Herne Bay 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

Herne Bay, Kent Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government ...

, England. Affiliated to the

Kent County Football Association The Kent County Football Association, known as ''Kent FA'', is the governing body of football in the county of Kent, England, and was formed in 1881. The Kent FA run over 20 County Cups at different levels of football for affiliated teams across K ...

, they are currently members of the and play at Winch's Field.

History

The club was established in 1886. The first league they played in was the East Kent League,History
Herne Bay F.C. before joining Division Two of the Kent League in 1896.The 'original' Kent League 1894–1930
Non-League Matters They finished bottom of the division in 1896–97 and 1897–98, before returning to the East Kent League. They went on to win the East Kent League title four seasons in row between 1901–02 and 1905–06, before rejoining Division Two (East) of the Kent League in 1909. However, they left the league after a single season. They later folded in 1913.
Pyramid Passion After reforming, Herne Bay joined Division Two of the Eastern Section of the

Kent County League The Kent County League is a football competition based in Kent, England. The league has seven senior divisions – a Premier Division, Division One East and West, Division Two East and West and Division Three East and West. It sits below the Sout ...

in 1934. They remained in the division 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 ...

, playing in the North Division in 1939–40 and the East Division in 1945–46, a season which saw them finish bottom of the table. They were then placed in the North Division in 1946–47, again finishing bottom, and continued in the division in 1947–48 until league reorganisation saw them placed in Division One for the 1948–49 season. In 1953 the club returned to Division Two of the Kent League after moving to their Winch's Field ground, although they were one of only two first teams playing in the division.The 'original' Kent League 1944–1959
Non-League Matters Herne Bay were Division Two champions in 1954–55 and runners-up the following season, but were not promoted until the end of the 1956–57 season. Their first season in Division One saw them finish bottom of the table. When the Kent League folded in 1959, the club were founder members of the

Aetolian League The Aetolian (or Aitolian) League ( grc-gre, Κοινὸν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν) was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered in Aetolia in central Greece. It was probably established during the early Hellen ...

, joining Division One. At the end of the 1963–64, the Aetolian league merged with the London League into the

Greater London League The Greater London League was a football league for clubs in and around London. It was formed in 1964 by a merger of the London League and the Aetolian League, after the two leagues had run a joint league cup the previous season due to both stru ...

, with Herne Bay leaving to join Division Two of the

Athenian League The Athenian League was an English amateur football league for clubs in and around London. The league was originally to be called the Corinthian League,Athenian Football League minutes 1912-1921 (National Football Museum, Preston). but this nam ...

instead. They were Division Two champions in 1970–71, earning promotion to Division One. However, after finishing bottom of Division One in 1973–74 the club left to join the reformed Kent League. The 1988–89 season saw Herne Bay finish bottom of the Kent League, but in 1991–92 they were league champions. They were runners-up the following season, before winning a second league title in 1993–94. The club went on to win back-to-back championships in 1996–97 and 1997–98. They finished as runners-up in 2000–01, 2004–05, 2009–10 and 2010–11 before winning the league again in 2011–12, this time earning promotion to Division One South of 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 ...

. The 2011–12 season also saw the club reach the semi-finals of the

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 ...

, eventually losing 4–3 on aggregate to West Auckland Town. In 2021–22 they finished third in the South East Division, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. After defeating Haywards Heath Town on penalties in the semi-finals, they beat Ashford United 2–0 in the final, earning promotion to the Premier Division. However, they were relegated at the end of the following season.

Ground

After being reformed in the 1930s, the club initially played at the Memorial Park, which had previously been a rubbish tip. The final match at Memorial Park was played on 7 May 1953, after which the club moved to Winch's Field, named after the Winch's brickworks, which had previously been on the site. The new ground cost £5,000 to build and a crowd of over 1,000 attended the inaugural game on 26 August 1953, a 2–2 draw with

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

. Covered stands were later built on all four sides of the pitch. Floodlights were installed in 1992 and a covered terrace behind one goal erected two years later. The ground currently has a capacity of 3,000, of which 200 is seated and 1,500 under cover. In April 2022 the club announced plans to install an artificial pitch.

Honours

*Isthmian League South East Division **Play-off winners 2021–22 *Kent League **Champions 1991–92, 1992–93, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2011–12 **Premier Division Cup winners 1996–97, 2009–10, 2010–11Honours
Herne Bay F.C. **Challenge Shield winners 1992–93, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2009–10 **Division Two champions 1954–55 *Athenian League **Division Two champions 1970–71 *Kent County League **Eastern Section League Cup winners 1952–53 *East Kent League **Champions 1902–03, 1903–04, 1904–05, 1905–06 *Kent Senior Trophy **Winners 1978–79, 1996–97 *Kent Amateur Cup **Winners 1957–58 *Kent & Medway Combination Cup **Winners 1961–62

Records

*Best

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 ...

performance: Fourth qualifying round, 1970–71, 1986–87 *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: Second qualifying round, 2015–16 *Best

performance: Semi-finals, 2011–12 *Record attendance: 2,303 vs

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, ...

, FA Cup fourth qualifying round, 1970–71Herne Bay
Non-League Club Directory *Biggest win 19–3 Vs Hythe Wanderers February 1900 *Heaviest defeat: 11–0 Vs Dragoon Guards October 1907 *Longest unbeaten run: 35 matches

References

External links