Sittingbourne FC Match Day Programme

From the Programme Editor
Welcome everyone and a special welcome to today’s mascot who is Ben Stone. More about
Ben later.
What a bunch of Goodies we have for you in today’s match day programme! The pick of the
bunch as far as I am concerned is our very own Paul Martin’s summary of the 1962 Isthmian
League. It’s a time that I remember very well and as Paul says there was no automatic promotion
and relegation then. If you finished bottom of the football league you would probably still not
be relegated as the other football league clubs would vote that you stay. That was because
there was no football pyramid then and the non league club that I supported in those days,
Hampton (Now Hampton & Richmond), won the Spartan league on a number of occasions but
were not given promotion to the Athenian League. I lived in Hampton at the time.
Also featured are of course the match reports and part two of the history of football programmes
is also very interesting.
I’m gutted to have missed Saturday’s very satisfying victory over Ramsgate (owing to a strange
injury to my ankle as I have no recollection of hitting it or twisting it—old age I suppose!).
Apologies for the lack of PA last week. We have had problems with the usual amplifier and so I
was using a different one that has hardly been used. It worked fine for the first couple of games
but I reinstated 3 more speakers and I don’t think the replacement amp has enough power to
cope. Hopefully the original amp will work OK today but it will mean I will have to use a static
mic instead of the wireless mic.
If you have ever wanted to own a football club then perhaps the example of seven19 years old
will spur you on. They have taken over Walton & Hersham, a club that we used to play only a
few seasons ago but are now languishing in 15th place in the Combined Counties League 1
which is two steps below us. Walton & Hersham were once a top non league club and I saw
them defeat Exeter in the FA Cup but there biggest scalp must have been Bryan Clough’s
Brighton at Brighton, a game that I remember well as I missed the beginning of the match owing
to travel delays.
Walton & Hersham now share with Walton Casuals after their old and famous ground that many
of us remember in its heyday, Stompond Lane, is set for development.
Staying with the Combined Counties League 1 I see that Jersey Bulls have so far played 5 and
won 5 and scored 19 goals for none against so it may not be long before we see them in our
league. Home crowds have been over the 800 mark. Two names of clubs that caught my eye
in that league are Everseley and California (That’s one club). And the exotic sounding,
Deportivo Galicia.
Finally, we were sorry to hear that one of ex footballers, Malcolm McCleod, has passed away
recently after being involved in a car crash in South Africa. Malcolm played for us in the
1987-88 season and was 59 when he died. Our sincere condolences to his family and friends.
Peter
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