Dartford

Dartford FC is a non-league football club that was formed in 1888, in the town of the same name, sixteen miles south east of London; becoming founder members of the Kent League in 1894. Two seasons later they became founder members of the second division of the Southern League.

The Division Two title was lifted in 1896-97 as the club were members of the Southern and Kent leagues at the same time, before concentrating on the county competition in 1900 before leaving a couple of years later owing to financial difficulties.

The club joined the West Kent League and found their first permanent home at Summers Meadow in Lowfield Street. A league and cup double winning season in 1908-09 saw Dartford rejoin the Kent League.

After World War One their home became unavailable, but a local businessman secured them some land at Watling Street. A switch was made back to the Southern League for the 1926-27 campaign following success in the Kent League.

The 1930’s was a successful decade after the board appointed Scottish manager Bill Collier. Dartford were crowned as Southern League Eastern section champions in 1930-31 and 1931-32 before becoming overall champions both times after defeating Exeter City Reserves and then Yeovil & Petters United.

‘The Darts’ also became the first non-league club to reach the third round of the FA Cup in consecutive seasons. In 1935-36 they went out 3-2 to Derby County at the Baseball Ground after leading 2-0; with star man Fred Dell being transferred for £2,000 to West Ham United straight after the game.

In 1936-37 Darlington won the third round tie at Watling Street before Collier resigned a few years later. Future FA supremo Ted Croker played for the side in the period before the second world war. The transfer of a couple of players to Charlton Athletic settled the bank balance.

Former Everton and England player Warney Cresswell managed the side for a short time before being replaced by Bill Moss. The Southern League was re-organised in the 1950’s with Dartford being placed in the Premier Division.

The decade had begun with Dartford reaching the FA Cup second round, where they went out to Reading after a couple of earlier first round appearances. Alf Ackerman had taken over as manager from George Green in 1961, when Bristol City ended another run in the second round.

Dartford went out at the same stage in 1965-66 to Port Vale before Ernie Morgan took over the managerial reigns; with another second round Cup appearance coming in 1968-69 which ended in defeat to Kettering Town at Rockingham Road.

The ex-Bolton Wanderers and England winger, winger Doug Holden arrived as manager at Watling Street in the early 70’s; creating a fine side before departing in the summer of 1973 to be replaced by the returning Morgan.

Dartford were crowned as Southern League champions in 1973-74; coming up short in their attempts to win election into the Football League. However, consolation came by way of reaching the FA Trophy final at Wembley where they went down 2-1 to Morecambe.

The club came close to admission into the newly formed non-league elite Alliance Premier League in 1979. Several FA Cup first round appearances were achieved before the club won the Southern League Southern Division; but losing to Alvechurch in their quest to win the overall title.

Despite this, Dartford were elected into the Alliance Premier League; as the National League was then called. However, their spell lasted just one season before John Still arrived as manager where the club became champions for a fourth time in 1983-84.

The Darts reached the second round of the Cup in 1984-85, going out to AFC Bournemouth before relegation followed in 1986-87; despite the team reaching the FA Trophy semi-final, where Burton Albion won their place at Wembley on aggregate under new boss Peter Taylor.

The future England caretaker manager was with the club for four years. During that time they picked up a plethora of knock out trophies as well as reaching another Trophy semi-final in 1988-89; losing out to Macclesfield Town. The side also played in the FA Cup first round three times.

Unfortunately, a severe lack of finance was by now severely hampering the club. They were relegated once again. After the Hillsborough and Bradford disasters, Watling Street, like so many other old venues with a significant capacity, required serious remedial work on it.

At the same time Maidstone United from forty miles away, were winning promotion to the Football League. United had sold their ground to build elsewhere and spent the money on players to win promotion under manager Still; but that’s another story!

Maidstone needed a ground to play on in the Football League, so they rented Watling Street to play their home games while spending lots of money to upgrade the ground. The arrangement lasted from August 1988 until the original Stones went bust and resigned from the League in August 1992.

Dartford bought the ground improvements for £500K, but that then pushed their debts over the top. Watling Street was sold to creditors to become housing, while the club resigned from the Southern League just four games into the 1992-93 season.

Fortunately, Dartford’s Supporters Association kept the club going with just their youth team operating for a season, before gaining acceptance back into the Kent League while sharing grounds with Cray Wanderers at their old Oxford Road ground

Former player Tony Burman was appointed as team manager in February 1993 before the club moved to share the Park View home of Erith & Belvedere FC a year later; before b being accepted back into the Southern League in 1996 as members of the Southern Division.

A terrible fire at Park View in 1997 put both club’s futures in doubts. However, Dartford carried on and arranged to share with Purfleet FC over the QE II Bridge the following season. The Southern League was re-organised in 1999-00 with the Darts placed in the Eastern Division.

At the start of the 2000-01 season an arrangement was made to bring the club nearer its home town, playing games at Stonebridge Road in Northfleet. This led to an upturn on the pitch and improved finances which aided the club in reintroducing its youth set up.

The news that everybody had been waiting for came on April 10, 2004 when Dartford Borough Council announced it would provide funding and a site for the building of a stadium in Dartford in time for the 2006-07 season.

Construction work began on November 14th, 2005. Dartford played their first game at new stadium Princes Park on November 11th, 2006, less than twelve months after building work began. Dartford were transferred to Division One South of the Isthmian League for their homecoming.

Dartford beat Horsham YMCA 4-2 in front of a capacity crowd of 4,097 in the Isthmian League. Success followed the move as Dartford were transferred to Division One North; winning the title in 2007-08 and promotion to the Premier Division.

Inn 2009-10 the Darts won the Isthmian League title with six games to spare to become members of Conference South. After a season of consolidation, the club sold star player Charlie Sheringham to AFC Bournemouth as the team reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time in eighteen seasons.

The Darts won promotion to the Football Conference via a play-off final win over Welling United in front of a full house at Princes Park at the end of the 2011-12 season, after seeing off Basingstoke Town in the semi-finals.

Dartford adjusted well in their new status; finishing in eighth place in 2012-13 before being relegated the following season. In 2014-15 season the team reached the second round of the Cup; going out 4-1 to Bradford City at Valley Parade.

Back in the retitled National League South, the Darts would reach the semi-final stage of the play-offs in 2016-17 and 2017-18; losing out to Chelmsford City and then Braintree Town. Both campaigns also saw first round appearances in the FA Cup.

Manager Burman and his backroom team stood down in the summer of 2018 to be replaced by joint-bosses and former Darts players Adam Flanagan and Jamie Coyle. They took the team to tenth place in 2018-19 before leaving the club in September 2019.

Dartford FC will play in the National League South in the 2019-20 season.

My visits

Maidstone United 4 Scarborough 1 (Saturday 26th August 1989) Division Four (att: 3,372) 

I travelled to this first away game of the season by car driven by our Sunday League team boss Mick Liley along with Crusher. Although the journey was long, the ground was pretty easy to find as it was only a mile or so away from the Dartford Tunnel and QE II Bridge. We predictably got there early for time to find a pub.

The area around the ground was sparse in that department but we managed to find one of those big family pubs on a roundabout ten minutes away. It was a stunning day so we enjoyed sitting outside and watching the traffic whizz by on the busy road.

We got to to Watling Street which was full of carnival atmosphere with it being Maidstone’s first ever “home” game in the Football League.
 

Photo taken from a BBC article on the internet of
the old Main Stand at Watling Street

We were in a covered terrace with a bit open standing down one side, with home fans across segregation next to us. There was nothing behind the goal to our right. The other end was a small open terrace. The far side had a decent sized Main Stand with open standing either side of it. Boro were absolutely woeful against a team who played very well.

Looking back at The Stones team, they had some players who would do very well in their future career, including: Steve Butler, Ken Charlery and Warren Barton. We were absolutely hammered although we were in with a slight squeak when Paul Dobson had a shot that smashed against the bar when 3-1 down. I do remember it seeming like a very long journey home!

Dartford 2 Southend United 0 (Friday 16th July 2010) Pre Season Friendly (att: 619)

I was on annual leave from work so I decided after plenty of research to have a day’s groundhopping in North Kent. This match rounded off my day. I had been joined by my good pal, Gillingham based Scarborough Athletic fan, Simon and arrived after having a look inside Stonebridge Road, the home of Ebbsfleet FC. 

Simon knew his way from Dartford station in the general direction of the new stadium, as he trained with the club when they played at their old home of Watling Street. We wandered through the new area around the station and found our way to Darenth Road where we found the delightful Malt Shovel pub where we sat outside enjoying a couple of pints while watching the world go by.

The walk up to Princes Park took us alongside Central Park before getting to the main Princes Road. We made a bit of a faux pas by following the signs for parking instead of that for pedestrian fans and found ourselves in the leisure centre. We were soon back on the right track and going into the entrance to the site.

We walked behind the Main Stand where there was a lovely balcony bar upstairs. We couldn’t work out how to get up there sop we had a pint downstairs in a bar that also serviced the adjoining nine hole golf course. We entered the ground in time for the teams to come out and to have a look around. I was certainly mighty impressed with what I was seeing.

The ground was all covered and we entered from the rear of the terracing as the ground had been sunk down a few metres from street level. Three sides had terracing with the Main Stand been all seated. 

The impressive feature to me was that there was a pathway right around the rear of the terrace and setsing so we could walk all the way around the ground without missing a thing. The sides with the terracing had a large gap between the back wall and the roof to allow air to flow and assist the growth of the pitch and allow natural light in. 

The fourth side had corporate boxes to bring in income. The catering was good and was carried out by an outside franchise. The toilets were all neat and tidy as I would expect from a relatively new stadium. Everything is self proficient at the stadium. 

It received much finance through “green grants”. It is very environmentally friendly. Timber is used throughout as girders. Solar panels provide electricity while water is recycled.

We stood behind the goal with some Southend fans who recognised my Boro top, before we had a walk around. On the side opposite the Main Stand there is a sculpture of a tall man made from wood. I’m sure it has some artistic meaning, but it was beyond me!

Southend were not too impressive but in mitigation they were finding their way in their first pre season friendly after the appointment of new manager Paul Sturrock. They fielded a team with many triallists and didn’t issue a team sheet, so no announcements could be made. 

The first half was scoreless and we followed some fans through a door at the rear of the seats and found ourselves in the large clubhouse. Again this was perfect for the fans. The bar had hand pumps for beer and there was just furniture around the sides with plenty of screens showing Sky Sports News. 

The walls were adorned with memorabilia and we saw the door out onto the open balcony.
We decided to stand with the Dartford fans in the second half behind the goal and as we walked round I instantly recognised a famous face. 

Charlie Sheringham had just signed on for The Darts and his famous father Teddy stood on the terracing, with his not unattractive partner. Both sides had made a few changes at the break. I suspect that several representing The Shrimps would be playing their only game for the club. 

Dartford slowly got on top before taking them apart. Sheringham Jnr had a superb game in the same style as his old fella. Dartford ran out 2-0 winners. Southend were lucky to get nil. The home fans were excellent company. 

Their humour was no doubt helped by the score and the performance of the visiting keeper who did his future career prospects no good whatsoever. On the way out I commended Sheringham’s performance to his dad, who was genuinely pleased to hear it. Apparently he follows him everywhere he plays.

We passed on the opportunity of taking a Fastrack bus back into town and instead had a walk where we had a nightcap in The Woodman on East Hill before taking trains in opposite directions.

It had been a great day out in top company, with the match at Princes Park rounding things off perfectly.

Charlton Athletic u23’s 1 Swansea City u23’s 2 (Friday 4^th October 2019) Under 23s Premier League Cup Group A (att: c75)

I awoke with grand plans on my day off work. First up was a ride across London to the 1pm kick off at Princes Park. It’s amazing on how many occasions that you think you have time to kill but end up rushing. This was a case in point.

I made the 12:08 service from London Bridge easy enough, but it meant being tight for time at the other end; especially as I wasn’t familiar with the layout of the station or town centre. I crossed the pedestrian bridge more in hope than expectation.

However, my radar seemed to work as I found a bus stop for the B fastrack service heading towards the ground once I’d skirted around the outside of the Orchard Shopping Centre to Hanau Bridge.

A minor panic was averted as I scrambled the £1.30 fare in loose change. The dedicated bus route was first class, though unfamiliarity caused me to jump out at the stop marked Brooklands Lakes, which I thought was my best option.

Alighting, I followed a man who looked what I thought resembled a groundhopper, over the road and straight into the David Lloyd Leisure Centre. Slightly embarrassed I walked back through the car park and then up the long slope of Grass Banks.

The familiar sound of players voices and the referees whistle could be heard as I made my way past the Main Stand. A gent pointed me in the direction of an open gate; which meant free admission. I’m not sure if there’d been an earlier fee, but I wasn’t grumbling.

Initially I stood behind the seating area to gather myself and watch the exchanges. The game was around five minutes old and still scoreless. The action was of a decent pace and quality in the early stages.

The Swans went ahead with a finely worked goal on fifteen minutes when a low cross was dummied for Cameron Berry to drill his shot into the bottom corner past Addicks keeper Nathan Harness to make it 1-0.

At the other end Josh Davison forced Swansea goalkeeper Lewis Webb into a decent stop on nineteen minutes. The pressure from the home side continued as Webb made further saves from Junior Quitirna and then Charles Clayden.

As the half progressed, I wandered to the sparsely populated far side terrace to sit on the back row. I was somewhat disappointed just how much moaning towards officials and opponents came from the two sides. I guess it was practise for the rest of their careers.

Charlton restored parity just before the half hour was up when Webb parried a fierce Joh Powell, which Davison followed up on to score. At the interval I visited the café under the stand for a cuppa and bag of crisps. Many scouts from different clubs were also in attendance.

The action flowed from end to end after the restart. I took up a seat in the corner of the stand to take it in. A fella just along from me nodded off to take an early brief siesta. Out on the pitch, a Davison shot from twelve yards was diverted over the bar by a Swans defender.

With just over an hour completed City missed a great chance to retake the lead. Athletic defender Sam Keefe brought down a forward. Simon Pauley stepped up to take the penalty, but Harness dived to keep the ball out of the bottom corner of the net.

Albie Morgan had a free kick tipped around the post by Webb, with the result very much in the balance. With twenty minutes remaining Swansea scored what would prove to be the winning goal when they capitalised by loose play on the halfway line.

Substitute Ali Al-Hamadi burst forward before squaring to Mason Jones-Thomas to finish with ease. Charlton sub Kareem Isiaka was denied by a last ditch challenge as he looked to square things up for his side, but it wasn’t to be.

At full time I headed out of the ground via the main gates leading onto Princes Road, where I came across the designated bus stop for the ground. By now I was ready for exercise so headed down the hill and then down a zig zag path into Central Park.

Kent Football United of the Southern Counties East League played adjacently at the Glentworth Sports Club so I took the opportunity of having a look and taking some photos of the venue on the way back to town and the station; which can be viewed here.

Charlton Athletic u23’s 2 Bristol City u23’s 0 (Monday 28th October 2019) U23s Professional Development League 2 (att: c85)

Having not been to Princes Park for several years, I found myself returning within a few weeks. I was off work for the day and wasn’t ready to waste it sitting around. I also need some proper exercise after a lazy Sunday recovering from the previous day excesses.

After alighting the train at Baker Street, I walked through the streets past several famous landmarks to Waterloo Bridge and then along a crowded half term South Bank to London Bridge in time for a crowded train to Dartford.

On this occasion the Fastway bus got me to the ground before kick-off; which meant £3 admission which included a free teamsheet. I took a seat in the stand and settled down for the action.

The first players to stand out were the Robins duo of forward Hakeeb Adelakun and midfielder Tyreeq Bakinson; who both had plenty of Football League experience behind them. Both had strength and power and looked like they would be major influences in the encounter before the Addicks began to get properly into the game.

The home side came close to opening the scoring on fifteen minutes. A free kick from Junior Quitirna was fumbled by keeper Lochlan Robertson, who did well to recover and stop an effort from James Vennings.

Ben Dempsey saw two efforts go just wide for Athletic before they were denied by some great defending by City as Abraham Odoh and Quitirna were denied by Robertson and then a goal line block by Aden Baldwin.

Robertson pulled off a superb save to keep a Dempsey free kick from going into the top corner just before the interval; before an excellent Bristol move ended in Tommy Conway directing his headed wide of the post.

Once the half time whistle blew, I headed into the café on what was a cool early afternoon to grab a welcome cup of tea. On my return I decided to stand and keep on the move watching from different places.

Alfie Doughty fired Charlton into the lead on sixty four minutes as his low shot found the corner of the net from the edge of the box. The visiting sides forays were becoming less infrequent leading to xxxx dropping deeper and deeper.

The lead was doubled on seventy three minutes when Dempsey crossed low for Kareem Isiaka to finish neatly. The goal just about killed the game which was devoid of too much goalmouth action thereafter.

At full time I headed back into the town centre via the quickest possible route. I grabbed some groceries at Aldi before heading to my evening match; the FA Youth Cup tie between Sutton Common Rovers and Uxbridge.