Match Preview

On Tuesday we travel to troubled Ramsgate who along with Faversham Town, Hythe Town and Sittingbourne, are one of the teams to have been in Herne Bay’s division for all eight Isthmian League seasons.

The earliest incarnation of Ramsgate FC had played since at least 1886 but folded in 1924, with local rivals Ramsgate Glenville taking over their Southwood Stadium. Glenville did not reform after World War II and a new club dubbed Ramsgate Athletic took over Southwood. The club retained the Athletic name until 1972. Athletic played in the original incarnation of the Kent League from their formation until the collapse of the league in 1959. This was the club's best period for nearly 50 years, with two consecutive league titles, several county cups, and a run to the first round of the FA Cup. With the collapse of the Kent League the Rams migrated to the Southern League, where they initially did well but were forced to resign and drop down to the re-formed Kent League in 1976.

For nearly thirty years the club performed well without seriously challenging for promotion, but their fortunes changed in 2004. There were two consecutive championships (Kent League Premier Division and Isthmian League First Division), taking the club into the Isthmian League Premier Division for 2006/07. In the club's first season in the Premier Division the Rams finished in 9th place and followed this with an even better season in 2007/08, finishing in 5th place to reach the play-offs, although they were beaten 2–1 in the semi-final by Staines Town. The following season, however, Ramsgate finished bottom of the table and were relegated to Division One South, where they have consistently been mid-table with the exception of 2014/15 when they narrowly avoided relegation.

Fortunes between the two teams have been pretty much even with Herne Bay winning six, drawing one and losing seven of the league encounters but Bay also have a Kent Senior Cup victory to their credit. Last season saw an amazing comeback at Southwood, 1-3 and 3-4 down, Jake Embery ended with four goals and Ben Gorham one in the 5-4 win. The return was a disaster for Bay, losing 1-5 at Winch’s Field.

In October 2018 Ramsgate controversially appointed Paul Bowden-Brown as consultant come chief executive officer – just eight days after he pulled the plug on Thamesmead Town. Five weeks later manager Lloyd Blackman resigned expressing concerns about the restructuring of the club. Former Sittingbourne boss Nick Davis was appointed as the new manager and the Rams went on to finish in 11th place. Davis made multiple signings prior to this season commencing in order to make a challenge for the play-offs but started with defeats to Chichester City and Sittingbourne and a draw at VCD Athletic. They have been more successful in cup competitions beating Ashford United on penalties in the Velocity Trophy and Arundel, from two Steps below, 4-0 in a replay in the FA Cup. Following the Arundel game Nick Davis said on his club’s website: “I thought we were very professional today. We were in complete control until the end. I said to the players ‘we’re 4-0 up and playing beautiful football, lets also do this when it’s 0-0 or when we are losing’, I still want to continue to play that way. But all round, what a performance from the whole squad. My complete focus is now on Guernsey on Saturday. We need to back up this performance against Arundel and go win at home.”

The Rams lost 1-4 to the Green Lions and sit bottom of the table, with one point from a possible 12, but have a game in hand on most of the other teams in the league. To possibly put things into perspective Arundel lost 1-7 in the FA Vase on Saturday to Welling Town, who were 11th in the SCEFL Premier.

Ramsgate finished 8th last season in the attendance table, four places below Herne Bay, with an average of 211 and there were 199 at Southwood for the visit of Herne Bay. This campaign they have dropped down to 11th with an average of 187 from their three home games. Ramsgate play their home matches at Southwood Stadium, Ramsgate, Kent. CT11 0AN. 13.6 miles from Winch’s Field. Estimated journey time 22 minutes.

Herne Bay will travel to the Southwood Stadium again on Tuesday 08/10/2019 for a Velocity Trophy encounter and the return league fixture is at Winch’s Field on Tuesday 04/02/2020.