Sittingbourne F.C.
Sittingbourne Football Club are an English football club based in Sittingbourne, Kent. The club colours are black and red, they play home matches at The Staxson Stadium, Woodstock Park, and are nicknamed 'the Brickies'. Sittingbourne currently play in the.
The club was established in 1886, and eight seasons later they were founder members of the Kent League. They have played predominately in semi-professional leagues based in south-east England: the original Kent League, the South Eastern League, the Southern League, the reincarnated Kent League, the Isthmian League and the Thames and Medway Combination.
The club's best performances in the FA Cup occurred in the 1920s, reaching the sixth qualifying round on one occasion and the second round proper twice. They are the only club to have completed a season unbeaten in the revived Kent League/SCEFL, which they achieved in 1990–91. The farthest they have progressed in the FA Trophy is to the quarter-finals, in the 2024–25 season.
History
See: List of Sittingbourne F.C. seasonsAlthough an earlier Sittingbourne United club had been playing since 1881, Sittingbourne F.C. traces its lineage to 1886 when the club was reorganised under its current name. After playing at the Recreation Ground and then the original Gore Court the club moved to a field behind the Bull pub in 1892, where they were to remain for ninety-eight years. The club acquired Senior status in 1893, and entered the FA Cup for the first occasion in 1893–1994, losing at home 6–0 to the 1st Highland Light Infantry.
1894 to 1959: Kent, South Eastern and Southern Leagues
In 1894 Sittingbourne were a founder club of Division One of the original Kent League, finishing sixth from nine teams. The club was nicknamed 'The Brickies', owing to the town having a major brick-making industry. They achieved their first FA Cup victory in the 1894–1895 competition, defeating Ashford United 4–0 away in the first qualifying round before losing in the next round 8–0 at Chatham. In 1896 the club were disqualified from the competition after prioritising a Kent League match over a second replay against Romford. An enduring club record was established over the 1895–1896 Kent League season when they conceded in excess of 3.3 goals per league match played. Initially run on an amateur basis, Sittingbourne FC adopted professionalism for the 1898–99 season.The club were Kent League Division One runners-up for two successive seasons, 1900–01 and 1901–02 – in the latter season they tied on points for top spot but lost a Championship play-off match 1–0 against Cray Wanderers; in the season the club conceded only thirteen goals over twenty Kent League fixtures – a rate of 0.65 per match, a then record low that would stand for eighty-nine seasons – with goalkeeper J Macey keeping ten clean sheets. There was a success that season for 'The Brickies' when they won the Kent Senior Cup defeating Ashford United in the final 4–1 after a replay, having equalised through a penalty two minutes from time in the first match. From the 1901–02 season the club began additionally playing in the Thames and Medway Combination as a subsidiary competition. The following 1902–03 season Sittingbourne won both leagues in which they competed: they were champions of Kent League Division One, in which they lost only one match from sixteen played and conceded only eleven goals with goalkeeper Macey keeping eight clean sheets; and champions of the Thames and Medway Combination, in which they lost only one match from twelve played and conceded only eight goals with Macey keeping seven clean sheets. Following successive third place finishes in the Kent League over the next two seasons the club resigned from the league in 1905 and became members of the South Eastern League, joining Division Two.
Sittingbourne were runners-up in their initial season in the South Eastern League and earned promotion to Division One – scoring eighty two goals over twenty-two matches, a club enduring record rate of 3.7 goals per game. Playing mostly against reserves teams from higher leagues based over a larger geographic area than the Kent League – the majority of clubs were London based however there were also journeys to Norwich, Luton and Brighton – in the following season 'the Brickies' finished sixth in their first season in Division One. Following two losing seasons where the club finished towards the bottom of the table they left the South Eastern League and returned, in 1909, to the reconstituted and enlarged Kent League. During this period, Sittingbourne were champions of the 1907–08 season Thames and Medway Combination and runners-up of that league the following season. In a disappointing sequence the club were losing finalists in four of the five Kent Senior Cup finals between 1904 and 1908. The club was involved in a significant transfer in 1905 when it received a £25 fee for right winger Alex Birnie from Football League First Division club Everton.
Over the first season of their return to the Kent League, 1909–10, Sittingbourne were Division One runners-up and the following season reached the Kent Senior Cup final but again did not win the trophy. In 1911–12, the club were winners for a third occasion of the Thames and Medway Combination. The Kent League was suspended in 1914 owing to World War I and the club disbanded. It reformed in 1919 and resumed as a member of the Kent League and in July 1921 a club Supporters Association was formed. The club were league runners-up in the 1922–23 season in which, over thirty-two league matches, they scored a then club highest season total of 102 goals conceding only twenty ; Joe Bailey was the club top scorer netting forty-one of the 136 club goals scored in all matches. In the 1925–26 season 'the Brickies' finished third in the table and over 36 matches scored an all time highest club total of 122 goals surpassing the total from three seasons previously ; that season they won the Kent League Cup defeating Ashford Railway Works 3–1 in a replay. The club were Kent League runners-up once again over the 1926–27 campaign in which, for the only occasion to date, they did not draw any of the matches they played in their primary league competition. The club continued to be members of the Thames and Medway Combination and were Champions in the 1924–25, 1925–26 and 1927–28 seasons. The club though suffered three more reverses in the Kent Senior Cup finals of 1923, 1925 and 1928, creating a competition record sequence of being losing finalists on eight occasions.
In the 1922–23 FA Cup competition the club, captained by former Football League player Bill Dickie and including other former Football League players John Bethune, Ralph Shields, Syd Gore and George Bertram, won through a preliminary and three qualifying rounds to win their qualifying division, after which in the fourth qualifying round they were eliminated 4–2 following a replay by Southend United of the Football League Third Division South. There followed during the following six seasons the three best ever performances by the club in the FA Cup competition, curtailed on each occasion by clubs from the Third Division South: the club received a bye from the initial qualifying division in the 1923–24 competition and joined it at the fourth qualifying round stage, after victories over Dulwich Hamlet and St Albans City the club progressed to the sixth qualifying round before being defeated 2–0 at home by Exeter City; two seasons later, 1925–26, the club, having first disposed of Sheppey United following a replay in the fourth and concluding qualifying round and then Chatham in the first round proper, reached the FA Cup second round proper where they were heavily defeated 7–0 at Swindon Town; in the 1928–29 competition, after victories over Tunbridge Wells Rangers and Southall 'the Brickies' were narrowly defeated in the second round proper 2–1 at Walsall.
In 1927, having resigned from the Kent League, Sittingbourne joined the exodus to the Southern League, becoming members of the Eastern Division. Over the close season, the club members decided to convert the organisation to a Limited Company – the other option being to fold the business as the guarantors of the club, with a £400 deficit to hand, were unwilling to be personally liable for future losses. The club played in the Eastern Division of the Southern League for three seasons – this division included some Kent based clubs but also involved travel outside the county to as far afield as Poole, Kettering and Norwich. In their first season, 1927–28, the club were at the head of the table in October having won eight of eleven matches but thereafter only a further eight more wins over the remaining twenty-three matches resulted in an eighth placed finish in the table. In March, the club received a transfer fee of £100 for right half Lem Newcomb from Millwall – the club with whom it was reported that Sittingbourne had a loose nursery arrangement. Sittingbourne, now a limited company, at their first annual meeting in August 1928 reported a loss of £600 over the previous season and, looking to improve and expand spectator and club facilities, launched a £2,000 debenture scheme to fund a new stand at the Bull Ground. The stand was opened in November 1929, but it had been disclosed at the club's annual meeting a few months previously that the debenture scheme was under-subscribed, placing a financial burden on the club. Over the next two seasons, as the club economised on playing staff, it finished towards the bottom of the Eastern Division table. During this period, Sittingbourne broke their sequence of losing Kent Senior Cup finals with back-to-back victories: in the 1928–29 season with a 1–0 replay win against Sheppey United, and in 1929–30 defeating Margate 3–0.
Having accumulated losses of £2,000 over three seasons playing in the Southern League in 1930, the club decided to withdraw and return to the Kent League and appointed long-time player Bill Dickie as player-manager; however, he left before the end of the first season, owing to the club cutting his wages. The club recorded a mid-table position in the 1930–31 season Kent League table, incurring a £700 loss; in May 1931, under the strain of accumulated heavy debt, the club returned to amateurism to reduce costs. In the following 1931–32 season, the club slumped to a low point of eighteenth from nineteen clubs in the Kent League table, winning only six matches with a then club record of 111 league goals conceded. Sittingbourne did not enter the FA Cup that season and remained absent from the competition until 1947. Early the following 1932–33 season, still under acute financial pressure, the club limited company was liquidated – the football operation of Sittingbourne was rescued by the Supporters Association who took over running the club; the club finished in mid-table and conceded 109 league goals at a rate of 3.2 per match. Over the next seven seasons of playing in the Kent League, until it was suspended in September 1939 owing to World War II, 'the Brickies' occupied mid-table positions. After the league was paused, Sittingbourne continued to play friendly matches until February 1941, after which enemy bombing made the club's ground unusable and the club was discontinued.
Sittingbourne FC was reformed in 1946 as a professional club run by a committee and rejoined the Kent League; the Supporters Association was also reformed but no longer had responsibility for running the club. Bill Dickie was installed as trainer-coach, but in December 1946 he stepped down owing to ill-health and was replaced by former Fulham forward John Finch who was appointed player-manager; he resigned shortly after the season ended. Over that 1946–47 season, in which the club finished in mid-table, the players included three Hales brothers with 'Nobby' Hales leading scorer with thirty-four goals, attendances at home matches were in excess of 1,700, and the club reported a financial surplus for the season. During the following three seasons on the field, the club recorded mid/lower table returns, but off the field financial losses began to accrue and the club were in debt at the end of the 1948–49 season. With financial assistance from the Supporters Association and a Donations and Appeal fund, the club was reported as being debt-free at the end of the following season. From the 1950–51 season, results improved with the club featuring towards the top of the Kent League table. In July 1952, after being tenants for sixty years, the club purchased the freehold of their Bull Ground for a total outlay of £5,270 with financial assistance from the club's Supporters Association and a loan from the FA.
In the summer of 1953, the club appointed former Leyton Orient defender Arthur Banner as player-manager. He left in January 1956, to take up a non-football related opportunity, with a record of 66 wins from 123 matches. The team fashioned by him were the 1955–56 season champions of the six clubs of the Thames and Medway Combination. In April 1956, experienced former Football League player Walter Rickett was recruited as the replacement player-manager. In the Kent League over both the 1957–58 and 1958–59 seasons, the last of the league's existence, Sittingbourne were Kent League Division One Champions. In an era of two points for a win, in the former season, they won the league by seven points, losing only three from 34 matches and conceding twenty-eight goals, less than a goal per game; and in the latter season, they won by nine points, losing only two from 34 matches conceding twenty-five goals again at less than parity. There were double celebrations in 1957–58 when 'the Brickies' won the Kent Senior Cup defeating Ramsgate Athletic 1–0; and triple celebrations in 1958–59 when they won the inter-divisional play-off to win the Thames and Medway Combination and defeated Margate 3–2 to win the Kent League Cup to achieve the league and cup double. Towards the end of this successful period, in November 1958, manager Rickett submitted his notice of resignation and left in February 1959 moving to Ramsgate Athletic. He was succeeded as manager by Ike Clarke a former Yeovil Town player-manager who was at the helm of the club for the triple celebrations.