Saturday 20th April 2024
Sheppey United vs Erith & Belvedere
Pitching In Isthmian League South East Division
Kick-off 3.00pm
Holm Park, Queenborough Road, Sheerness, Kent, ME12 3DB

It's our penultimate game of the season and we are on the road as we take on Sheppey United.

Here is everything you need to know about tomorrow's game.

Admission Prices
Tomorrow is a pay what you can fixture, please complete the form clicking here

Getting to the Game
By Car
Leave the M2 at Junction 5 onto the A249 towards Sittingbourne/Sheerness-on-Sea, keep left at the fork onto Maidstone Road/A249. Head over the bridge onto the Isle of Sheppey at the Neatscourt Roundabout take the 2nd exit to stay on the A249. Turn right onto A250 and the ground will be on your left.

By Public Transport
The closest National Rail is Sheerness-on-Sea and the ground is about a one mile walk from the station.

The Opposition
Club Name: Sheppey United
Ground: Holm Park, Queenborough Road, Sheerness, Kent, ME12 3DB
Distance from Park View Road (Round Trip): 76 miles
Colours: Red & White
Manager: Ernie Batten
Last Season: 7th

History
Sheppey United FC was formed in 1890 by a merger of Sheerness Victoria and Invicta, and initially played at the Sheppey United Cricket Club ground at Botany Road. The first match was at Sittingbourne on 20 September 1890, with Sheppey running out 3-1 winners despite turning up with only ten players. The match report referred to us as ‘the Sheppeyites’, hence the club nickname ‘The Ites’, which remains to this day.

They were founder members of both the Southern League and the Kent League in 1894. In the Southern League they were placed in Division Two, in which they finished as runners-up in the first season, before losing the promotion/relegation test match against Clapton 5–1. The following season they finished second again, and this time won the test match, defeating Royal Ordnance Factories 4–2 to earn promotion to Division One. At the end of the season they left the Kent League. The season also saw the club make their debut in the FA Cup when they played Millwall Athletic, but lost 4–0.

In their first season in Division One they finished second bottom of the table, but avoided relegation by defeating RETB Chatham 2–1 in the test matches. In 1898–99 they again finished second bottom of the table but retained their Division One status after drawing the test match against Thames Ironworks 1–1. However, the following season they finished bottom of the table and lost the test match against Watford 2–1, resulting in relegation back to Division Two.

The club re-joined the Kent League prior to the start of the 1900–01 season, as well as remaining in the Southern League. However, after a single season back in Division Two, the club withdrew from the Southern League. In 1905–06 they won the Kent League and repeated the feat the following season. A third title was won in 1927–28, by the reserve team as the first team had re-joined the Southern League for that season and were placed in the English Section. However, after finishing bottom of the league in both 1930–31 and 1931–32 they resigned, and returned to the Kent League in Division One.

At the end of the 1938–39 season Sheppey finished bottom of the league and should have been relegated, but the league was suspended due to the Second World War. After the war Sheppey were placed back in the top division of the Kent league for the 1945–46 season. The club then remained in Division one until the 1958–59 season when the Kent league stopped. In 1959 they were founder members of the Aetolian League, which they played in until it merged with the London League to form the Greater London League in 1964. After winning Section B of the Greater London League in 1964–65, the club joined the Metropolitan League. They had a single season in the Metropolitan–London League in 1971–72 after it was formed by a merger of the Metropolitan League and the Greater London, before re-joining the new Kent League in 1972. They won the title in their first season back in the league and were league champions again in 1974–75 and 1978–79, as well as winning the League Cup in 1975–76 and 1978–79. After finishing second in 1983–84, the club re-joined the Southern League for a third spell. However, after finishing bottom of Division One South in 1989–90 they returned to the Kent League. They finished bottom of the table in their first season back, but a gradual improvement saw them win the league in 1994–95.

Sheppey United sold the much-loved Botany Round ground to developers in 1992 to clear a massive overdraft, and this started a long and slow death for the club. Initially this did not appear to present too many problems as Sheppey romped away with the Kent League title, whilst ground-sharing with Faversham Town, losing only two out of forty games. Ultimately however, as the club spent most of the 1990s trying in vain to find a new home on the Island, years of playing away from Sheppey began to take its toll, as the club moved from Faversham, to Canterbury, and then to Sittingbourne. Attendances fell sharply as supporters increasingly became disenchanted with traveling off the Island for ‘home’ games, and the club could no longer afford the rents involved.

In March 2001 the club resigned from the Kent League and their record was expunged. The senior team was disbanded until being reformed in 2003, when they joined Division Two East of the Kent County League. They finished second in their first season and were promoted to Division One East. The club was renamed AFC Sheppey in 2007, but was disbanded and reformed under their original name prior to the 2010–11 season.

In June 2013 the club merged with Sheerness East FC to become Sheppey & Sheerness United FC competing in the Kent County League Premier Division with the club playing their home games a Holm Park formerly Canning Town Gasworks and then Sheerness Steel Sports Ground. The season saw the club win the Kent FA Intermediate Challenge Shield and finish runners up in the league and were promoted to the Kent Invicta League. In the summer of 2014 the club was renamed back to Sheppey United FC.

A second place finish in the Kent Invicta League was achieved at the end of the 2015/16 season gaining promotion to the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division. The Kent Invicta League merged into the Southern Counties East Football League that summer forming Division One.

2016 was a remarkable season for the club winning the Kent Senior Trophy, beating Ashford United on penalties at Maidstone United’s Gallagher Stadium in front of a crowd of 870, whilst Holm Park’s ground regeneration saw 715 fans flock to the stadium for a home match against Glebe.

A 6th-place finish in the SCEFL Premier Division was a great achievement in the club’s return to Step 5 of the Non-League pyramid and a SCEFL League Cup Final appearance at Tonbridge Angels losing 2-0 to Sevenoaks Town. In the 2017-18 Season the team finished in a disappointing 11th place in the SCEFL Premier Division but did reach the Kent Senior Trophy Final again at The Gallagher in front of 917 spectators eventually losing 2-1 in Extra time to newly promoted Whitstable Town.

The 2018-19 Season saw an improvement on the previous season with an eventual 7th place finish in the Premier Division but the points were mainly gained before Christmas and the 2019 form was very inconsistent. The positives were the announcement that we run an U23s team in the coming season to fill the gap between the U18’s and Senior side and the opening of the new covered Queenborough Road end stand behind the goal so we now have covered viewing from three sides of the ground.

The club went into the 2019/20 season with high hopes as many new, experienced players were added to the squad, and by 14 March 2020 the team had certainly not disappointed. Unbeaten in the whole of 2020 with only nine league games remaining they were one of four clubs fighting for promotion, and having already played every team in the top half of the table, on paper at least, had by far the easiest run-in. They had also fought their way to the final of the Kent Senior Trophy. Things were looking very bright at Holm Park…….but then this happened on 21 March. Because of the outbreak of COVID 19 the FA announced that the season would end from this date for all leagues at Step 3 and below, all results were expunged, making the season null and void. The Trophy final against Corinthian was also cancelled.

Nobody knew when, or even if, the 2020/21 season would start, but it eventually began on 1 September, and in November, after nine unbeaten games, Sheppey were once again amongst the front runners, five points behind top club Chatham, but with two games in hand. This is when, once again, the leagues were postponed because of a re-emergence of the virus. As there was no improvement by January 2021 it was decided to bring this season to an end. The FA announced one club from the SCEFL would be promoted based on points per game over the two aborted seasons, and so Sheppey lost out to Corinthian by just 0.16 of a ppg!

The lack of football at this time gave the directors the opportunity to further upgrade Holm Park. An all-weather 3G pitch was laid, new LED floodlights installed, an improvement to the walkways around the pitch, new dugouts and ground fencing and an upgrade to the pitch-side hospitalities.

The 2021/22 season was one we will never forget not only was it our first on the newly installed 3G pitch but we won a never to be equalled four trophies. The Kent FA finally arranged the postponed 2019/20 Kent Senior Trophy final for 1st February where we would face Corinthians who now played at Step 4 in the Isthmian League. We won the match 3-1 to lift the cup for the second time in 5 years. In April we competed for the 2021/22 Kent Senior Trophy Final at the Gallagher against Hollands & Blair and won a tight match 2-1 to lift the same trophy twice in the same season. The SCEFL Premier Division title was finally sealed on the final day of the season 23rd April with a points tally of 102 compared to Runners Up Chatham Town with 100. Then in May we faced Crowborough Athletic in the SCEFL League Cup and won 5-1.

Head to Head
Deres: 29
Draw: 19
Sheppey: 34
Deres Goals: 130
Sheppey Goals: 127

Last Meeting
02/12/2023 - Isthmian SE Division
Deres 0
Sheppey United 4

Elsewhere in the League
All Kick Offs are 3.00pm unless stated

Saturday
Pitching In Isthmian League Premier Division
Carshalton Athletic v Billericay Town
Chatham Town v Horsham
Cheshunt v Canvey Island
Concord Rangers v Whitehawk
Cray Wanderers v Bognor Regis Town
Folkestone Invicta v Dulwich Hamlet
Hastings United v Enfield Town
Kingstonian v Haringey Borough
Lewes v Hashtag United
Margate v Wingate & Finchley
Potters Bar Town v Hornchurch

Pitching In Isthmian League South Central Division
Ascot United v Met Police
Ashford Town (Middx) v Westfield
Binfield v Raynes Park Vale
Chipstead v Thatcham Town
Corinthian-Casuals v Uxbridge
Hanworth Villa v Leatherhead
Hartley Wintney v Southall
South Park (Reigate) v Marlow
Sutton Common Rovers v Chertsey Town

Pitching In Isthmian League North Division
Bowers & Pitsea v Walthamstow
Brentwood Town v Brightlingsea Regent
Bury Town v Enfield
Gorleston v Felixstowe & Walton United
Heybridge Swifts v Wroxham
Ipswich Wanderers v Redbridge
New Salamis v Lowestoft Town
Stowmarket Town v Basildon United
Witham Town v Grays Athletic

Pitching In Isthmian League South East Division
Beckenham Town v Horndean
Broadbridge Heath v Hythe Town
Chichester City v Ramsgate
Cray Valley PM v Herne Bay
Lancing v Ashford United
Littlehampton Town v Burgess Hill Town
Merstham v East Grinstead Town
Phoenix Sports v Sittingbourne
Three Bridges v Sevenoaks Town

Sunday
Pitching In Isthmian League South Central Division
Guernsey v Northwood - 2.00pm