Nuts and Bolts Archive

History of Ashford Town and United

Ashford in Kent Senior Cup Finals

1958/59 Season

1959 Kent Senior Cup Final

Ashford Town 2-1 Tonbridge

Date: March 30, 1959

Venue: Priestfield Stadium, Gillingham

Ashford won their first Kent Senior Cup by beating Southern League Tonbridge in what was described as one of the most exciting finals in the 80 years history of the competition.
Ashford went ahead in the 34th minute, when Jimmy Jenkins (TBC) scored from a short corner. Tonbridge piled on the pressure in the second half,
but against the run of play, leading goal-scorer Ron Vigar let fly from close range after a pass from Don Rossiter to make it 2-0 to the Town.
Tonbridge were awareded a lifeline in the 74th minute when Ashford fullback John Hamblin brought down Angels Joe Ball in the area and a penalty awarded.
Penaly missed! Austin Dunne hits the post and Ashford are reprived, but only for a minute as John Walsh pulls a goal back in the 75th minute, this was the only goal Ashford conceded in the entire competition.
Ashford held out in front of the 5061 crowd to lift the Cup for the first time in their history.

1961/62 Season

1962 Kent Senior Cup Final

Ashford Town 1-1 Dover Replay

Date: August 20, 1962

Venue: Cheriton Road, Dover

The 1961/62 replayed final was concluded early into the following season (62/63) at Folkestone's ground.
Dover's Jones and Rowan both scored twice against a shaky Ashford defence. The Kent Express reported the ineffectiveness
of the Ashford forwards in front of goal. Joe White scored Ashford's goal.

1961/62 Season

1962 Kent Senior Cup Final

Ashford Town 1-1 Dover Second Leg

Date: May 12, 1962

Venue: Essella Park, Ashford

The second leg of the Final produced another 1-1 draw, this time at Ashford in front of 2430 supporters. The Kentish Express reported
that everyone of those supporters who turned up on the wet and cold afternoon could not have failed to be impressed with Dover's foward Alan Jones
. Jones almost scored twice in the first half after given Ashford's centre back John Harris the run around, but was denied
by goal-keeper Brian Hall, who had a very good game. Jones did however score Dover's goal 12 minutes into
the second half. Ashford equalised from the resulting kick off through their forward Ron Clayton. The game finished 1-1 at 90 minutes, extra time was needed.
No further goals were forthcoming, but Jones almost won the tie and cup in the last minute of Extra time with a rocket only for Hall to be Ashford's hero once more!

1961/62 Season

1962 Kent Senior Cup Final

Dover 1-1 Ashford Town First Leg

Date: April 23, 1962

Venue: Crabble, Dover

A healthy crowd of 3783 watched a poor Dover performance in the first leg of the Kent Senior Cup Final, Ashford seemed happy not to lose,
where as perhaps they should have pushed on to exploit the poor Dover performance reported the Kentish Express.
Although Dover started poorly, they did infact take the lead through Alan Jones two minutes before half-time, Ashford equalised two minutes after
the restart of the second half through Jon Shepherd.
As well as the goal-scorer Jones, Dover could also thank goal-keeper Roy Marshall for making several top class saves to keep them in the tie.

1962/63 Season

1963 Kent Senior Cup Final

Ashford Town 1-0 Margate

Date: May 11, 1963

Venue: Priestfield Stadium, Gillingham

Ashford reached their 3rd final in 5 years, and beat their Thanet opponents to lift the Trophy for the second time.
The omens were not good for the Town, they had faced Margate on 5 previous occassions during the 1962/63 season, losing all 5! Surely this game was just a formality for Margate?
It was reported that the majority of the 2500 crowd were cheering for the blue of Margate, but the atmosphere was lacking due to the small crowd comparered to its' capacity. The Priestfield could hold over 25,000 at the time!
The first 25 minutes were all Margate as expected, but slowly but surely Ashford worked their way into the game whilst keeping Margate at bay. The Thanet Times reports that forward Lawrie Thompson was outstanding for Ashford, causing Margate's famous defender Bob Harrop all sorts of problems.
Ashford's only goal, and winning goal came 8 minutes from time, the Margate defence only partially cleared an Ashford corner and it fell to Brian Dellar on the edge of the area who controlled the ball superbly before firing into the bottom corner. Margate created little after the goal and Ashford became cup winners again.

1980/81 Season

1981 Kent Senior Cup Final

Gravesend and Northfleet 2-0 Ashford Town

Date: April 20, 1981

Venue: Maidstone Stadium, Maidstone

Ashford appeared in the first final for 18 years at the Maidstone Stadium on a warm and sunny day against the Alliance side Gravesend and Northfleet. A goal early in each half ensured Gravesend would lift the trophy, but Town could hold their heads high with a very spirited performance against the higher ranked side. Charlie Pooley scored Gravesend's first goal on 4 minutes, a deflection taking the ball past a stranded Peter Carman. Ashford didn't let their heads drop and the back line of Tim Hogben, John Barrow, Peter McRobert and Clive Hickson stood firm and looked comfortable against the Gravesend attack. The killer blow came 7 minutes into the second half when Garry Aldous headed in Gravesend's second goal. There was no way back for Ashford after the second goal. Ashford: Carman, Hickson, Hogben, Barrow, McRobert, Rayner, Jordon (Partington), Carter, Ambler, Young, Jowett.
Gravesend and Northfleet: Lewington, Idle, Burrett, Bryant, Jacks, Hart, Dudman, Dyer, Stonebridge, Aldous, Pooley. Sub: Williams.
Attendance: 1206.

1981/82 Season

1982 Kent Senior Cup Final

Maidstone United 3-0 Ashford Town

Date: April 12, 1982

Venue: Priestfield Stadium, Gillingham

Report to follow...

1992/93 Season

1993 Kent Senior Cup Final

Ashford Town 3-2 Bromley

Date: May 3, 1993

Venue: Priestfield Stadium, Gillingham

Report to follow...

1995/96 Season

1996 Kent Senior Cup Final

Ashford Town 3-0 Charlton Athletic

Date: May 6, 1993

Venue: Central Park, Sittingbourne

Report to follow...

About the Kent Senior Cup

The Kent Senior Cup is a football knockout competition involving clubs from Kent.. It is run by the Kent County Football Association. Ashford United (formerly Ashford Town) has reached the final on multiple occasions, showcasing the club's competitiveness in Kent football.

Ashford's Finals

  • 1995/96: Winners
  • 1992/93: Winners
  • 1981/82: Runner-up
  • 1980/81: Runner-up
  • 1962/63: Winners
  • 1961/62: Runner-up
  • 1958/59: Winners