The Whitstable Town board would like to update everyone on the latest news from around the club at the end of a disappointing season for the first team, but also the start of a very busy and exciting summer at the Belmont Ground.
We were all extremely disappointed with the performances of the first team throughout the season that resulted in relegation from the Isthmian League. Whitstable regained its place at Step 4 in 2018 and finished in 12th place the following season before Scott Porter stood down as manager, to be replaced by Lloyd Blackman. The next two seasons were disrupted by Covid, so there was some optimism when football returned at the start of the 2021-22 campaign. Unfortunately, one point from the first five league games prompted Lloyd to quit. Experienced manager Keith McMahon was then chosen from a number of potential candidates and despite securing a narrow win over bottom club Phoenix Sports in his first league match in charge, five losses in the next six games kept the team in trouble, until four wins and a draw lifted spirits just before Christmas. Sadly, things went downhill rapidly afterwards with a desperate run that saw the team sink to the foot of the table, earning just five points from thirteen games, leading to the decision to part company with Keith. Andy Drury was appointed for the last seven games and a couple of wins kept hope alive until the final weekend, but it was not to be and we will be competing at Step 5 next season.
We are determined to regain our place in the Isthmian League as soon as possible and will support the management team as they work to achieve this goal. The support throughout the season was excellent, with home gates averaging just under four hundred, and hopefully this will continue as we strive to earn promotion and maybe enjoy some good cup runs. The SCEFL season will begin on Saturday 30th July, with the FA Cup commencing the following weekend. Pre-season games are likely to be affected by pitch availability, due to the installation of our new 3G facility – news will follow later.
First team manager Andy Drury added his current thoughts:
“It was disappointing that the season finished in relegation from the Isthmian League, and indeed it was a disappointing season as a whole for the team, but the club now needs to move on and rebuild. The plans for the future are very positive with the 3G pitch development commencing shortly. Clearly, the squad will need rebuilding, with some younger players, more legs and more quality required, to add to those players that we want to retain. We are all very focussed on achieving promotion from the SCEFL to regain our place at Step 4.
An earlier start to the new season will mean that our pre-season will commence before the end of June. We are working on arranging some friendlies, although with the 3G work at the Belmont Ground this summer, we will have to play these away from home until the pitch is ready. I have been speaking to a number of players and we will provide updates when possible. Thank you to everyone for your support.”
The overall club continues to grow, fielding twenty seven teams in the season just ending. Our young reserves team competed in the Kent County League and there was also an under 21 team in the Canterbury & District League. Our football academy had two teams, one in the National League U19 Alliance and the other in the SCL Development League. There were seventeen mixed youth teams and four girls teams and a recently launched walking football team. Several of these teams enjoyed very successful seasons at the top of their leagues and in cup competitions. A number of players from the under 18 Kent Youth League team have featured for the first team.
Our popular Girls' Development Centre is run jointly with Tankerton FC and has provided free weekly football sessions to over eighty girls. This has been funded with the help of sponsorship from the Pitching In Trident Leagues and Wahl.
We are pleased to have been able to host a number of local cup finals for competitions, including the Charity Cups, organised by the Canterbury & District Football League and the Herne Bay & Whitstable Sunday League. We held two very successful charity days during the May bank holiday weekend, for #TeamMiles and the Teenage Cancer Trust and also the annual Tom Lambert Cup supporting Pilgrims Hospice.
After much hard work over several years, we are very excited that we are able to commence work on our 3G pitch at the Belmont. The work is scheduled to begin on 16th May and will include new floodlights, paths, fencing and dugouts. This should help transform the club and provide a home for our growing number of teams, a regular training facility for the first team and opportunities for the Whitstable community to make more use of the facility. The improved business model should secure the future of Whitstable Town and enable more investment in the club going forward. We would like to thank everyone who has helped us with this project, by way of investment, support or advice. We have secured the funds required to proceed, but do have a current fundraising campaign to help us acquire a few outstanding items, including new goals and maintenance equipment. We have so far raised around 40% of the £10.000 needed for this and we thank those who have contributed. If anyone else would like to assist us, here is the link.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/goals-and-pitch-maintenance-fund-raiser
Finally, we would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone who helps us to run the football club: our sponsors, employees, volunteers, coaches and supporters. In particular, we would like to thank Fibretech UK for their continued generous sponsorship.
We will provide updates throughout the summer on progress at the ground and also any information regarding pre-season, fixtures, tickets and of course, team or player news.