Kentish Town

Kentish Town FC was a non-league football club from North London that was formed as a youth team in 1994 by a couple of parents who were concerned by the lack of opportunities for youth in the area in competitive football. They folded in 2015.

'The Townies' gained election into Division Two of the Spartan South Midlands League in 2003, from where they were promoted after one season despite finishing in tenth spot. After a few seasons of promise, the side were crowned as Division One champions in 2007-08.

Owing to the lack of a suitable home ground in their own locality, the club played home games at Coles Park, the home of Haringey Borough. Also, the Parkfield ground of Potters Bar Town and Hendon's Claremont Road, before moving to Copthall Stadium near the A1.

Kentish Town had a couple of seasons close to the relegation zone while rumours spread that the club were looking to develop their own ground and facilities near Copthall in 2010 at Chase Lodge, despite local protest, which can be read about here. The plans were rejected.

To add to the club's woes, the team were deducted ten points during the 2010-11 season, which saw them finish bottom of the league and be relegated. The following season saw one of consolidation, but unfortunately, owing to Saracen's planned move into a redeveloped Copthall Stadium, Town found themselves homeless. 

A groundshare was arranged for the 2012-13 campaign at Middlesex Stadium, the home of Hillingdon Borough, after a nineteenth-place finish. Two more seasons of struggle ensued before the club resigned from the competition at the end of 2013-14.

The club officially folded a few seasons later.

My visits

at Copthall Stadium

Kentish Town 1 Harefield United 3. (Wednesday 29th September 2010) South Midlands Spartan League Premier Division (att: 17)

Wednesdays can be limited in terms of choice, even in London. I'm forever astonished that more clubs don't try and spread the fixtures over other nights. My original choice for the evening was Ilford v Waltham Abbey in the Isthmian League North until the signals went down on the Metropolitan line, but fortunately, a second choice was still possible to reach.

I set off for Copthall Stadium with a decent idea of how to do it. The Townies had no suitable home ground near them, so they were using the stadium, which forms part of a huge sports village just off the A1 by Mill Hill in North London. 

It had lots of floodlit 5-a-side pitches, golf, swimming, a rugby club, football and cricket pitches as well as the main arena holding 10,000, which is home to the Shaftesbury & Barnet Harriers Athletic Club. It's not the easiest of grounds by public transport, especially for the first time in the dark.

I had alighted at Mill Hill Broadway on the main line and caught a bus. The rain was falling quite heavily, so the view from the window wasn't the best. I saw road signs for the stadium, so I jumped off on what turned out to be a long walk, as the signs were for vehicles.

I eventually found the entrance at the back of the stand and paid a fiver, including a programme. The club officials were friendly and told me the original ref had blown out, so the replacement was just getting ready, meaning it would now be an 8pm kick-off. 

I went for a wander to take photos. I don't like grounds with athletic tracks, but this was one of the better ones as the large Main Stand is raised above the facilities downstairs. I did a head count and there were 17 watching, including the home officials who doubled up as groundsmen, trying to clear the puddles from the pitch. 

It must have been costing someone a lot of money to hire the stadium. Town's mission statement in the programme said the club aims to provide organised football for players over the age of 16 in a safe and welcoming environment. In fairness, some fans were missing because Spurs were at home in the Champions League as well as on terrestrial TV, plus it wasn't a very pleasant evening.

Both sides did really well to provide an excellent end-to-end game, splashing through the puddles. The two linesmen looked to be real ale and pie fans, and the ref seemingly preferred a panoramic view of the game as he couldn't seem to keep up with play. 

They did their best, and any wrong decisions led to the entertainment. The game certainly flowed. A Premiership ref would have booked about eight players, yet the only yellow card all night was for dissent.

The game was of a similar standard to the NCEL, in which my club, Scarborough Athletic, were competing. Both sides were near the bottom of the table, although the visitors have only two players who started the season and look to be turning things around.

The two older away fans were good company, giving me all the league gossip. One had relatives on South Cliff in Scarborough. The other enjoyed lambasting the nearside linesman. The poor sod. Only seventeen there and he still got some clog!

The programme was certainly an eclectic read featuring such articles as seven children's quotes, ten things that sound dirty in golf and fourteen advantages of being a woman. They all had to be read to be believed. 

There was also the announcement that vuvuzelas are banned from the ground, and the club reserved the right to refuse admission. Glad they could be choosy on such crowd figures! A first for me was having a cheeseburger served in a bagel by a nice, motherly lady from Middlesbrough. It was up there with anything I'd had at a ground for a long time.

After the game, I found a far quicker route to the main road and bus stop via the leisure centre car park and past the football pitches along a lit footpath. It all made me realise that even though we have our gripes about following our own clubs at times, we are very lucky in the grand scheme of things.

at Boundary Stadium, Oxhey

Kentish Town 1 Oxhey Jets 5 (Tuesday 15th February 2011) Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division (att: 38)

I scanned the Non League Paper for options as I was on early shift at work. I didn't want to go too far as I'd ventured to Chelmsford the previous evening, and I was looking forward to a long weekend of German football and leisure!

The game that caught my eye was a Kentish Town home game, which had been switched to Boundary Stadium. I wanted to see if the ground had been upgraded, and it had the added attraction of a 7.30pm kick-off off meaning I'd be in bed a bit earlier.

I inquired on the league message board to make sure the venue was correct. I got some feedback, including one post from Nellie who confirmed it for me, so I set out by tube, with my planning bang on as I only waited a couple of minutes at Northwood station for the number eight bus.

This took me to South Oxhey. I actually went past my intended stop but walked back and went into the Dick Whittington for a pint. This really was a local’s pub in the truest sense. It was an old Courage estate pub seen in the likes of On the Buses films and early editions of The Sweeney. There were characters in there who looked like they were no strangers to the bar or, indeed, takeaway food. 

The landlady was very friendly and served a good Guinness, but there was no question of ever staying for two. On leaving the pub, I set out and went the wrong way, no thanks to Google Maps' regular trick of marking a pub in not exactly the right place. I had a walk in the dark around the large estate of South Oxhey.

It was built to solve the housing problem after World War Two, so London residents had cheap council housing to serve their requirements. I was put right and found a parade of shops near the ground and some newer housing to put on a football accumulator and send several tipped teams to certain defeat.

Boundary Stadium was just around the corner, and I was soon inside the smart, spacious clubhouse. I was a little surprised to see that the Christmas lights were still up, even though they did brighten the place up.

I was sitting with a pint of smoothflow Tetley’s when the Kentish Town officials went in. I went across for a chat and met Nellie. She was the lady who'd served me the excellent burger in a bagel at Copthall earlier in the season.

She let me have a programme and told me that admission was free, but a collection was to be taken at the gate for Great Ormond Street Hospital. This was a gesture to the Jets for allowing Town to use their venue, as the Copthall pitch was suffering from the terrible winter weather.

A Jets player had previously lost a child, and the Hospital had been of great assistance. It summed up why I love non-league football so much, seeing the thoughtfulness that generally emanates between so many good clubs.

Nellie also told me that the local residents around Copthall were doing all they could to deny Saracens RFC from redeveloping the stadium and making Town homeless. The club hoped to move into a new purpose-built ground with a 3G pitch in around four years, but they hoped to remain at Copthall until then.

The club ran Cafe Copthall under the stand throughout the summer, which raised the money required to pay for expenses the following season. If Town were evicted for Saracens' plans, they'd lose a vital income source.

I went out to brave the damp conditions, though luckily not as wet as when I visited Copthall, making my contribution on the gate before surveying the scene around me. The ground was still enclosed by the tight green mesh fence as on my previous visit, which can be read about here.

The pitch was a few feet below us, and the natural bank consisted of grass, a small open terrace, the seated Elliott Family Memorial Stand, divided by the players' entrance and a covered area further along that had been cut into the slope. Another small seated stand had been placed behind the goal near the touchline at the Town End.

The rest of the ground was as on my previous visit with flat open grass and a path standing. The far side fell away to a practice pitch and a floodlit 3G pitch. It was far better than I remembered and ideal for this level of football.

I started off on the terrace, which offered a great view with the refreshment kiosk at its rear. I listened to the live action from the San Siro between AC Milan and Tottenham, which many locals seemed interested in while I watched. I had a walk all the way round to view the game from different angles.

Jets started off well and could have been ahead a couple of times if they hadn't fluffed their lines. Town were decent on the ball, but as in the match I saw them in against Harefield, they lacked a little tactical direction and defensive discipline. Many of them were good ball players, but when they lost the ball, they were consistently in trouble.

Despite Town having a couple of chances, Jets got control and by half time were three-nil up. This was maybe a bit harsh on the Kentish Town boys, but the Jets, playing in a change kit of all yellow, were determined to capitalise on any opportunities given to them.

I was more than a little miffed that admission was by whatever people could afford, and it was for a great cause, yet there were still two or three different individuals who chose to peer over the fence and watch for free.

I returned for a pint at half time and to watch some of the action on the TV. I looked through the window as the players trudged off on their way to the dressing rooms and had to giggle at the expressions of some who looked like they wanted to join us in the warm with a beer.

The second half began with The Townies determined to cut the deficit, but they soon conceded another goal. The game was getting a bit niggly for no real reason. I lamented with some of the older regulars about how some younger players won't let anything go and look to exaggerate any small incidents.

The referee did a decent job in fairness and was certainly more discreet than the card-happy official at Chelmsford the previous evening. The Jets made it five before Town got a deserved consolation, typically through a mazy run and a good pass.

I made a move around five minutes from the end to catch the 9.28 train. The game had kicked off late, or I'd have made it leaving at the end. I took a shortcut down a dark, muddy lane and got a move on to reach Carpenders Park station with the floodlights of Vicarage Road, Watford burning bright over the horizon.

The centre of South Oxhey was not somewhere I really wanted to be. Some youths on bikes told me I'd missed my train, not without a hint of menace. I would guess you need to be tough to survive there.

Once again, my timing was impeccable, with the train soon arriving. I returned home after alighting at Harlesden and getting a couple of buses back in time for supper. All in all, it was an entertaining game at a decent set-up. Most of all, a good and worthy charity benefited.