League history
The Kent Amateur Football League was founded in 1922 [1] with the inaugural season being 1922–23. The league consisted of two separate groupings, the Western and Eastern sections, each with their own management committee. The Western section comprised a single junior status division with 14 clubs; the Eastern. a Senior Division (with 3 clubs) and a junior status Division One (with 7 clubs). At their 1924 Annual General Meeting the Kent FA referred to the Eastern Senior Division as the Eastern Section of the Kent League; [3] this division ceased to be part of the Kent Amateur League the following season.
The Western section expanded to two divisions in 1925 and from 1927 their top division clubs voted to change from junior to senior status. [4] The section expanded to three divisions in 1932 and four in 1934 at which time they were renamed with the former Division One was named the Premier Division and the others were numbered in sequence Divisions One, Two and Three. The league continued with this format until the 1938–39 season, their last before the outbreak of the Second World War.
The Eastern section reduced to a single division in its second season and then ceased for three seasons before reforming as an intermediate status division in 1928. [5] This division was upgraded to senior status in 1934 at which time a junior status second division was added. [6] The league competition was suspended in autumn 1939 and reconstituted as a wartime league comprising two divisions for the 1939–40 season. [7]
For two seasons between 1935 and 1937 there was a third section of the Kent Amateur League, the Mid-Kent section which was administered by the Western section committee. This was the discontinued Kent League Division Two from the 1934–35 season [8] and it returned to that league grouping in 1937. [9]
The Western section recommenced in 1944 [10] with a single Division One and two seasons later in 1946 returned to a Premier Division, Division One and Division Two format. The latter division ceased for the following campaign before being reformed in 1951. Three seasons later in 1954 the structure expanded to four divisions with a Senior Division being inserted above the section's Premier Division. [11] This new division was established to provide a competition for senior status Amateur clubs [12] and included seven of the fourteen clubs from the previous season’s Premier Division, plus promoted Slade Green Athletic, together with a three additional clubs from higher ranked leagues (Bowater Lloyds from the Kent League and Aylesford Paper Mills and Royal Naval Depot Chatham from the London League). The Western section continued in this configuration until 1992.
The Eastern section began again after World War Two in 1945 [13] with two parallel regional divisions which continued for three seasons. The divisions were designated East and West in the 1945–46 season and North and South for the remaining two seasons; the Eastern section champion was decided by an inter-region championship match between each seasons' divisional winners. For the eleven seasons between 1948 until 1959 the league had only a single division before, for the 1959–60 season, again operating two parallel North and South divisions (with championship play-off). This was a precursor to the formation of two divisions in 1960, a Premier Division comprising the higher ranked teams from the two regional divisions of the previous season and Division one for the remainder. [14] In 1962 the Eastern section expanded to three divisions with the addition of Division Two and the section remained in this configuration through to 1973, when the lower division was discontinued for four seasons before being reinstated in 1977. The structure altered in 1984 when the section, similar to its Western counterpart, inserted a Senior Division (which accepted both senior and stronger non-senior clubs) above a reconstituted Premier Division and Division One. The new Senior Division comprised a total of eleven clubs, six from the previous season's Premier Division, three from Division one and two from Division two. After one further season, in 1985, the now lowest ranked Division One was discontinued. Thereafter the section continued with Senior and Premier Divisions until 1992.
In 1984 there were significant changes to the league organisation: common rules were adopted across the two sections (essentially those of the Western section); a joint management committee comprising five members from each section was appointed; and the teams in the Senior Division, if not of senior status were given intermediate status. These changes made the league a more combined body and it renamed itself the Kent County Football League. [15] There was establishment and publication of rules concerning promotion into and relegation from the Senior Divisions which hitherto had been a virtual closed-shop in favour of the senior status clubs. [16]
The league began an inter-section cup competition in 1987 with teams form the top two divisions of both the Eastern and Western sections eligible to participate, it was named initially for the league's new sponsors as the ARC Cup; [17] it has subsequently been named the Bill Manklow Inter-regional Challenge Cup.
The integration within the league proceeded further in 1992 with the removal of the two sections' top Senior Divisions replaced by a single Kent County League Premier Division with regional numerically designated divisions below. The new single division included fourteen clubs: ten from the Western section (nine from the Senior Division plus the current Premier Division champions), three from the Senior Division of the Eastern section and one (Thames Polytechnic) who had been ejected from the Kent League after failing to meet ground grading requirements. The clubs in the single Premier and two sectional Division One leagues were designated at least of intermediate status (with clubs hitherto of senior status remaining so). [18] Each section continued to operate their own structure below the new combined division with promotion and relegation through the whole hierarchy, including into the Premier Division.
In 1993, a year after the formation of the amalgamated single Premier Division, an accord was reached that recognised the division as a feeder to the Kent League. For clubs that wished to take the step up and had facilities meeting the grading requirements, promotion for a single club was set to commence from the 1995–96 season. [18] There had over the years been a trickle of progressive and ambitious Kent Amateur/County League teams being elected to the Kent League, however VCD Athletic in 1997 were the first team to be promoted as Kent County League champions in line with the feeder initiative [19] (albeit Hythe United and Lordswood, neither of whom were league winners, had exploited a loophole and been accepted into the Kent League over the previous two seasons). [20]
The league streamlined its administration in 1995 when it scrapped the separate Western and Eastern Management Committees and adopted a single committee across the whole league. [21]
In 2011 to fill a gap in the National League System between the Kent County League, a regional feeder league, and the step 5 Kent League a new league at step 6, the Kent Invicta League, was created [22] – this took fourteen clubs from the Kent County League (nine from the Premier League, three from the two Division One leagues and two from Division Two West). Over the next two seasons, beginning 2011–12, the numerically reduced Kent County League operated with a single Division One below its heavily reconstituted Premier Division but maintained two regional Division Two leagues.
In 2013 the league restructured, not only returning to an Eastern and Western Division One, but added two regional Division Three leagues (a renaming of the existing two Reserve Divisions); additionally Premier Division clubs were mandated to ensure, by the end of the 2013-14 season, that their facilities met FA Step 7 grade standard or face relegation. [23] From 2016 the East divisions were renamed the Central & East divisions. In 2023 the Central & East Division Three was discontinued however the number of divisions remained constant as the Central & East Division Two was divided into separate Central and East divisions. The Division Three West division was discontinued in 2024.
Prior to 1984 the existence of Senior Divisions (which included stronger non-senior clubs) had inhibited annual merit based promotion into the these top divisions; either ballots of the division's clubs generally decided to maintain the status quo rather than vote out existing clubs, [24] or the no relegation status of the senior clubs maintained their position in the divisions. [15] From 1984 promotion rules were established (which limited the no relegation protection to reserve sides of clubs in higher ranked leagues) and in 1993 the adoption of a single joint Premier Division created a pathway for progressive clubs to move through the regional divisions and into the Kent County League's top Premier Division and further up the Football pyramid. [18]
The Kent County League had become a feeder to the Kent League in the mid 1990s but few clubs had taken the step up and none were relegated downwards on footballing merit. The trickle of clubs taking promotion gained pace in the 2000s however there was a gap in the National League System between the Kent County League, at notional step 7, and the Kent League at step 5. This was rectified in 2011 with the founding, primarily with clubs from the Kent County League, of the step 6 Kent Invicta League. [22] The Kent County League then became a Regional Feeder League into this new league and its successor (following amalgamation), Division One of the Southern Counties East League. [25]
The feeder leagues for the Kent County League itself are smaller district leagues, these being the Ashford and District League, Bromley and South London Football League, Canterbury & District League, Rochester & District League and Sevenoaks & District League. [26]
The league has had headline sponsors/partners since 1987 (except for the 1993–94 season). The sponsorship deals are usually enacted during the summer close season.
- 1987–1990: Sponsors were Amey Roadstone Company, a building aggregates business, and the league known as the ARC Kent County League. [17]
- 1990–1993: Sponsors were Tonbridge based music instrument and sheet music business FCN Music with the league known as FCN Music Kent County League. [27] In 1993 the option to renew was not taken by the company [28] and for a single season, 1993–94, the league had no headline sponsor.
- 1994–1998: Sponsored by Nuclear Electric, the electricity generation business who operated the power station at Dungeness; the league was titled the Nuclear Electric Kent County League. [29] The company extended their initial three season deal.
- 1998–2008: Following the amalgamation of Nuclear Electric with British Energy the league took the title the British Energy Kent County League. The company renewed the sponsorship deal several times, the last occasion in 2006 attributed to the life extension of the Dungeness B nuclear power station. [30]
- 2008–2011: Titled the Vandanel Kent County Football League for three seasons the sponsorship was provided by the Vandanel sports teamwear brand. [31]
- 2011–2014: The Colchester based Estate Agents Spicer Haart, who had offices around Kent were title sponsor with the league named the Haart of Kent County League. [31]
- 2014–2016: Named the NRG Gyms Kent County League. sponsorship was from the eponymously named fitness centre business. [32]
- 2016–2018: Two companies combined to provide sponsorship, Andreas Carter Sports sportswear and Joma sports equipment, with the league adopting the title the Andreas Carter Sports Joma Kent County League. [33]
- 2018–2020: The joint sponsorship by Joma ceased and the league was named the Andreas Carter Kent League. [34]
- 2020 – : The NRG gyms business returned as sponsor and the league was titled the NRG 24HR Gym Kent County League
