Dover Athletic

Dover Athletic FC is a non-league semi-professional football club from the port of Dover in Kent, on the south eastern tip of England. The club were formed in 1983 after the previous club Dover FC folded in debt.

The history of the senior football club in the town has an interesting history to say the least. The original Dover FC was 1894, when they joined the Kent League, only to fold in 1901. By then the Crabble Athletic Grounds were in use.

A new Dover FC took over as a purely amateur club but they lasted just eight years. Dover United FC took over the mantle of representing the town in 1920, playing in local league competition. United broke the turf at the current ‘upper ground’ at The Crabble in 1931.

They disbanded in 1933, to be replaced by a new incarnation of Dover FC. Unfortunately they only lasted between 1934 and 1947. The final Dover FC was quickly formed as a semi professional outfit.

The new club quickly made its mark finishing as Kent League runners up in 1947-48, before claiming the title in 1951-52. Two further second places arrived at Dover in the 1950’s, before the club joined the Southern League in 1959. Dover were crowned Division One champions in 1966-67 and were promoted to the Premier Division, where they remained until 1978 when they were relegated to Division One South.

Dover won Division One South in 1978-79 at which point the Southern League scrapped its Premier Division and had Midland and Southern Divisions instead. Dover remained in the Southern Division until the debts built up and eventually led to the club folding in 1983.

Dover Athletic was formed and took the place of the old club in the Southern League Southern Division ready for the 1983-84 season, while continuing at The Crabble. Former Dover FC player Alan Jones was appointed as team manager.

Steve McRae replaced Jones as the club initially struggled. Chris Kinnear was appointed as manager in November 1985 as he began to turn fortunes around; initially with two top five league finishes.

In 1987-88 Athletic were promoted to the Premier Division, going on to be crowned as Southern League champions in 1989-90, but the club was denied promotion to the Football Conference owing to ground grading regulations. 

In 1991-92 ‘The Whites’ ended as runners-up before collecting a second title the following season. This time The Crabble was up to standards required so Dover claimed their place in the Conference.

During their second season in non league’s elite Kinnear was dismissed to be replaced by John Ryan for a short spell before Peter Taylor took over the hot seat. The Whites avoided relegation in 1995-96 as Boston United failed to put in their application for promotion in on time.

A fine run in 1997-98 under new boss Bill Williams saw Athletic reach the FA Trophy semi final, before Cheltenham Town ruined their dreams of a Wembley appearance. Williams departed in 2001 as financial troubles led to several directors departing.

Managers came and went but Dover’s run in the Conference came to an end in 2002 when they were relegated to the Southern League under Clive Walker. The club entered a CVA to try and clear the debts which were estimated to be £400,000.

In 2004 Athletic were switched to the Isthmian League after Walker and then Richard Langley had spells as team manager as the team were relegated to Division One South. The following year the club were saved from extinction when director Jim Parmenter headed up a consortium and took over as chairman. He also reappointed Walker and cleared the CVA debts.

In 2005-06 and 2006-07 Athletic reached the semi-finals of the play-offs, but were defeated by Tonbridge Angels and then Hastings United. Former Gillingham midfielder Andy Hessenthaler came in as manager in the summer of 2007 and in his first season at the helm he led the club to the title and promotion to the Premier Division.

Dover’s fine run continued as they lifted the Isthmian League title and won promotion to the Conference South. Hessenthaler took the side to the semi-final of the play offs, where they lost out to Woking, before departing to take the managers job at Gillingham, to be replaced by Ian Hendon. His spell was short lived, with former Arsenal striker Martin Hayes replacing him at The Crabble.

Hayes side went on a fine FA Cup run in 2010-11 which saw wins against Erith Town, Cambridge City and Farnborough give Athletic a round one tie at Gillingham. Former boss Hendon had moved to The Gills as assistant to Hessenthaler, much to the annoyance of Athletic.

Revenge was sweet at Priestfield as Dover won 2-0. The run continued with a victory over Aldershot Town before Huddersfield Town ended the run in West Yorkshire with a 2-0 win. In turn Hayes was replaced by veteran Football League striker Nicky Forster.

Forster remained at the helm until January 2013, when he was placed on gardening leave as Chris Kinnear returned once more. Kinnear’s side reached the end of season play-off final, but were defeated 4-1 away to Salisbury City.

The 2013-14 campaign saw Athletic embark on a season; as a run against fellow non-league sides in the FA Cup took the team to round two where they were eliminated away from home by Milton Keynes Dons. Dover also reached the third round of the FA Trophy.

However, it would be in Conference South where the greatest rewards were gathered. Kinnear’s side reached the play-offs, where they saw off Sutton United before beating Ebbsfleet United 1-0 away thanks to a Nathan Elder goal to gain a place in the top flight of non-league football.

The FA Cup success gave the Whites a passport to the fourth qualifying round in 2014-15. They took advantage, progressing and defeating Morecambe and then Cheltenham Town to set up a third round home tie against Crystal Palace; which the Premier League side won 4-0.

The 2015-16 campaign saw Athletic go for promotion from the National League, as the Conference had been rebranded, with on the field investment paying dividends as Ricky Miller banged in the goals leading to a play-off place. Forest Green Rovers ended any dreams of promotion in the semi-final.

Dover came close to repeating play-off places for the following couple of seasons before a poor run of form led to the sacking of club legend Kinnear, as Hessenthaler returned for a second spell at the helm. The team ended in fourteenth place in 2018-19.

The Whites sat in eleventh place when the 2019-20 campaign was truncated owing to the outbreak of Coronavirus. The pandemic was still abound during the 2020-21 season, when chairman Parmenter made a controversial call.

He pulled the club out of any further matches after January 30th citing financial implications that would bankrupt the club. The teams results were expunged and they were given a twelve points deduction at the start of the 2021-22 campaign.

Dover Athletic FC will play in the National League in the 2021-22 season.

My visits

Dover Athletic 1 Scarborough 1 (Saturday 9th October 1999) Football Conference (att: 945)

It was a pleasant late summer’s afternoon as I arrived from the train in the town of the white cliffs after completing a bit of overtime cleaning the new Media Centre carpet at Lord’s Cricket Ground. I plumped for a taxi to The Crabble as I was aware that it was getting on for a couple of miles from Dover Priory station and I was getting thirsty!

I met several pals including Gillingham based Seadog Simon Keane by the ground, but as the gates were still to be opened we went into The Cricketers on Crabble Avenue, just under the slope of the cricket ground. Sweden were playing in a vital Euro qualifier in England’s group that afternoon and it was being shown on the pubs TV, so we lost at least one companion!

Crabble Road was a steep hill that passed the cricket ground, which had also been the original Athletic Grounds where football kicked off in the town, before climbing higher to the peak and the grounds entrance. The Scarborough team bus had just arrived. Chairman extraordinaire John Russell somehow wangled for four of us to get free admission via the players gate!

The Crabble was a decent ground. Both ends had a reasonable sized covered terrace. The near side had a small seated stand near to the changing rooms block towards the corner flag and then some open standing with the clubhouse nearer the far end. It all seemed to be clinging on to the brow of the hill. The final touchline had a full length seated stand with a TV gantry in the centre.

We adjourned to the clubhouse and caught up with travelling Boro fans who were staying over for the weekend and also having a trip over the Channel to boost their shopping trolleys.

The game was being refereed by Wendy Toms. One of her ‘Assistant’s’ was a female, as was the third ref. It’s fair to say we waited with plenty of interest to see how the game would be officiated as it was still at an early stage of women in charge. Feedback from previous games had not been too promising.

Boro took the lead, but in controversial circumstances. A shot was blocked on the line by the hand of a Dover defender. However, the rebound was tucked away. Instead of using common sense, awarding the goal and booking the offender Ms Toms awarded a penalty kick and sent off the home player. Nobody was happy. Thankfully Gareth Williams slotted home the resulting penalty kick.

Boro midfielder David Bass was one of several players who had picked up ‘soft’ yellow cards. Following one challenge he had to go off for treatment. Thinking that he’d been given the OK to return to action he came back on the pitch. Ms Toms decided otherwise and gave Bass a second caution and sent him off.

Dover equalised in the game and a draw was probably the correct result, but the players, fans and officials of both clubs were left fuming at the performance of the officials. One old boy, who was eighty if he was a day, told me he’d never go to another match if a woman was refereeing. It had been shambolic.

After a couple of pints in the friendly clubhouse I walked down the hill and took the bus back into town. I had a walk around to see if I could find anything of interest, but the place was run down and soul destroying with not too many English voices to be heard. I called it a day and caught a train back to London after a quick beer in a very average pub.

Dover Athletic 2 Scarborough 1 - after extra time (Monday 17th February 2003) FA Trophy Round Four Replay (att: 801)

It was a cold Monday at work at Lord’s and I hadn’t really set out to go to the match, but it was a quite day and I needed cheering up, so I left a little early and caught the train. This time I headed to Kearsney station as I was told it was easily walkable.

The station was quite remote. I had to negotiate a narrow lane before joining the main London Road down towards the ground. I arrived in good time for a couple of beers, and was pleasantly surprised to find a few fellow Seadogs already there. The temperatures were dipping and the pitch was starting to sparkle with frost. The referee was inspecting the surface, and we were dreading a postponement.

Thankfully the official gave the game the all clear to go ahead. I was looking forward to it. Apparently Boro should have won the first game, so we were optimistic. The side came out and played some excellent football and went ahead with a goal from Paul Dempsey. Boro were totally dominant and should have added to their tally, but for some strange reason, they began to take their foot off the gas.

I had got talking with fellow fans Paul Whelan who lived in Wimbledon and Ady Buck who was based in Luton. I was kindly offered a ride back with Ady, which was most helpful as I would have had a rush at full time. Their assistance changed from helpful to necessary as Dover took the game to extra time, much to the annoyance of us Seadogs.

The effort Boro put in wasn’t up to scratch. Forwards Keith Scott and Neil Campbell in particular were raising our collective blood pressure. Sure enough Dover scored what proved to be the winner in extra time, as we were just hoping that Boro could hang on until penalties. Some local youths added to our ire by coming in the terrace alongside to wind us up. We left the ground in angry mood.

It was to get worse. Ady had parked in the River area up near the ground. When we got to his car the back window had been smashed. There was nobody around to ask if they’d seen anything. The journey back was very cold as we kept as much clothing on as possible. The wind coming onto my neck in the back was very bracing.

Ady kindly dropped me in Cricklewood on his was to the M1 after we’d driven across London. I got home around 1.30am. It wasn’t the greatest night watching the club, but it had certainly been an adventure!

Friday 26th July 2019

My week holiday away from work was nearing the end and I was determined to make the most of it, despite struggling with a slight knee strain. A pre-season friendly fixture between Gillingham and Southend United had caught my attention and offered me a great opportunity for a ride to the coast first.

I listened to Ireland’s capitulation in the Lord’s Test match to England while riding on the train and arriving at Priory station. I took a bus into the town centre before catching the small number 91 service which deposited me on Crabble Lane.

After a brief look at the “lower” Crabble; which was once home to Dover Cricket Club until their closure and now hosted the town’s rugby club, I continued another hundred metres up the hill where the open gates to the stadium were a welcome sight.

The staff were preparing for the following day’s friendly against Colchester United. I was keen to update my photo collection as my previous visits coincided with a period when I never really considered taking snaps in the days when you had to pay for developing each time.

A new wooden stand had replaced the old structure on the entrance side, while the rest of the arena was smartly maintained and looking at its best in the lovely weather. Once done I walked to the main London Road to catch a bus to the Pencester Gardens terminus.

It was time to take in a look at the waterfront; which looked far more attractive than I remembered in the past. I was aware of a micro pub near the station so I headed in its general direction; when I came across The Mash Tun Micropub on Bench Street.

Quirky would be the first word I’d think of to describe it. There was just one other customer when I entered. The gent owner was dressed very smart, while a lady sat knitting in one of the pieces of furniture that made the place feel like an old front room. The classical piped music added to its ambiance.

The beer was steady enough if a little cool, despite the warm weather outside. I took a seat at a tall table towards the back, unsure whether to join in the conversation. It was a good call as one of the subjects covered were the wise words of Margaret Thatcher and other leaders.

After a pint I wandered off to find The Lanes Micropub where the welcome was warm and all the customers friendly and keen to chat. The service was top class and genuine. I enjoyed a couple of pints with advice for pubs offered at my next destination.

It seemed a shame to leave the pub, but I wanted to take the opportunity to have a brief look around Canterbury; a very beautiful small city, on my way to the match. I’d thoroughly enjoyed Dover, and definitely took away a far better impression than after previous visits.