2003–04 Kent Football League

The 2003–04 Kent Football League season (known as the Go Travel Kent League for sponsorship reasons) was the 38th in the history of Kent Football League a football competition in England.

The League structure comprised three divisions: a Premier Division together with a Reserves Section comprising newly formed Divisions One and Two – the latter two made from teams featured in previous seasons Division One North and Division One South, with the six highest ranked teams from each division from the previous season placed in the new Division One and the remaining clubs into Division Two. Reserves teams were not permitted in the Premier Division. Additionally there were two league cup competitions: the Challenge Cup for the Premier Division clubs and another for the teams in the two divisions of the Reserves Section.

Premier Division

The league featured 17 clubs, 15 of which competed in the previous season together with two additional clubs:
* Sevenoaks Town, joined from the Kent County League
* Sporting Bengal United, joined from the London Intermediate League

At the end of the season Cray Wanderers were promoted to the Isthmian League Division One.

League table

Results

Challenge Cup

The 2003–04 Kent Football League Challenge Cup was won by Thamesmead Town.

The competition was contested by the 17 teams from the Premier Division, following a preliminary round there were four further rounds: the first two a single match knock-out followed by the semis-finals on an aggregate basis (home and away matches) and the final match played on a neutral ground (at Folkestone Invicta F.C. this season).

Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final

First Round

* Deal Town 6 – 2 Sporting Bengal United
* Sevenoaks Town 1– 2 Herne Bay
* Erith Town 1 – 0 Slade Green
* Cray Wanderers 2 – 1 Tunbridge Wells
* Greenwich Borough 1 – 0 Thamesmead Town
* Whitstable Town 0– 1 Ramsgate
* Lordswood 0 – 1 (aet) Hythe Town
* Maidstone United 6 – 1 Beckenham Town

Preliminary Round

*VCD Athletic 2 – 4 Herne Bay
Sources
Herne Bay FC: team pages (archived)

Reserves Section

The letter "R" following team names indicates a club’s reserves team.

The 2003–04 Reserves Section comprised two new divisions with promotion and relegation possible between them. They were formed from the previous seasons Division One North and Division One South, with the six highest ranked teams from each division from the previous season placed in the new Division One and the remaining clubs into Division Two. Promotion from the Reserves Section into the Premier Division was not permitted. There was a single League Cup competition for all teams in the section.

Division One

The newly formed single Division One featured twelve clubs, the six highest ranked teams from each of the previous seasons Division One North ( Cray Wanderers R, Thamesmead Town R, Danson Furness, Corinthian, Erith Town R and Dartford R) and Division One South ( Deal Town R, Herne Bay R, Dover Athletic R, Ashford Town (Kent) R, Ramsgate R and Hastings United R).

At the end of the season champions Corinthian and runners-up Dover Athletic R resigned from the league – the former were the only non-reserves team to have won a division in the Reserves Section.

League table

Results

Division Two

The newly formed Division Two featured thirteen clubs, the six lowest ranked teams from the previous seasons Division One North ( Chatham Town R, Beckenham Town R, Tunbridge Wells R, Lordswood R, VCD Athletic R and Erith & Belvedere R) and five (following the withdrawal of Margate R) from Division One South ( Sittingbourne R, Folkestone Invicta R, Maidstone United R, Whitstable Town R and Hythe Town R) together with two additional clubs:
* Sevenoaks Town R
*Groundhoppers (a north Kent based club)

At the end of the season Erith & Belvedere R and Maidstone United R were promoted to Division One and Groundhoppers left the League after one season.

League table

Results

Reserves Cup

The 2003–04 Kent Football League Reserves Cup was won by Cray Wanderers R.

The competition was contested by all 25 teams of the Reserves Section over a total of five rounds: the first three were single match knock-out rounds, followed by the semi-finals on an aggregate basis (home and away matches) and then the final match played on a neutral ground (at Chatham Town F.C. this season).

Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final

Second Round

* Groundhoppers – Whitstable Town R
* Sevenoaks Town R – Lordswood R
* Folkestone Invicta R 0 – 3 Cray Wanderers R
* Thamesmead Town R – Chatham Town R
* Erith Town R 0 – 4 Corinthian
* Ashford Town (Kent) R 2 – 3 Dover Athletic R
* Dartford R – Hastings United R
* Erith & Belvedere R 0 – 2 Maidstone United R

First Round

* Hythe Town R 2 – 2 Groundhoppers (Groundhoppers won on penalties 5–4)
* Whitstable Town R 2 – 0 Danson Furness
* Folkestone Invicta R 2 – 0 Tunbridge Wells R
* Thamesmead Town R 4 – 2 Beckenham Town R
* Erith & Belvedere R 5 – 0 Ramsgate R
* Corinthian 3– 1 (aet) VCD Athletic R
* Sittingbourne R 2 – 3 Cray Wanderers R
* Ashford Town (Kent) R 2 – 0 (aet) Herne Bay R
* Maidstone United Rv 2– 0 Deal Town R
Byes for the remaining seven clubs

Sources
Kent League (archived)

Herne Bay FC: team pages (archived)

References

External links

Herne Bay FC (archived)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent Football League 2003-04
2003-04
2003–04 in English football leagues