Canterbury City F.C.

Canterbury City
Full name Canterbury City Football Club
Nickname(s) tbc
Founded 1947 (reformed 2007)
Ground The Homelands, Kingsnorth (Groundshare with Ashford United F.C.)
Ground Capacity 3,200 (500 seated)
Chairman Tim Clark[1]
Manager Ben Smith & Adrian Gower [1]
League Southern Counties
East League
2014-15 Southern Counties
East League, 12th

Canterbury City F.C. are a football club currently based in Ashford but originally from and representing Canterbury, England. Reformed in 2007, they are the first football club formed as a Community interest company.[2] For the 2015–16 season they will compete in the Southern Counties East League. The club is affiliated to the Kent County Football Association[3] The club also has a number of youth teams, including a girls only team, a deaf friendly team and a learning difficulties adult team. Canterbury are one of a small number of clubs who also run a homeless team that competes in the Canterbury and District League.

History

They were founded in 1947 and spent a long association with the Kent and Southern Football Leagues. However, archaic evidence suggests a team of the same name existed in the mid-19th century, though the modern team did not claim lineage.

Originally Canterbury played in the Kent League from 1947 to 1959.[4] In their first season they made it to the semi-finals of the Kent League Cup where they lost 2-0 away at Margate. In the 1949–50 and 1950–51 seasons, they finished third in Division 1, the highest they achieved in the Kent League. In 1949–50 they won their first cup, the Kent League Cup, then in 1953–54 Canterbury City won the Kent Senior Cup and finished runners-up in the Kent League Cup and Kent Senior Shield, the 1954 sides being captained by Bobby Veck. The remainder of the 1950s saw the club finish no lower than ninth and reach the final of the Kent Senior Shield and semi-final of the Kent Senior Cup in 1955–56 and the semi-final of the Kent League Cup in 1957–58. When the Kent League disbanded at the end of the 1958–59 season, Canterbury joined the Metropolitan League for the 1959–60 season where they finished third. This was enough to win promotion to the Southern League Division 1 where they soon consolidated.

The 1960s saw some good FA Cup runs for Canterbury as they twice made it through to the 1st round proper. In 1964–65 they hosted Torquay United at home but lost 6–0 in front of a record 3,001 attendance and in 1968–69 they gave Swindon Town a tough battle before eventually going down by a narrow 1–0 scoreline. Canterbury City also achieved their highest position in English football by finishing seventh in the 1965–66 Southern League Division 1 campaign.[4]

In 1971 Division 1 was renamed the Southern Division as Canterbury remained a regular name in the division. Among their players during this period was former Busby Babe Bob Harrop. They reached the semi-finals of the Kent Senior Cup in 1971–72 and 1973–74. They made the first round proper of the FA Trophy in 1973–74 and went one better in 1974–75 making the second round proper. Canterbury also finished ninth in the Southern League in 1974–75 and then the following season were runners-up in the Kent Floodlight Trophy, losing 2–3 to Margate on aggregate. They also finished as runners-up in the Kent Senior Cup, losing to Maidstone United. In 1979–80 they won the Kent Senior Trophy, however, the club struggled for most of the 1970s and 1980s, as they were often found at the wrong end of the league table. Finishing tenth in the Southern League and making it to the quarter-finals of the Kent Senior Cup in 1984–85 being the only high point of the 1980s.

Canterbury City played in four consecutive pre-season Frank Norris Trophy matches against Ashford Town, winning in 1988–89 and 1989–90 and finishing Runners Up in 1987–88 and 1990–91.

In 1994 Canterbury were struggling on and off the pitch and after another tough season they dropped down to the Kent League for the 1994–95 season. Canterbury City reached the first round proper of the FA Vase in 1998–99, but then the club again fell on hard times and after finishing bottom of the ladder for two consecutive seasons they withdrew in the summer of 2001 and folded.

Canterbury City (light green shirts) in action against Ramsgate in 2008

The new club was formed in 2007, and was elected into the Kent County League Division 2 East, part of the 13th tier of the football pyramid. In their first season they claimed the Division 2 East title, thus securing promotion, and also won the Kent County Junior Cup. In 2008–09 the club secured back to back promotions by claiming the Division 1 East title and won a second cup competition (the Les Leckie Cup). In their first season (2009–10) in the Kent County League Premier Division they achieved a 5th-place finish and reached the quarter-finals of the Inter-Regional Challenge Cup. The 2010–11 season saw Canterbury finish as runners-up and become the last club to be elected directly from the Kent County League to the Kent League.[5]

Stadium

The club's original ground at the Kingsmead Stadium has been re-developed for residential housing and the club are in discussion with the city council to identify potential sites for a new Community Football Centre.[2]In the first seasons since reforming the club initially played at Bridge and then for the 2009–10 season played at the Recreation Ground in Hersden. After the start of the 2010–11 season the club arranged an ongoing groundshare agreement to play their home matches at Herne Bay's Safety Net Stadium. At the beginning of the 2014-15 season City moved into Ashford United's ground The Homelands and are expected to remain there for the foreseeable future.[6]

Current squad

As of 01 Dec 2015. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
England GK Shannon Harris
England DF Sam Baker
Gibraltar DF Jamie Bosio
England DF Stuart Fitchie
England DF Ben Gorham
England DF Oliver Lee
England DF Connor Partridge
England DF Dominic Snee
England DF Chris Webber
England MF Steve Baines
England MF Sam Hallett
England MF Daniel Lawrence (Captain)
England MF Matthew Martin
England MF Dave Pilcher
England MF Adam Woollcott
England MF Sam Staunton
England MF Chevan Xavier
England FW Jordan Casey
England FW Rob Lawrence
England FW Ryan Philpott

Honours

Canterbury City (claret shirts) in action against Snodland in 2010

League

Cup

Records

Notable former players

1. Players that have played/managed in the football league or any foreign equivalent to this level (i.e. fully professional league).
2. Players with full international caps.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References

  1. 1 2 Official website
  2. 1 2 "Canterbury City Football Club - Ridlands Farm Draft Masterplan Proposals" (PDF). Canterbury City Council. December 2012. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  3. ↑ FOOTBALL IN FOCUS THE MAGAZINE OF THE KENT COUNTY FA ISSUE 5 – OCTOBER 2009
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 CANTERBURY CITY at the Football Club History Database
  5. ↑ KO 7:45 PM (2012-07-16). "Canterbury City Football Club | Official Website". Canterburycityfc.org. Retrieved 2012-07-16.
  6. ↑ Crudgington, Liz (2013-07-27). "Canterbury City FC fight on after Ridlands Farm stadium snub". Canterbury Times. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  7. ↑ "Kent County Football League". Kent County Football League. Retrieved 2012-07-16.

External links

Coordinates: 51°6′18″N 0°51′21.51″E / 51.10500°N 0.8559750°E / 51.10500; 0.8559750

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