The1987–88 Kent Football League season (known as theWinstonlead Kent League for sponsorship reasons) was the twenty-second in the history of theKent Football League, afootball competition featuring teams based in and around the county ofKent 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.
| Season | 1987–88 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Greenwich Borough |
| Matches | 342 |
| Goals | 1,086 (3.18 per match) |
1988–89 → | |
The league featured nineteen clubs, eighteen of which competed in the previous season together with one additional club:
The league was won, for the second successive season, byGreenwich Borough.[2]
At the end of the season both bottom clubs,Herne Bay andCrockenhill, were re-elected to continue their membership of the division.[3]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Season End Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greenwich Borough | 36 | 26 | 5 | 5 | 111 | 50 | +61 | 83 | |
| 2 | Faversham Town | 36 | 23 | 7 | 6 | 92 | 36 | +56 | 76 | |
| 3 | Whitstable Town | 36 | 20 | 8 | 8 | 57 | 37 | +20 | 68 | |
| 4 | Sittingbourne | 36 | 17 | 11 | 8 | 68 | 53 | +15 | 62 | |
| 5 | Hythe Town | 36 | 19 | 4 | 13 | 70 | 58 | +12 | 61 | |
| 6 | Kent Police | 36 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 69 | 66 | +3 | 56 | |
| 7 | Cray Wanderers | 36 | 16 | 7 | 13 | 72 | 51 | +21 | 55 | |
| 8 | Beckenham Town | 36 | 16 | 5 | 15 | 61 | 55 | +6 | 53 | |
| 9 | Tunbridge Wells | 36 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 57 | 50 | +7 | 52 | |
| 10 | Ramsgate | 36 | 14 | 8 | 14 | 55 | 53 | +2 | 50 | |
| 11 | Darenth Heathside | 36 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 57 | 58 | −1 | 44 | |
| 12 | Alma Swanley | 36 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 41 | 47 | −6 | 44 | |
| 13 | Metropolitan Police (Hayes) | 36 | 11 | 8 | 17 | 45 | 61 | −16 | 41 | |
| 14 | Slade Green | 36 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 54 | 60 | −6 | 39 | |
| 15 | Danson | 36 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 44 | 68 | −24 | 39 | |
| 16 | Deal Town | 36 | 11 | 5 | 20 | 40 | 67 | −27 | 38 | |
| 17 | Thames Polytechnic | 36 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 37 | 65 | −28 | 38 | |
| 18 | Herne Bay | 36 | 9 | 8 | 19 | 35 | 69 | −34 | 35 | Re-elected |
| 19 | Crockenhill | 36 | 4 | 6 | 26 | 21 | 82 | −61 | 18 |
The 1987–88Kent Football League Challenge Cup was won, for the second occasion in three seasons, byTunbridge Wells.[4]
The competition, contested by all nineteen clubs in Division One, comprised five single match tie rounds (with the first round featuring three ties) culminating in the final which was played on a neutral ground (atHerne Bay F.C.[5] this season).
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||||||
| Tunbridge Wells | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Whitstable Town | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| Tunbridge Wells | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Kent Police | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Kent Police | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Metropolitan Police (Hayes) | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Tunbridge Wells | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hythe Town | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hythe Town | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Sittingbourne | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hythe Town | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Cray Wanderers | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Darenth Heathside | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| Cray Wanderers | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
Sources:
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.
| Season | 1987–88 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Fisher Athletic R |
| Matches | 306 |
| Goals | 1,036 (3.39 per match) |
1988–89 → | |
The league featured eighteen clubs (including one non-reserve team,Snowdown Colliery Welfare), seventeen of which had competed in the division the previous season together with one additional club, newly reformedBeckenham Town R.[1]
The division was won for a then record third successive season (and the fourth time in five seasons) byFisher Athletic R.[6]
At the end of the season both bottom clubs,Hythe Town R andHerne Bay R were re-elected to continue their membership of the division.[3] Prior to the start of the next season championsFisher Athletic R and Darenth Heathside R withdrew.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Season End Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fisher Athletic R | 34 | 27 | 4 | 3 | 111 | 21 | +90 | 85 | Resigned |
| 2 | Ashford Town R | 34 | 23 | 5 | 6 | 77 | 25 | +52 | 74 | |
| 3 | Faversham Town R | 34 | 21 | 4 | 9 | 71 | 38 | +33 | 67 | |
| 4 | Dover Athletic R | 34 | 19 | 6 | 9 | 64 | 47 | +17 | 63 | |
| 5 | Sittingbourne R | 34 | 19 | 5 | 10 | 72 | 52 | +20 | 62 | |
| 6 | Darenth Heathside R | 34 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 63 | 43 | +20 | 59 | Resigned |
| 7 | Snowdown Colliery Welfare | 34 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 59 | 47 | +12 | 57 | |
| 8 | Whitstable Town R | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 31 | 44 | −13 | 46 | |
| 9 | Sheppey United R | 34 | 14 | 3 | 17 | 57 | 53 | +4 | 45 | |
| 10 | Hastings Town R | 34 | 13 | 6 | 15 | 60 | 69 | −9 | 45 | |
| 11 | Ramsgate R | 34 | 13 | 2 | 19 | 54 | 56 | −2 | 41 | |
| 12 | Deal Town R | 34 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 59 | 75 | −16 | 39 | |
| 13 | Folkestone R | 34 | 12 | 3 | 19 | 47 | 80 | −33 | 39 | |
| 14 | Beckenham Town R | 34 | 10 | 3 | 21 | 54 | 74 | −20 | 33 | |
| 15 | Thames Polytechnic R | 34 | 10 | 3 | 21 | 39 | 73 | −34 | 33 | |
| 16 | Thanet United R | 34 | 7 | 9 | 18 | 36 | 68 | −32 | 30 | |
| 17 | Hythe Town R | 34 | 8 | 4 | 22 | 41 | 85 | −44 | 28 | Re-elected |
| 18 | Herne Bay R | 34 | 8 | 2 | 24 | 41 | 86 | −45 | 26 |
The 1987–88Kent Football League Division Two Cup was won, for a second successive season, bySittingbourne R.[7]
The competition, contested by all eighteen clubs in the division, comprised five single match tie rounds (with the first round featuring two ties) culminating in the final which was played on a neutral ground (atFaversham Town F.C.[8] this season).
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Ashford Town R | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Deal Town R | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Ashford Town R | 4[a] | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Sittingbourne R | 4[a] | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Sittingbourne R | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Hastings Town R | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Sittingbourne R | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Sheppey United R | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Sheppey United R | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Beckenham Town R | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Sheppey United R | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Fisher Athletic R | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Fisher Athletic R | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Darenth Heathside R | 1 | |||||||||||||
Sources: