Folkestone Invicta Football Club is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. They are currently members of the and play at

Cheriton Road Cheriton Road is a complex of sports grounds at Folkestone in the English county of Kent. The complex includes football pitches, a cricket ground, hockey pitches, netball courts and an indoor sports facility. It includes the home ground of Fo ...

History

The club was established in 1936 and joined the East Kent Wednesday League for the 1936–37 season. They continued in the league until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1962 the club joined the new Division Two of the Eastern Section of the Kent County Amateur League. They won the division at the first attempt, earning promotion to Division One. The club were Division One champions in 1969–70 and were promoted to the Premier Division. However, they were relegated back to Division One at the end of the following season. After finishing as runners-up in Division One in 1976–77, the club were promoted back to the Premier Division. Two seasons after being promoted, Invicta were champions of the Eastern Section Premier Division. In 1980–81 they were beaten 2–0 by New Romney in the final of the League Cup. The Premier Division was renamed the Senior Division in 1984 and clubs in the division were granted 'Intermediate' status enabling them to enter a higher standard of county cup competition. The club were subsequently runners-up in the Kent Intermediate Shield in both the 1985–86 and 1989–90 seasons, losing 2–1 to

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lon ...

and 6–3 to Sangley Sports respectively.

folded in 1990, with Invicta, now the highest-ranked club in the town, taking over their

the following year. In 1990–91 Invicta won the league's Les Leckie Cup (defeating

Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between the ...

in the final) and finished third in the Premier Division, after which they were elected to Division Two of the Kent League, which was largely composed of reserve teams. They went on to win the division, as well as the Division Two Cup and the Kent Intermediate Shield in the 1991–92 season, and were promoted to Division One,History of Folkestone Invicta F.C
Folkestone Invicta F.C. as well as being awarded senior status. Their first spell in Division One saw them reach the final of the Kent Senior Trophy twice; in 1993–94 they lost 3–1 to Alma Swanley and in 1993–94 were beaten in a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

5–4 by Deal Town. The club were runners-up in Division One in 1997–98, earning promotion to the Southern Division of the Southern League, also losing another Kent Senior Trophy final 1–0 to Greenwich Borough. After losing 1–0 to

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football. History Welling United Foot ...

in the final of the

Kent Senior Cup The Kent Senior Cup is an English football competition played between senior clubs in the county of Kent. It is administered by the Kent County Football Association. History The Kent Badge preceded the Kent Senior Cup, and was won in its three ...

in 1998–99, the club were transferred to the Eastern Division for the 1999–2000 season. They went on to finish as runners-up in the division, earning promotion to the Premier Division. However, a second successive Kent Senior Cup final appearance that season ended in a 3–0 defeat by Gravesend & Northfleet. Invicta spent three seasons in the Premier Division, before finishing bottom of the table in 2002–03, after which they were relegated to the Eastern Division. A fifth-place finish the following season was enough for an immediate promotion due to the creation of the

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

creating several spaces in the divisions above. However, the club were transferred to the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

, joining its Premier Division. The 2003–04 season also saw another Kent Senior Cup final appearance, in which they were beaten 2–1 by

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

. The following season striker Paul Sykes collapsed and died during a Senior Cup semi-final match against the same opponents, with the club withdrawing from the competition. In 2005–06 Invicta reached the first round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

for the first time, losing 2–1 at

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

Chester City. The club spent four seasons in the Isthmian League Premier Division before relegation to Division One South at the end of the 2008–09 season. In 2009–10 they were runners-up in Division One South, having missed out on the title due to having ten points deducted for going into administration. However, they qualified for the promotion play-offs, and after beating

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leath ...

on penalties in the semi-finals, defeated Godalming Town 2–1 in the final, earning promotion back to the Premier Division. Another Kent Senior Cup final appearance in the same season ended with a 3–1 defeat to

Sittingbourne Sittingbourne is an industrial town in Kent, south-east England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and next to the Swale, a strip of sea separa ...

. In the following season the club finished bottom of the Premier Division and were relegated straight back to Division One South. The next four seasons saw Invicta finish in the top five, qualifying for the promotion play-offs; in 2011–12 they lost 2–1 to

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. T ...

in the semi-finals and in 2012–13 they lost at the same stage to Maidstone United. In 2013–14 they won their semi-final, beating Hastings United 3–2, but lost on penalties to

in the final after a 1–1 draw. They reached the final again in 2014–15 after defeating

Whyteleafe Whyteleafe is a village in the district of Tandridge, Surrey, England, with a few streets falling inside the London Borough of Croydon. The village, in a dry valley of the North Downs, has three railway stations (on two parallel lines). Neighbouri ...

in the semi-finals, but were beaten 3–0 in the final by

Merstham Merstham is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It lies 25 miles south of Charing Cross and 2 miles south of the Greater London border. Part of the North Downs Way runs along the northern boundary of the town. Mers ...

. After four successive play-off failures, the club won Division One South in 2015–16 to return to the Premier Division. They finished fourth in the Premier Division in 2017–18, going on to lose 4–0 in the play-off semi-finals to

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

. They also lost the Kent Senior Cup final again, beaten 4–2 on penalties by Maidstone United. A sixth Senior Cup final appearance in 2021–22 ended with a 6–2 defeat to

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

Ground

When Folkestone folded in 1990, Folkestone Invicta were playing in nearby

Hythe Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to: Places Australia * Hythe, Tasmania Canada *Hythe, Alberta, a village in Canada England * T ...

. However, they returned to the town in 1991, taking over Folkestone's old

in 1991.

Honours

*Isthmian League **Division One South champions 2015–16 *Kent League **Division Two Champions 1991–92 **Division Two Cup Winners 1991–92 *Kent County League **Eastern Section Premier Division champions 1978–79 **Eastern Section Division One champions 1969–70 **Eastern Section Division Two champions 1962–63 **Les Leckie Cup winners 1990–91 *Kent Intermediate Shield **Winners 1991–92

Records

*Best

performance: First round, 2005–06 *Best

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

performance: Fourth round, 2021–22 *Best

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

performance: Fourth round, 1997–98 *Record attendance: 2,322 v

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

, friendly match, 1996–97History of Folkestone Invicta F.C
Folkestone Invicta F.C. *Biggest victory: 13–0 vs Faversham Town, Kent League Division One, May 1995 *Heaviest defeat: 7–1 vs

Crockenhill Crockenhill is a village in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 1 mile south of Swanley and 4.5 miles north east of Orpington, adjacent to the Kent border with Greater London. Etymology Crockenhill is from Old English ''hyll'' ...

, Kent League Division One, February 1993; vs

, Kent Senior Cup, February 2009; vs

Bognor Regis Town Bognor Regis Town Football Club is an English football club based in Bognor Regis, West Sussex. Nicknamed 'The Rocks',the club is an FA Chartered Standard Community club affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association. They currently compet ...

, Isthmian League Premier, March 2017 *Most appearances: Michael Everitt, 753 *Most goals: Ian Draycott, 150 (as of 23 January 2023)

References

External links