The 1970's..........


1977-1978......

After a false start the season before, Hythe finally moved up from the Kent Amateur League to the Kent League for season 1977-78. The club had moved from South Road to Reachfields, although it was a very modest ground in those days, just a pitch with dressing rooms and a small clubroom behind the goal. The official ground opening was a game with Southern League neighbours Folkestone and Shepway, as they were then called, on Saturday 30 July 1977. Folkestone went two goals up before a Les Hall own goal and a John Champion effort saw honours even at 2-2.

 

The league season began with a home game with Tunbridge Wells and a 2-1 defeat, Paul Prior scoring Hythe’s first-ever Kent League goal. There were problems reported with the pitch, with shingle coming through to the surface, but remedial work allowed the next home game to go ahead as planned. A draw followed at Herne Bay and defeat at Crockenhill, in a ‘monsoon’, before Hythe’s first victory, in that next home game. It was impressive as well, a 5-3 win against last season’s Kent League champions, Medway (a renamed Chatham).

 

That game started an unbeaten run of seven games, five of them victories, which left Hythe in fourth place. After a couple of defeats another good run through November and December was ended by the worst result of the season, a 7-0 defeat at Whitstable on New Year’s Day. A strong finish to the season, only two defeats in the last ten games saw Hythe climb the table and finish in a respectable fourth place. This was despite the loss of leading scorer Prior, who joined Folkestone for the last month of the season.

 

Included in the league were three Southern League reserve sides, from Dover, Folkestone and Maidstone and Hythe won all six of those games. The following season saw the reserve sides removed from the top division.

 

Cup runs were fairly brief: Hythe’s debut in the FA Vase saw a victory over Deal before home defeat by Merstham; in the Kent League Cup a win at Crockenhill was followed by defeat at Sheppey United; and a first round loss in the Kent Senior Trophy at Deal that saw keeper Ken Boorman and Deal’s Barry Brown both sent off. This defeat was all the more disappointing as Hythe had reached the semi-finals in each of the previous three seasons – the first three of this ‘new’ competition.

 

 

The newspapers of the day (The Folkestone Herald) usually had a match report but rarely gave the full team line-up so the club appearance records are barely more than half-complete. Goalkeeping duties were shared between Ken Boorman and Stan Purcell, defenders were Paul Roberts, Norman Long, Ian Daffin, Terry Dowding, Dave Williams and Glenn Dempsey, who also played in midfield with John Champion, John Leslie and Doug Parker and the forwards were Paul Prior and Tony Hunter. On the goalscoring front, which is also incomplete by seven goals, Paul Prior led the way with 23, Doug Parker got 16, Tony Hunter 12 and John Leslie 10. Hythe played a total of 39 games, with 21 wins, 6 draws and 12 defeats, scoring 81 goals. It was their first season for seven years without any silverware, perhaps not surprising after the step up, under the continued leadership of Bob Davis.

Kent League Table 1977-1978...

Team Pld W D L F A GD Pts
Faversham Town   34 23 8 3 83 24 59 54
Sheppey United   34 24 5 5 87 32 55 53
Tunbridge Wells   34 21 10 3 84 38 46 52
Hythe Town   34 19 6 9 73 57 16 44
Maidstone United Reserves 34 18 6 10 58 39 19 42
Crockenhill  34 16 8 10 62 46 16 40
Dartford Glentworth   34 15 8 11 59 45 14 38
Medway 34 15 8 11 53 49 4 38
Ramsgate  34 12 13 9 54 51 3 37
Deal Town  34 13 7 14 47 53 -6 33
Whitstable Town   34 13 6 15 52 43 9 32
Herne Bay   34 9 9 16 39 76 -37 25
Sittingbourne  34 8 9 17 37 60 -23 25
Snowdown CW   34 8 6 20 44 76 -32 22
Slade Green   34 4 12 18 40 60 -20 20
Folkestone Town Reserves 34 6 7 21 37 61 -24 19
Kent Police  34 6 6 22 34 81 -47 18
Dover Reserves   34 9 0 25 35 87 -52 18

Results 1977-1978......

30/07/1977 Folkestone & Shepway F Home 2-2   OG, John Champion
06/08/1977 Alma Swanley F Home 1-1   Tony Hunter
13/08/1977 Sevenoaks Town F Home 1-0   Paul Prior
20/08/1977 Tunbridge Wells KL Home 1-2   Prior
23/08/1977 Herne Bay KL Away 1-1   Prior
27/08/1977 Crockenhill KL Away 1-3   Ian Daffin
03/09/1977 Medway KL Home 5-3   Prior, Doug Parker 2, 1 pen, John Leslie 2
10/09/1977 Snowdown CW KL Away 2-1   Hunter, Paul Butler
17/09/1977 Folkestone & Shepway Reserves KL Home 3-0   Butler, Glenn Dempsey, Leslie
24/09/1977 Deal Town FAVP Home 2-1   Butler, Parker
01/10/1977 Tunbridge Wells KL Away 2-2   Hunter 2
08/10/1977 Sittingbourne KL Home 1-1   Parker pen
15/10/1977 Slade Green Athletic KL Home 4-1   Leslie, Prior 2, Parker
22/10/1977 Whitstable Town KL Home 3-2   Champion, Prior 2
29/10/1977 Merstham FAV1 Home 1-2 300 Prior
01/11/1977 Sheppey United KL Away 0-4    
05/11/1977 Faversham Town KL Home 2-1   Leslie, Champion
12/11/1977 Deal Town KST1 Away 2-4   Leslie, Hunter
19/11/1977 Kent Police KL Away 2-0   Prior 2
26/11/1977 Deal Town KL Home 1-2   Leslie
10/12/1977 Crockenhill KLC2 Away 2-1   Prior, Bob Paul
17/12/1977 Slade Green Athletic KL Away 2-1   Parker pen, Prior
26/12/1977 Dover Reserves KL Home 3-1   Prior, Hunter 2
31/12/1977 Maidstone United Reserves KL Away 3-1   Prior, Hunter, Peter Worrell
02/01/1978 Whitstable Town KL Away 0-7    
07/01/1978 Snowdown CW KL Home 0-0    
14/01/1978 Sheppey United KLCQF Away 1-3   Leslie
21/01/1978 Dartford Glentworth KL Home 2-1   Hunter, Leslie
02/02/1978 Medway KL Away 2-0   Prior, Parker
11/02/1978 Herne Bay KL Home 5-1   Prior 3, Parker, Dave Williams
18/02/1978 Deal Town KL Away 0-2    
25/02/1978 Sheppey United KL Home 3-5   Prior, Parker, Leslie
04/03/1978 Sittingbourne KL Away 4-3   Parker 2, Prior 2
11/03/1978 Ramsgate KL Home 1-2   Hunter
18/03/1978 Maidstone United Reserves KL Home 4-2   Parker 2, Prior 2
25/03/1978 Kent Police KL Home 2-2   Parker 2, 1 pen
01/04/1978 Faversham Town KL Away 1-1   Parker
08/04/1978 Crockenhill KL Home 3-1   Hunter 2, Don Hanrahan
15/04/1978 Ramsgate KL Away 1-0   Dempsey
20/04/1978 Folkestone & Shepway Reserves KL Away 2-1   Paul Roberts, Hunter
27/04/1978 Dartford Glentworth KL Away 2-3   **
11/05/1978 Dover Reserves KL Away 5-0   *****

1978-1979......

Hythe Town’s second season in the Kent League saw the majority of the outfield players remain from the season before. New additions saw Tony Howes as the regular goalkeeper with Paul Fullick as his deputy. Gary Towse joined, as did Alan Hughes from Deal Town but the best news was the return of striker Paul Prior, who had joined Folkestone for the final month of the previous season.

 

The season got off to a slow start with three away draws and a home defeat to Sheppey United, an important result come the end of the season. The first win was at home to Faversham Town when goals from Prior and John Leslie were enough to beat last season’s champions. This game started an eight-match unbeaten run in the league, seven of them victories, until consecutive defeats to Herne Bay and Ramsgate. Two wins followed just prior to Christmas before snow wiped out three weeks of football, restarting with a win at Tunbridge Wells on a still frozen, snow-covered pitch.

 

This was followed by Faversham’s revenge for their earlier defeat, Hythe losing 5-2 at Salters Lane for the worst defeat of the season. But it was the prelude to a strong finish to the season, only losing at Medway and Ramsgate in the last 18 league games to finish as runners-up to Sheppey United. Hythe played at Sheppey on Easter Saturday and gained a creditable 1-1 draw against the Islanders who remained unbeaten at that point, Glenn Dempsey scoring the Hythe goal.

 

The cups saw limited success for Hythe, the best performance was reaching the semi-final of the League Cup. Home wins over Ramsgate and Crockenhill were followed by a draw at Darenth Heathside in the quarter-final, winning the home replay 3-1. The semi-final saw a 3-1 defeat at Herne Bay, Hythe had led for much of the match but a ‘controversial’ penalty after 75 minutes turned the game in Bay’s favour. Hythe managed a lone draw in four matches against Bay that season.  They had knocked Hythe out of the Vase in September. The Kent Senior Trophy was the surprise failure; having made the semi-finals in three of the previous four seasons Hythe managed to lose their first round tie, after a replay, to bottom of the table Snowdown Colliery Welfare.

 

 

Again, the team appearances are incomplete from the local paper. Tony Howes was the regular goalkeeper, full-backs were Ian Daffin and Paul Roberts, defenders Dave Williams, Terry Dowding and Adrian Bray, who had joined from Margate in October but suffered a broken leg against Kent Police in April. Midfielders were Doug Parker, John Champion, Gary Towse, Glenn Dempsey and John Leslie with Paul Prior and Tony Hunter as the forwards. The Herald’s summary of the season heaped praise upon keeper Howes for his consistency and Prior for his 37 goals, him being the league’s leading scorer. Only Tony Hunter, with 12, also managed double figures. Hythe played a total of 42 games with 24 wins, 9 draws and 9 defeats, scoring 83 goals in Bob Davis’ eighth season in charge.

1978-1979 Kent League Table......

Team Pld W D L F A Pts
Sheppey United   34 22 11 1 73 28 55
Hythe Town   34 21 7 6 71 34 49
Faversham Town   34 22 5 7 71 37 49
Medway 34 18 10 6 64 27 46
Whitstable Town   34 18 7 9 52 33 43
Sittingbourne  34 16 7 11 57 42 39
Tunbridge Wells   34 15 6 13 51 52 36
Darenth Heathside   34 10 12 12 42 38 32
Deal Town  34 13 6 15 40 50 32
Ramsgate  34 14 4 16 42 59 32
Slade Green   34 8 13 13 46 47 29
Dartford Glentworth 34 9 10 15 40 52 28
Herne Bay   34 10 10 14 47 59 28
Cray Wanderers  34 9 9 16 50 65 27
Erith & Belvedere  34 8 9 17 49 48 25
Kent Police  34 10 4 20 46 67 24
Crockenhill  34 7 7 20 43 73 21
Snowdown CW   34 4 7 23 29 102 15

1978-79 Results......

Date Opponents Comp Venue Score Att Scorers
05/08/1978 Merstham F Home 3-1   Tony Hunter, John Leslie, Doug Parker
10/08/1978 Margate XI F H?? 3-2   ***
12/08/1978 Alma Swanley F Home 0-1    
19/08/1978 Erith & Belvedere KL Away 1-1   Paul Prior pen
26/08/1978 Sheppey United KL Home 1-2   Prior
29/08/1978 Sittingbourne KL Away 2-2   Leslie, Prior
02/09/1978 Deal Town KL Away 1-1   Gary Towse
09/09/1978 Faversham Town KL Home 2-0   Prior pen, Leslie
16/09/1978 Kent Police KL Away 2-0   Prior 2
23/09/1978 Herne Bay FAVP Away 0-3    
30/09/1978 Ramsgate KLC1 Home 3-1   Prior, Ian Daffin, Leslie
07/10/1978 Herne Bay KL Home 1-1   Leslie
21/10/1978 Cray Wanderers KL Home 2-0   Prior, Towse
28/10/1978 Darenth Heathside KL Away 3-1   Glenn Dempsey, Prior, John Champion
04/11/1978 Medway KL Home 2-1   Hunter, Dempsey
11/11/1978 Snowdown CW KST1 Home 1-1   Parker
18/11/1978 Snowdown CW KST1R Away 1-3   Prior
25/11/1978 Crockenhill KL Away 5-2   Champion 2, Prior 3
02/12/1978 Herne Bay KL Away 1-2   Dempsey
09/12/1978 Ramsgate KL Home 0-2    
16/12/1978 Crockenhill KLC2 Home 2-1   Prior, Adrian Bray
23/12/1978 Slade Green Athletic KL Away 2-0   Peter Worrell, Prior
13/01/1979 Tunbridge Wells KL Away 2-1   Prior, Bray
20/01/1979 Faversham Town KL Away 2-5   Prior 2
27/01/1979 Slade Green Athletic KL Home 2-1   Prior 2, 1 pen
03/02/1979 Dartford Glentworth KLC3 Away 1-1   Prior
10/02/1979 Dartford Glentworth KLC3R Home 3-1   Prior 2, Parker
24/02/1979 Erith & Belvedere KL Home 1-1   Parker
03/03/1979 Tunbridge Wells KL Home 3-1   Prior, Hunter 2
10/03/1979 Herne Bay KLCSF Away 1-3   Parker
17/03/1979 Sittingbourne KL Home 4-0   Hunter 2, Prior 2
24/03/1979 Cray Wanderers KL Away 1-0   Prior
31/03/1979 Whitstable Town KL Home 2-0   Prior, Towse
07/04/1979 Medway KL Away 1-2   Bray
14/04/1979 Sheppey United KL Away 1-1   Dempsey
16/04/1979 Deal Town KL Home 5-0 150 Hunter 2, OG, Prior, Bob Paul
19/04/1979 Kent Police KL Home 1-0   *
21/04/1979 Darenth Heathside KL Home 2-1   Prior, Hunter
24/04/1979 Snowdown CW KL Home 5-0   Hunter 2, Prior, Champion, OG
28/04/1979 Dartford Glentworth KL Home 3-0   Towse, Prior 2
01/05/1979 Ramsgate KL Away 1-2   Hunter
05/05/1979 Crockenhill KL Home 1-1   Prior
10/05/1979 Whitstable Town KL Away 1-0   Hunter
17/05/1979 Snowdown CW KL Away 5-1   *****
19/05/1979 Dartford Glentworth KL Away 3-2   Dave Williams, Dempsey, Daffin

1979-1980.....

The first news of the new season saw a presentation of a flintlock musket to mark the opening of the bar extension in the old clubhouse (behind the goal). This was a gift from the Small Arms Corps who used the Reachfields site before a move to Wiltshire in 1969. Team news saw just one name added to the squad that had finished as runners-up, the well-known Graham Best joined from Chatham Town.

 

Best made an immediate impact in Hythe’s first game, scoring the only goal from 25 yards at Reachfields to defeat the previous season’s champions Sheppey United. The crowd was given as 250. Hythe got off to a decent start and after a Gary Towse goal was enough to defeat Dartford Glentworth in September, Hythe moved top of the table. A heavy defeat at Chatham still saw them lead the table but a run of only one win in six games dropped them down to seventh. Changes were made but even they made little difference until the new year. Dick Maxted had signed as a utility player, previously with Hounslow and Margate and Hythe needed a 16-year-old goalkeeper, David Andrews, when regular Tony Howes was unavailable.

 

Once again, Hythe went on a good run after Christmas after a narrow 3-2 defeat at home to eventual champions Chatham. Local player Jim McMorran was promoted to the first team and Gary Towse went in goal, at first as a stand-in but he kept the role for the rest of the season. A run of away games saw nearly all wins, including a 1-0 win at Erith & Belvedere in atrocious conditions at Park View over a side who were currently second. Hythe climbed the table into second spot but they were ten points behind the strong Chatham side and the title race was all but over. Easter saw a 5-2 defeat by an unbeaten Cray Wanderers side at Oxford Road, despite Hythe being 2-0 up. Revenge was gained in the last home game of the season by inflicting Cray’s first defeat of the season in a 3-1 win. Paul Prior scored Hythe’s second goal as he reached 30 goals for the season. This meant a third place finish, with Cray ending in the runners-up position.

 

Cup runs were brief, there was a win over Bexhill Town in the Vase, before defeat to Whyteleafe, both games at home. The Kent Senior Trophy saw a victory against Midland Bank, after a replay, before losing at Canterbury City, who played in the Southern League at the time. The Kent League Cup saw defeat at Whitstable in a replay by the only goal, where home keeper Brian Gambrill excelled and a strong penalty claim was denied by referee Bradshaw.

 

 

Bob Davis continued to be the manager and regular players were Tony Howes in goal, until replaced by Gary Towse, Ian Daffin and Paul Roberts as full-backs, Glenn Dempsey, Adrian Bray and Dave Williams also in defence, midfielders John Champion, Towse for the first half of the season and Graham Best, with Paul Prior and Tony Hunter the forwards. Prior was leading scorer by some distance, with Hunter and McMorran scoring 8 and 7 respectively. In total Hythe played 39 games, winning 21, drawing six, with twelve losses, scoring 69 goals.

1979-1980 Kent League Table.......

Team Pld W D L F A GD Pts
Chatham Town   32 23 7 2 69 22 47 53
Cray Wanderers  32 20 9 3 80 25 55 49
Hythe Town   32 19 4 9 57 48 9 42
Darenth Heathside  32 17 7 8 52 34 18 41
Sittingbourne  32 15 9 8 49 43 6 39
Sheppey United   32 14 7 11 51 42 9 35
Whitstable Town   32 14 7 11 43 37 6 35
Tunbridge Wells   32 15 5 12 50 53 -3 35
Erith & Belvedere  32 11 12 9 34 29 5 34
Slade Green   32 11 5 16 48 57 -9 27
Dartford Glentworth   32 8 10 14 33 48 -15 26
Deal Town  32 7 10 15 33 45 -12 24
Herne Bay   32 8 8 16 34 51 -17 24
Faversham Town   32 7 8 17 40 51 -11 22
Crockenhill  32 7 7 18 51 69 -18 21
Ramsgate  32 6 8 18 30 57 -27 20
Kent Police  32 5 7 20 38 81 -43 17

1979-1980 Results......

Date Opponents Comp Venue Score Att Scorers
04/08/1979 Merstham F Home 3-1   Tony Hunter 2, Gary Towse
11/08/1979 Swanley Town F Home 1-2   Dave Williams
14/08/1979 Ashford Town F Away 1-0   Hunter
18/08/1979 Sheppey United KL Home 1-0 250 Graham Best
21/08/1979 Herne Bay KL Home 4-2 150 Hunter 2, Gary Towse, Paul Prior
25/08/1979 Tunbridge Wells KL Away 2-3   Terry Byrne, Micky Heynes
29/08/1979 Deal Town KL Home 0-0 220  
01/09/1979 Darenth Heathside KL Away 2-0   Hunter, Glenn Dempsey
05/09/1979 Faversham Town KL Away 2-1   Prior, Hunter
08/09/1979 Dartford Glentworth KL Home 1-0   Towse
15/09/1979 Crockenhill KL Home 2-1 250 Prior, Best
22/09/1979 Chatham Town KL Away 0-4    
29/09/1979 Bexhill Town FAVP Home 2-1 120 Hunter, Towse
06/10/1979 Whitstable Town KL Home 2-2   Prior, Williams
20/10/1979 Slade Green Athletic KL Away 1-2   Best
27/10/1979 Whyteleafe FAV1 Home 1-3 103 Prior
03/11/1979 Midland Bank KST1 Away 2-2   Hunter 2
10/11/1979 Midland Bank KST1R Home 3-0   Prior, Williams, Dick Maxted
13/11/1979 Sheppey United KL Away 2-4   Prior 2
17/11/1979 Slade Green Athletic KL Home 0-3 150  
24/11/1979 Herne Bay KL Away 2-1   Prior 2
08/12/1979 Whitstable Town KLC1 Home 2-2   Towse, Prior
15/12/1979 Whitstable Town KLC1R Away 0-1    
22/11/1979 Faversham Town KL Home 3-2   Prior 2, 1 pen, John Champion
29/12/1979 Chatham Town KL Home 2-3   Prior 2, 1 pen
05/01/1980 Darenth Heathside KL Home 2-1   Prior 2
08/01/1980 Canterbury City KST2 Away 2-4   Prior, Heynes
12/01/1980 Deal Town KL Away 1-1   Prior
19/01/1980 Ramsgate KL Away 2-1   Jimmy McMorran, Prior
26/01/1980 Kent Police KL Away 4-2   Prior 2, Doug Parker, McMorran
02/02/1980 Erith & Belvedere KL Away 1-0   Prior
09/02/1980 Ramsgate KL Home 2-1   McMorran, Adrian Bray
16/02/1980 Crockenhill KL Away 3-0   Champion, McMorran, OG
23/02/1980 Dartford Glentworth KL Away 0-1    
08/03/1980 Sittingbourne KL Home 2-1   McMorran 2
15/03/1980 Tunbridge Wells KL Home 1-0   Prior
25/03/1980 Sittingbourne KL Away 1-2   Best
29/03/1980 Kent Police KL Home 2-0   Parker, Paul Roberts
05/04/1980 Cray Wanderers KL Away 2-5   Best, Prior
07/04/1980 Erith & Belvedere KL Home 3-2   Prior 2, 1 pen, Williams
19/04/1980 Cray Wanderers KL Home 3-1 250 McMorran, Prior, OG
26/04/1980 Whitstable Town KL Away 2-2   Bray, Hunter