Tonbridge Angels

Tonbridge Angels FC 

Ground: Longmead Stadium

Capacity: 3,200

Club Founded: 1947

League: National League South - Step 2/6th Tier (current level)

Founded in 1947, Tonbridge Angels have become one of Kent's best-known non-league clubs, building a proud reputation playing in the upper reaches of non-league football.

Club History

The Early Years

The club was founded as Tonbridge FC, on the suggestion of a local businessman, Mr Herbert Portch, who became the first chairman. They were soon elected into the Southern League, playing at a former home of Kent CCC, The Angel Ground, named after a nearby hotel, from which the club nickname came.

In the early 50's the club three times reached the first round of the FA Cup. Their home tie against Aldershot attracted a crowd of 8,236 to the Angel Ground. By the late 60's Malcolm Macdonald led the forward line for Tonbridge. The visit of Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup saw 7,770 fans attend in the 1972-73 season.

Reforming and a New Ground

World Cup winner George Cohen spent some time as team manager soon after this, as the team played in the different divisions offered by the Southern League.  In 1976, the club was liquidated, owing to debt. A new continuation club, Tonbridge Angels FC, was formed to complete the league fixtures before being automatically relegated at the end of the season.

The club faced other battles as the local council, as landlords of the Angel Ground, wanted to redevelop the site, with its ideal location close to the town centre and railway station. In 1980, Angels moved to a new ground, Longmead Stadium on the edge of town. The site of the old ground was eventually swallowed up by the Angel Shopping Centre.

 

The move to the new stadium didn't improve financial matters, leading to poor performances on the pitch. At the end of the 1987-88 season, the team was relegated to the Kent League. They returned after regrouping after a successful 1992-93 campaign under manager Phil Emblen.

Bill Roffey was appointed manager in February 1996, during a period when the Emblen brothers, Paul and Neil, both headed off to enjoy professional careers. Colin Blewden became player-manager in October 1997, with Alan Walker following him in the hot seat from the summer of 2002. 

Second-Tier Non-League Club

In 2004, non-league football was reorganised, with Angels being placed in the Premier Division of the Isthmian League under player-manager Tony Dolby. They were soon relegated, but fought back to regain their position at the end of the 2005-06 campaign via the playoffs, with Dover Athletic defeated in the final. 

Tommy Warrilow was appointed as team manager, overseeing a period of marked improvement. Two seasons after a failed playoff appearance, Tonbridge finally went up via the same route after defeating Lowestoft Town in the final to reach the Conference South. 

Warrilow departed after the side was relegated to the Isthmian League in 2013-14, replaced by Steve McKimm, who took his side to the playoffs. The 2018-19 season ended in promotion through an elongated playoff procedure. Metropolitan Police were finally defeated in what was termed a 'super final' to reach the National League South.

Jay Saunders replaced McKimm in May 2022, as the Longmead pitch was replaced with an artificial surface. Craig Nelson and then Alan Dunne took charge of the Angels during the 2025-26 campaign.

My visit

Tonbridge Angels 1 Ebbsfleet United 6 

Friendly - Saturday 14th July 2012

👨‍👨‍👧‍👧 315 🎟️ £8

My visit to Longmead Stadium was a real bolt out of the blue. I was on night shifts at work and was scheduled to meet my visiting pal Sol from Kolkata for lunch. However, he had to put back our date for a couple of days as he was to meet cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar. Well, I suppose his career record is slightly better than mine!

Not to worry, I thought, as I knew I'd get to a game instead. However, I didn't know where. As it happened, I received a phone call from an old friend from my days in Scarborough. Gary loved going to new grounds, partly through his allegiance to Cardiff City and Scarborough, but mostly to see as many different places as he could. 

He was visiting London for a couple of weeks to rack up some matches while staying with another old mate. I got a text late on the Friday evening, sketching out his planned schedule for football and cricket matches. He was heading to Tonbridge the next day, for what looked like an attractive pre-season friendly against Conference side Ebbsfleet United. 

We made arrangements to meet up for the first time in nearly twenty years the following day. After a sleep after work, I took the tube and then train to Swanley in Kent, where my mate was based. I was already in good form after sitting with a Maidstone United fan on the train and sharing some stories of dodgy Chairman and our respective Football League days and the ensuing fightbacks. 

He was really excited as he was on the way to his club's first home game in Maidstone for eighteen years. I was due to visit the new ground myself a couple of weeks later. Gary picked me up at the station, and we had a good chat catching up as he drove us down to the game. 

We arrived around 1.30pm at Longmead Stadium, his sense of direction as good as ever. We parked up, paid our admission fee, and purchased a light programme for 50p and some raffle tickets. We were both immediately impressed with Longmead Stadium. 

We were both in agreement that too many of the newer grounds hardly had any club colours or even signage on display, and many were identical. Here we had a traditional ground painted in blue. There was a raised covered terrace directly behind each goal, with a full-length seated stand on the far side. 

The side by the entrance was open, save for a small stand for the press and dignitaries, with all the necessary facilities behind. The changing rooms were over in the far corner. We went inside the clubhouse to carry on our chat as the rain teemed down. Unfortunately for me, the hand-pulled bitter was off, as it was playing up. 

I had to do with Tetley smooth. This is not a type of ale I sing any praise for, and the one on offer was as poor as I think I'd tried. I nearly left some of my second pint! We went out for kick off, and luckily, the rain abated. The pitch was soggy but didn't cut up. There were large puddles to greet the teams at the entrance to the pitch. 

I was happy to hear an old familiar anthem blast out through the PA system before kick off. I wasn't sure of the relevance of the Aussie Rules favourite Up There Cazaly, but it reminded me of many happy days on cricketing tours with my pals from Yarrambat. It is fair to say that Ebbsfleet came flying out of the traps. They took the lead after Moses Ashikodi opened the scoring after only three minutes. 

Liam Bellamy added a second 10 minutes later, and Fleet added a third as Ashikodi added his second. Angels pulled one back before the break through Chris Piper. The home side had plenty of good play going forward, but they were undone at the back by some fast and physical football, with passes into the channels being pulled back for the waiting scorers.

We walked back to the clubhouse side at the interval. We stood between the Main Stand and the changing rooms after deciding not to pay the £1 transfer to the seats. Both of us thought that was a little excessive for a friendly. As the queue abated, we tried out the catering. The burgers were of decent quality. 

Unfortunately, while collecting our goods, we missed the visitors' fourth goal added by Nathan Elder. We stood near a multitude of substitutes from both sides, warmed up in front of us and chatted away between themselves and to fans. Fortunately, both the home boss Warrilow and Fleet's Liam Daish helped the flow of the game by not making many changes.

Further goals, similar to the ones in the first period, were added by Serge Makofo, and then an unfortunate own goal from Ben Judge, attempting to cut out another dangerous ball across the six-yard box. It had been a good game, especially for the neutral. Chances were aplenty at both ends, and there were plenty of good challenges, played in a competitive but good spirit.

We made a quick getaway, and I made it to the 5.26 train at Swanley back to Victoria, so I could have a few hours shut eye before my next shift at work. It had been great to catch up with an old friend, with more games arranged over the following few weeks, and it was good to visit a traditional football ground and see a very decent match.

It was my first game of the 2012-13 season. If only every day out could be like that one!