1984–85 Kent Football League

The 1984–85 Kent Football League season was the nineteenth in the history of the Kent Football League, a football competition featuring teams based in and around the county of Kent in England.

The League structure comprised two divisions: Division One and Division Two with the latter known as the Reserves Section (reserves teams were not permitted in Division One). Additionally there were two league cup competitions: the Challenge Cup for the Division One clubs and another for the teams in Division Two.

Division One

Kent Football League Division One

Season	1984–85
Champions	Tunbridge Wells
Matches played	272
Goals scored	909 (3.34 per match)
← 1983–84 1985–86 →

The league featured seventeen clubs, fifteen of which competed in the previous season together with two additional clubs:

• Greenwich Borough, transferred from the London Spartan League^[1]
• Metropolitan Police (Hayes), joined from the Kent County Amateur League^[2]

The league was won by Tunbridge Wells, their first league winners title in the reformed Kent League.^[3]

At the end of the season both bottom clubs, Crockenhill and Ramsgate were re-elected to continue their membership of the division.^[4]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Season End Notes
1	Tunbridge Wells	32	22	6	4	83	39	+44	72
2	Hythe Town	32	22	6	4	70	33	+37	72
3	Sittingbourne	32	21	4	7	77	43	+34	66
4	Beckenham Town	32	17	8	7	67	46	+21	59
5	Cray Wanderers	32	17	2	13	59	51	+8	53
6	Greenwich Borough	32	15	6	11	62	49	+13	51
7	Faversham Town	32	13	8	11	44	42	+2	47
8	Darenth Heathside	32	13	7	12	45	43	+2	46
9	Metropolitan Police (Hayes)	32	10	13	9	66	66	0	43
10	Whitstable Town	32	12	4	16	43	44	−1	40
11	Alma Swanley[a]	32	11	7	14	47	49	−2	39[b]
12	Deal Town	32	9	10	13	50	57	−7	37
13	Herne Bay	32	7	8	17	43	57	−14	29
14	Slade Green Athletic	32	7	7	18	35	66	−31	28
15	Kent Police[c]	32	8	3	21	48	88	−40	27
16	Crockenhill	32	6	7	19	34	63	−29	25	Re-elected
17	Ramsgate	32	6	6	20	36	73	−37	24

Source: "Kent League 1966–92: 1984–85". Non League Matters. Retrieved 22 May 2024. "England – Kent League: Final Table Kent League (Division 1) '84–'85". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

1. Alma Swanley were deducted one point and one goal,^[5] the deducted goal has been reinstated in the table
2. Alma Swanley were deducted one point
3. Kent Police were deducted two goals,^[5] which have been reinstated in the table.

Challenge Cup

The 1984–85 Kent Football League Challenge Cup (named the Winstonlead Kent League Cup for sponsorship reasons)^[4] was won by Greenwich Borough in their first season in the league.^[6] The competition, contested by all seventeen clubs in the league, comprised five single match tie rounds (with a single tie in the first round) culminating in the final.

Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Sittingbourne

1

1[a]

Darenth Heathside

1

3[a]

Darenth Heathside

0

Beckenham Town

2

Beckenham Town

3

Alma Swanley

2

Beckenham Town

2[b]

Greenwich Borough

3[b]

Tunbridge Wells

3

Cray Wanderers

0

Tunbridge Wells

1

Greenwich Borough

2

Kent Police

Greenwich Borough

1. Replay
2. After extra time

Second Round

• Hythe Town 0 – 2 Sittingbourne
• Darenth Heathside 1 – 0 Ramsgate
• Crockenhill 3 – 4 Beckenham Town
• Whitstable Town 0 – 1 (aet) Alma Swanley (score at 90 minutes 0–0)
• Herne Bay 0 – 3 Tunbridge Wells
• Cray Wanderers 1– 0 Metropolitan Police (Hayes)
• Kent Police 5 – 5 Deal Town
• REPLAY 1: Deal Town v Kent Police
• REPLAY 2: Kent Police 4 – 0 Deal Town
• Greenwich Borough 4 – 0 Slade Green Athletic

First Round

• Faversham Town 2 – 3 Greenwich Borough
• Byes for the other fifteen teams

Sources:

• Final: "Minor Results: Kent: Cup Final". The Sunday People. 12 May 1985. p. 45. Retrieved 22 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
• Semi-finals: "Senior soccer details: Results: Saturday: Kent League: Winstonlead Cup semi-final". Kent Messenger. 12 April 1985. p. 79. Retrieved 22 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.; "Minor Results: Kent: Cup semi-final". The Sunday People. 5 May 1985. p. 45. Retrieved 22 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
• Quarter-finals: "Senior soccer details: Results: Saturday: Kent League: Winstonlead Cup 3rd rnd". Kent Messenger. 22 March 1985. p. 79. Retrieved 22 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.; "Soccer Results and Fixtures: Results: Saturday: Kent League: Division 1: League Cup, Round 3 replay". Kentish Express. 28 March 1985. p. 52. Retrieved 22 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
• Second Round:"Senior soccer details: Results: Saturday: Kent League: Winstonlead League Cup 2nd rd". Kent Messenger. 1 March 1985. p. 79. Retrieved 22 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.; "Soccer Results, Fixtures and Tables: Results: Saturday: Kent League: League Cup, Round 2". Kentish Express. 7 March 1985. p. 46. Retrieved 22 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.; "Senior soccer details: Results: Saturday: Kent League: Winstonlead Cup: Second rnd replay". Kent Messenger. 22 March 1985. p. 79. Retrieved 22 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
• First Round: "Results, Fixtures: Results: Saturday: Kent League: Division 1 Cup". Kentish Express. 15 November 1984. p. 47. Retrieved 22 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Reserves Section

The letter "R" following team names indicates a club's reserves team.

Division Two featured mostly reserves teams (which were not permitted in Division One) from clubs from Kent and the adjacent area whose first team played in Division One and other higher ranked leagues. There was a League Cup competition for the teams in the section.

Division Two

Kent Football League Division Two

Season	1984–85
Champions	Sheppey United R
Matches played	271
Goals scored	924 (3.41 per match)
← 1983–84 1985–86 →

The league featured seventeen clubs (including one non-reserve team, Snowdown Colliery Welfare), thirteen of which had competed in the division the previous season together with four additional clubs

• Sheppey United R, returning following a one season absence
• Canterbury City R joined from the Kent County Amateur League^[2]
• Deal Town R joined from the Kent County Amateur League^[2]
• Thanet United R, formerly Margate R, joined from the Kent County Amateur League^[2]

The division was won by returnees Sheppey United R^[7] who completed a league and cup double.

At the end of the season Hastings United R folded and left the league and both bottom clubs, Deal Town R and Whitstable Town R were re-elected to continue their membership of the division.^[4]

League Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Season End Notes
1	Sheppey United R	32	23	6	3	77	25	+52	75
2	Ashford Town R	32	19	6	7	61	37	+24	63
3	Erith & Belvedere R	32	19	4	9	61	33	+28	61
4	Fisher Athletic R[a]	31	19	8	4	79	28	+51	56[b]
5	Faversham Town R[c]	32	15	6	11	71	56	+15	51
6	Herne Bay R[d]	31	14	8	9	69	55	+14	50
7	Hythe Town R	32	14	6	12	53	46	+7	48
8	Snowdown Colliery Welfare	32	12	7	13	44	47	−3	43
9	Hastings United R	32	12	6	14	43	53	−10	42	Resigned, club folded
10	Sittingbourne R[e]	32	12	7	13	72	61	+11	40[f]
11	Darenth Heathside R	32	10	9	13	53	47	+6	39
12	Folkestone R	32	10	7	15	51	76	−25	37
13	Chatham Town R	32	8	12	12	41	49	−8	36
14	Thanet United R[g]	32	8	7	17	39	56	−17	31
15	Canterbury City R	32	7	6	19	46	71	−25	27
16	Deal Town R	32	7	5	20	34	87	−53	26	Re-elected
17	Whitstable Town R	32	5	4	23	30	97	−67	19

Source: "Non League Tables for 1984–1985: Kent League Division Two". Non League Matters. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

1. Fisher Athletic R were deducted nine points and eleven goals,^[8] the deducted goals have been reinstated in the table; match versus Herne Bay R not played
2. Fisher Athletic R were deducted nine points
3. Faversham Town R were deducted one goal^[8] which has been reinstated in the table
4. Herne Bay R were deducted one goal^[8] which has been reinstated in the table; match versus Fisher Athletic R not played
5. Sittingbourne R were deducted three points and four goals,^[8] the deducted goals have been reinstated in the table
6. Sittingbourne R were deducted thee points
7. Thanet United R were deducted three goals^[8] which have been reinstated in the table

Division Two Cup

The 1984–85 Kent Football League Division Two Cup was won by Sheppey United R,^[9] who defeated Fisher Athletic R in the final, and completed a league and cup double.

References

1. "Greenwich Borough". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
2. "Kent County Amateur League 1979–1984: 1983–1984". Non League Matters. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
3. "First Division past winners / runners-up". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
4. "Deal, Fisher survive expulsion bid". Kentish Express. Ashford. 28 June 1985. p. 45.
5. "Kent League tables: Division One". Whitstable Times. Whitstable. 6 June 1985. p. 17.
6. "Archives: League Cup Winners". SCEFL: Southern Counties East Football League. February 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
7. "Reserves First Division winners / runners-up". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
8. "Kent League tables: Division Two". Whitstable Times. Whitstable. 6 June 1985. p. 17.
9. "Reserves Division(s) League Cup". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2024.