1980–81 Kent Football League

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The 1980–81 Kent Football League season was the fifteenth 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

Cray Wanderers celebrate winning the title
Kent Football League Division One
Season1980–81
ChampionsCray Wanderers
Matches played272
Goals scored826 (3.04 per match)

The division featured the seventeen clubs which had competed in the previous season.

The division was won by Cray Wanderers.[1]

At the end of the season Dartford Glentworth left the league.[2]




League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Season End Notes
1 Cray Wanderers 32 24 5 3 92 27 +65 53
2 Chatham Town 32 22 6 4 61 23 +38 50
3 Crockenhill 32 20 5 7 63 37 +26 45
4 Erith & Belvedere 32 19 5 8 57 30 +27 43
5 Sittingbourne 32 18 5 9 74 29 +45 41
6 Hythe Town 32 18 5 9 70 45 +25 41
7 Sheppey United 32 16 9 7 45 33 +12 41
8 Faversham Town 32 12 11 9 36 28 +8 35
9 Tunbridge Wells 32 10 9 13 33 49 −16 29
10 Darenth Heathside 32 9 10 13 45 52 −7 28
11 Deal Town 32 10 7 15 46 49 −3 27
12 Dartford Glentworth 32 11 3 18 40 60 −20 25 Resigned
13 Slade Green Athletic 32 10 5 17 39 51 −12 23[a]
14 Whitstable Town 32 7 7 18 33 58 −25 21
15 Kent Police 32 5 9 18 43 67 −24 19
16 Herne Bay 32 4 6 22 23 67 −44 14 Re-elected
17 Ramsgate 32 2 3 27 26 121 −95 7
Source: "Kent League 1966–92: 1980–81". Non League Matters. Retrieved 22 May 2024. "England – Kent League: Final Table Kent League (Division 1) '80–'81". 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. ^ Slade Green Athletic were deducted two points.

Challenge Cup

The 1980–81 Kent Football League Challenge Cup was won by Sittingbourne[3] (whose reserves team won their Divisional cup too).

The competition, contested by all seventeen clubs in the Division One, comprised five single match tie rounds (with the first round featuring one tie) culminating in the final which was played on a neutral ground (at Sheppey United F.C.[4] this season).

Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
Hythe Town 1
Darenth Heathside 2
Darenth Heathside 1
Whitstable Town 0
Whitstable Town 5
Faversham Town 1
Darenth Heathside 1
Sittingbourne 2
Erith & Belvedere 4
Crockenhill 2
Erith & Belvedere 0
Sittingbourne 2
Deal Town 1
Sittingbourne 2

Second Round

First Round

  • Darenth Heathside 5 – 2 Cray Wanderers
  • Byes for the other fifteen clubs

Sources:

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
Season1980–81
ChampionsWelling United R

The league featured nineteen clubs including one non-reserve team (Snowdown Colliery Welfare). Fourteen of the teams had competed in the previous season and they were joined by five additional, all reserves, teams:[5]

Newly joined club Welling United R were the division winners.[7]

At the end of the season Faversham Town R and Dartford Glentworth R resigned from the league.

(The table below is not the final table, maximum potential matches per team = 36)

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Season End Notes
1 Welling United R 35 30 2 3 116 26 +90 62
2 Maidstone United R 34 26 3 5 113 30 +83 55
3 Dartford R 33 22 3 8 69 34 +35 47
4 Chatham Town R 32 21 4 7 83 29 +54 46
5 Erith & Belvedere R 33 19 6 8 63 26 +37 44
6 Faversham Town R 36 19 1 16 70 66 +4 39 Resigned
7 Folkestone R 36 14 9 13 63 62 +1 37
8 Darenth Heathside R 35 15 7 13 49 52 −3 37
9 Sittingbourne R 35 11 13 11 45 41 +4 35
10 Deal Town R 35 12 10 13 60 70 −10 34
11 Dover R 35 10 11 14 52 60 −8 31
12 Sheppey United R 36 12 7 17 55 68 −13 31
13 Ashford Town R 36 13 5 18 50 76 −26 31
14 Hythe Town R 35 11 6 18 49 75 −26 28
15 Dartford Glentworth R 34 8 9 17 51 63 −12 25 Resigned
16 Whitstable Town R 34 10 4 20 41 72 −31 24
17 Hastings United R 36 9 5 22 36 74 −38 23
18 Herne Bay R 36 7 4 25 43 110 −67 18 Re-elected
19 Snowdown Colliery Welfare 36 6 3 27 38 112 −74 15
Updated to match(es) played on 5 May 1980. Source: "County Soccer Details: Kent League: Division 2". Kentish Express. 8 May 1981. p. 31. Retrieved 15 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Division Two Cup

The 1980–81 Kent Football League Division Two Cup was won by Sittingbourne R (whose first team won the Challenge Cup) with Chatham Town R runners-up.[8]

The competition was contested by all nineteen clubs in the division and comprised five single match tie rounds (with the first round featuring three ties) culminating in the final.

Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
Faversham Town R 6
Deal Town R 0
Faversham Town R 2
Sittingbourne R 4
Sittingbourne R 3
Sheppey United R 2
Sittingbourne R
Chatham Town R
Hythe Town R 4
Whitstable Town R 2
Hythe Town R 0
Chatham Town R 4
Chatham Town R 1
Darenth Heathside R 0

Second Round

First Round

Sources:

References

  1. ^ "First Division past winners / runners-up". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Dartford Glentworth". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Archives: League Cup Winners". SCEFL: Southern Counties East Football League. February 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  4. ^ "County Soccer Details: Saturday: Fixtures: Kent League Division 1 Cup Final". Kentish Express. Ashford. 1 May 1981. p. 23.
  5. ^ Carpenter, Gordon (4 July 1980). "Bert is named Kent League's vice-chairman". Kent Messenger. Larkfield, Maidstone. p. 28.
  6. ^ "Folkestone". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Reserves First Division winners / runners-up". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Reserves Division(s) League Cup". kentleague.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
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