Nickname(s) The Cannons Chairman Paul Markland Founded 1992 | Ground Capacity 3,000 (400 seated) Manager Clive Cook League Isthmian League | |
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Full name Hythe Town Football Club Ground Reachfields Stadium,
Fort Road, Hythe | ||
Hythe Town Football Club is an English football club based in Hythe in Kent, and playing in the Isthmian League Division One South in the English football league system. They were FA Vase semi-finalists in 1990.
Contents
The club is nicknamed The Cannons. The team plays its home matches at the Reachfields Stadium, Fort Road.
History
Hythe Town FC was originally formed in August 1910 from the ashes of the defunct Hythe Wednesday FC. Right up until the 1970s Hythe Town was a junior club and won the Kent Amateur League (three times) as well as the Kent Junior and League Cups. In 1976 the club finally acquired its own ground at Reachfields, and was granted senior status and elected into the Kent League. In the 1980s property developer Tony Walton took over the club, boasting grand plans to reach the Football League and whilst this seemed unrealistic to most fans, he rapidly developed the ground up to Southern Football League standard and spent heavily bringing in many of the top players of Kent football. His big spending was rewarded as Town won the Kent League in 1988/89, and having been promoted into the Southern League, challenged strongly but unsuccessfully for further progress.
Success also came in cup competitions, with an appearance in the FA Vase semi-final in 1990 and finalists in the 1991 Southern League Cup, however a year later Tony Walton resigned Hythe from the League. A new club was formed at a public meeting under the name Hythe United, and this club was granted temporary use of Reachfields. Shepway District Council became the new landlords of the stadium and United continued as tenants, initially playing in the Kent Amateur League Division One, and later in the Premier Division.
After three seasons, the club regained senior status and re-joined the Kent League. Soon after this, the club reverted to their old name of Hythe Town.
In season 2007–08 Hythe forced themselves to the top of the table in March and were considered to be favourites for the title. Disappointment was acute therefore when form was lost in the final weeks and the side not only slipped to fourth place, but also lost in the final of the League Cup. Despite this it had been a fine season, with four victories in the FA Cup including a win over Andy Hessenthaler’s Dover Athletic before a crowd of 1,109 at Reachfields, and achieving the important Isthmian League ground grading. There was also the Golden Boot award to striker Mike Smissen who scored 48 goals during the season despite missing 7 games through injury.
In season 2008–09 Town made their strongest bid yet for the title, but finished as runners-up after leading the table for much of the season. On the management side, Paul Fisk stepped down at the end of the season due to the illness of his wife. His assistant, Scott Porter took over as manager for the 2009–10 season with the help of Clive Cook and Martin Chandler. There were many good results but too many dropped points saw Hythe finish in third position. Town also progressed through three rounds of the FA Cup to be drawn against the full-time professionals of Woking and gained a replay after a2-2 draw at Reachfields. The replay was another tight match until the last few minutes when Woking scored three times to go through 5–1.
In the 2010–11 season, Hythe reached the first round proper of the FA Cup, after a win against Conference South club Staines Town through goals by Gary Mickelborough and Dave Cook, and were drawn away to League Two side Hereford United. They lost the fixture 5–1 but Gary Mickelborough became the first Kent League player in 53 years to score at this stage of the competition. They finished off the season by winning the Kent League and gaining promotion to the Isthmian League Division One South for the following season.
In 2011–12 Hythe won their first ever Kent Senior Cup by defeating Dartford 1–0 in the final. They finished 8th in the Isthmian League Division One South in their first season. They then finished 4th in the 2012–13 season and made the play-offs for the first time, but lost 3–0 to Faversham Town. At the end of the 2013–14 season Hythe finished 8th again in the Isthmian League Division One South, however manager Scott Porter resigned at the end of the season. In the 2015-16 season, they were facing relegation in December, but a dramatic turn-around in form resulted in them finishing 4th in the division, their highest ever finish. In the promotion play-off semi-finals, however, they were defeated 7-0 by Worthing.
Stadium and supporters
Hythe Town play their home games at the Reachfields Stadium, Reachfields, Hythe, CT21 6LS.
Reachfields Stadium can accommodate 3,000, with 2,400 under cover, including 400 seated. The record attendance is 2,147 against Yeading in 1990. The ground boasts an unusual twin-deck stand, with a particularly good view from the upper deck.
Hythe Town's support has increased over the years from joining the Isthmian League. They had an average home gate of 345 and the third biggest attendance in the league in 2012–13. Hythe's biggest gate was 1,022 which was against Shepway rivals Folkestone Invicta. When Hythe played away to Invicta the attendance was 866.
Rivals
Hythe's main rivals are fellow Shepway club Folkestone Invicta which is always a heated game and well supported from both set of fans, as the clubs are only six miles apart. The club has lesser rivalries with Ashford United, Dover Athletic, Faversham Town and Lydd Town.