Herne Bay

Herne Bay FC come from the North Thames estuary coast and was formed in 1886. They spent many years alternating between the Kent and East Kent Leagues before folding in 1911.“The Bay” were reformed in 1935, originally as Herne Bay Invicta and playing in the Kent League.














When that was disbanded they moved to the Athenian League, before moving back in 1974 when it was recommenced. In the 90’s, Bay were the most prominent team in the league, lifting the title four times, but the condition of their Winch’s Field home meant that promotion eluded them.

Much work was done on the ground, but the team had to wait many years for promotion. It eventually came after Bay clinched the Kent League title in the 2011-12 season as well as reaching the semi finals of the FA Vase.

In season 2011-12 Herne Bay will be playing in the Kent League.











My visit

I was on annual leave from work so I decided after plenty of research to have a day’s groundhopping in North Kent on Friday 16th July 2010. I arrived on the train from Margate around lunchtime on a pleasant day, while listening to the Test Match between Australia and Pakistan at Lord's. As is in so many visits to grounds I soon found out that Google Maps must be read correctly so that timings can be estimated clearly. Spenser Road was a far longer, albeit pleasant walk than I imagined. I walked past a lovely park and a bowls club before turning right into Stanley Gardens, where the entrance to Winch's Field was.













The gates were locked and the ground had high metal blue fences surrounding it. This made my view into the ground very restricted, which was a great shame as it looked a decent little arena. There was cover on all four sides. The near Stanley Gardens End had a cover over the centre for standing fans. The far Canterbury Road End was not disimilar. Either side had seated stands with the far Railway Side being slightly larger. The near Spenser Road Side had a smaller stand straddling the half way line with a low pitched blue roof and glass panels enclosing it from the wind. The clubhouse stood between there and the main entrance.












I couldn't find another vantage point to take photos, try as I might. I took what I could and walked back to the station in readiness for my next ride onto Whitstable.

Herne Bay 0 Dover Athletic 1 (Monday 16^th January 2017) Kent Senior Cup Round Two (att: 220)

It was my week off work and although I was heading for a week on the road from the Wednesday, I wanted to fill in my other days with something interesting. Once again social media came up trumps when fellow hopper Anders Johansen alerted me to the game at Herne Bay.

This would end up completing a sporting double as I took the tube and then bus to Alexander Palace where the Masters Snooker championship was taking place. I booked a ticket online for £15 for the afternoon game between John Higgins and Mark Allen.

It was wonderful to meet and have my photo taken with my snooker hero Jimmy White in the auditorium outside the main hall and bump into Neal Foulds who I’d met at The Oval at a Surrey game the previous summer.

My snooker game was an absolute classic as Allen defeated Higgins 6-5. My seat was absolutely perfect on the front row near to the Irishman’s seat. Apparently I was seen on TV throughout the afternoon.

Once done I caught a bus to Wood Green tube down to Holborn from where I walked to Cannon Street station to take the train to the north Kent coast on a cold but dry evening. The Altira Park Stadium, as Winch's Field had been renamed in a sponsorship deal was a ten minutes walk from the station.

Admission was £9, with the programme costing an extra couple of quid. The ground was a proper old school venue, with decent cover behind each goal, a seated stand along the far side and an area for officials along with the clubhouse and tea bar opposite.

The chips with curry sauce along with a Bovril helped keep out the cold as I bumped into Anders for a good chat and catch up. His marathon hops over from Norway really had to be admired.

Athletic manager Chris Kinnear sent a strong side along, and the team attracted a decent following. It was really good to be somewhere that the traditional county cup still mattered. In too many places it had become a necessary inconvenience.

Danny Walder had the games first opportunity for Bay, but his effort was saved by Mitch Walker. The game ebbed and flowed and was played competitively at a decent pace. There was little to divide the two teams despite the difference in league status.

The visitors went ahead five minutes before the interval when a shot on the half volley from Tyrone Marsh got past Bay goalkeeper Jack Delo from twenty five minutes. I thought that the keeper could have done better and would be disappointed with his effort.

James Turner came close to levelling the scores on fifty minutes as his shot cannoned off the crossbar with Walker well beaten. Herne Bay continued to press forward but the Dover defence held firm before their general fitness took effect.

Jim Stevenson and Mitch Pinnock were both denied for Dover by brilliant keeping from Delo, while his defence made some brave and heroic blocks to keep their side in the game. They lacked the fire power at the other end to equalise.

It had been a really good competitive cup tie in front of a passionate and appreciative crowd. It was time for me to get warm with a walk as I headed to the promenade to take in the sea air. Herne Bay looked a lovely place and well worth a visit on a nice afternoon.

It looked to have some cracking pubs; albeit mainly from the Shepherd Neame brewery and a nice waterfront and pier. Slightly warmer, I headed to the station to take the train back to Victoria. I was delighted to get inside those warm carriages!