Sevenoaks Town

Sevenoaks Town FC is a non-league football club that was formed as Sevenoaks FC in 1893, and who hail from the Kent town of the same name which is located around thirty miles south east of central London.

Sevenoaks attracted a crowd of over 1,000 for the visit of Royal Arsenal in 1883 prior to the club becoming founder members of the original Kent League, playing in Division Two in 1894-95, but lasting just one season in the competition.

The ‘Town’ suffix was added to the club name in 1908 when they became members of the Sevenoaks League where they remained for several decades before merging with local side St. John’s United in 1951.

The club joined the Kent Amateur League (Western Region), going on to be crowned as champions on a couple of occasions. In 1984 the competition was reorganised to become the Kent County League. ‘The Oaks’ were crowned as Premier Division champions in 1984-85, 1995-96 and again in 2002-03.

The latter triumph led to Town winning a place in the Kent League where they consolidated with an eleventh place finish in their debut 2003-04 season. Several other mid-table finishes were pieced together before a best of sixth spot came in 2009-10.

The Kent League became the Southern Counties East Football League for the 2013-14 campaign. Sevenoaks appointed Micky Collins as manager twelve months later, which turned out to be a masterstroke as the club improved year upon year.

By 2016-17 the Oaks ended third in the Premier Division of the enlarged league before a new artificial surface was laid at Greatness Park before the team went on to claim the league title in 2017-18 and win promotion to Division One South East of the Isthmian League.

Town ended in tenth place in 2018-19 and then were in the same position when the 2019-20 season when it was curtailed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the following season also going the same way. Plans were in place at the sponsored title Holmes Stadium for a new main stand, changing rooms and clubhouse.

Collins departed in February 2022 to be replaced by Harry Hudson whose side ended up in eighth place. Mark Dacey was appointed as team boss in November 2023, leading Town to a midtable berth.

Sevenoaks Town FC will play in the Isthmian League Division One South East in the 2024-25 season.

My visit

Sevenoaks Town 2 Hythe Town 2 (Wednesday 6^th October 2020) Isthmian League Division One South East (att: 207)

My attendance of non-league matches continued unabated. My regular companion Tony Foster was also right into it, deprived as he was of West Ham or Wealdstone action along with a blank cricket season.

The Coronavirus pandemic had caused chaos and lots of sadness around the world, but we were determined to make the best of the situation and get to as many games as possible, as nobody really knew if another lockdown was on the horizon.

While on early shifts I try to ensure as much sleep as possible around social activities. Sevenoaks seemed a bit distant. I had checked out trains, but it would have meant an extra late night. The 7.30pm kick off did offer some rest bite though.

When Tony suggested that he drove to the game I was more than happy to accompany. It meant just a quick catnap and meal after work before heading to our usual North Harrow rendezvous for games south and west for 5pm.

Again, there was little traffic, as had been the case since the restart of semi-normal life. Having minimal flights out of Heathrow was making the world of difference. We were soon onto the M25 where again driving was good according to my pilot.

We made excellent time and arrived in what seemed like a pleasant town just over an hour before kick-off. Free parking was readily available on site. It was time to look for the facilities as Tony needed food. We’d seen on the website that a clubhouse sold hot snacks and drinks around a hundred metres from the ground.

The eccentric chap on the car park gate told us that hot drinks and beer were available inside the ground but no hot food. He suggested the nearby garage, so off we went so my pal could grab a pasty.

We returned where a club official had arrived to offer the correct information. Hot drinks, snacks and beer were available at the brick clubhouse next to them which also served a grass pitch but there was nothing inside the ground. You live and learn!

The Shepherd’s Neame Whitstable Bay was on keg but in decent nick for £4. Sausage rolls were the hot snacks. The club shop was also inside match tickets were available along with plans for a new stand and proper clubhouse as part of The Bourne Stadium.

At the entrance to the ground a temperature check was carried out. The NHS Track & Trace App was in operation, as it had been at the clubhouse with hand sanitiser available. We had purchased our £10 tickets and printed them online as the capacity of Holmes Stadium was restricted to 300 under the guidance of the time. A free online programme was also available.

It wasn’t hard to see why once inside. The ground was neat and tidy if extremely tight on space with a strict one-way system in operation round the pitch. We headed round to the far side so we could take a proper look and I could take some photos.

The venue had two little covered standing areas with two seated stands straddling one of them on the far side. A tiny one row seated stand was at the dressing room end which consisted of various cabins for changing, officials and toilets.

The excellent artificial surface was surrounded by one of the accompanying fences that professional look. A large hill overlooked the far goal where occasional freeloaders appeared to watch throughout the evening.

Hythe began the game the better of the sides looking just that little bit sharper and inventive when going forward. They went ahead through the experienced Frannie Collin when his shot on the turn squirmed under the body of home keeper Ben Bridle-Card who had earlier made a spectacular save.

Sevenoaks levelled things up slightly against the run of play just past the half hour mark through a low shot from just outside the box from Tyrell Richardson-Brown which found the corner of the net.

At the break I needed the loo which were located behind the changing rooms. Once relieved I had to complete a full lap of the ground to rejoin my mate. It was good for boosting my steps for the day if nothing else!

I’m not sure what the respective coaches gave their players at the break, but both sides flew out of the traps with play going at full speed from end to end for the first ten minutes before proceedings settled down a little.

Hythe keeper Nathan Harvey pulled off a great save and later saw the ball flick off the top of his bar. With ten minutes remaining the ref pointed to the spot after adjudging a visiting defender handled a skimming cross as the rain began to fall.

It was hotly disputed by the Hythe players before being slotted away straight up the middle of the goal by Kyle De Silva. The continual shouting towards the ref from both sides and benches had been a feature of the evening.

Another was when an errant shot went out of the ground and onto the hill where a lone fan was watching. He took his time going down the steep slope before recovering the ball, keeping hold of it. He seemed content with his find. It seemed to take forever before a club official decided to go and recover it.

We were commenting that a defeat would have been a bit harsh on Hythe, so we were both happy when parity was restored with four minutes of normal time remaining when a deep corner found an unmarked Liam Smith whose header looped back across goal just inside the far post.

Maybe it was my current good state of mind or I was just lucky in my choices, but I thought this another worthwhile encounter to enjoy. I can honestly count the bad ones I had seen from the start of the season on one hand. I longed for it to continue.

The one-way system certainly worked from a social distance perspective at full time as we were away and back across the park to the car in no time. There were no roadworks or traffic on the way home.

I was drifting off a couple of times but tried to stay alert to keep Tony company. It was the least I could do as he got me to several matches that would have been otherwise time consuming at best.

Public transport was good after I was dropped off and I was in bed before 11.30 ready for a sleep prior to another 5.20am alarm call. Not that I was complaining. Life was good. Especially compared to some poor souls elsewhere around the UK.