. ^ a b "Naughty!". East Kent Times and Mail. Ramsgate. 20 October 1978. p. 14.
  11. ^ "Archives: League Cup Winners". SCEFL: Southern Counties East Football League. February 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  12. ^ "County Soccer Details: Fixtures: Saturday: Kent League Cup Final". Kentish Express. Ashford. 4 May 1979. p. 31.
  13. ^ "Reserves First Division winners / runners-up". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  14. ^ "Early test for Chatham". Evening Post. Chatham. 1 August 1979. p. 28.
  15. ^ a b "County Soccer Details: Kent League: Division 2". Kentish Express. Ashford. 11 May 1979. p. 23.
  16. ^ "Reserves Division(s) League Cup". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
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