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- Action from the recent game against Rochester United at the current home venue of Hartsdown Park, Margate
With just six games to go in the current season, Canterbury City FC sit just outside of the playoffs in the Southern Counties East Football League (SCEFL) Division One but have played more games than their rivals so it’s a tough ask to make the playoffs. But you never know…
Whatever division we are playing in next season, in 2024/25 we will once again be playing ‘home’ matches at Hartsdown Park, the home of Margate FC. The ground sharing arrangement with our friends at Margate has worked tremendously well and has given us breathing space, but although only 17 miles away, it is not home. We are still determined to ‘Bring the City Home’.
As you may be aware, the club were evicted from their home at the Kingsmead Stadium by Canterbury City Council in 2001 for the purposes of building housing, with the promise of the club being found a new home, but some 23 years later we are still waiting for that promise to be honoured…
We have led a nomadic lifestyle ever since, and played in many locations, including Herne Bay, Whitstable, Faversham, Bridge, Hersden, Ashford, Deal, Sittingbourne and finally Margate…pretty much everywhere in East Kent, apart from central Canterbury of course. We believe that a city of the size, stature and prestige of Canterbury deserves a football club they can be proud of and, one that the locals can call their own. We are determined to make that vision a reality.
The good news is that the Draft Local Plan, recently issued by Canterbury City Council for Consultation, contains a site at Merton Park (where Canterbury Rugby Club currently play) which includes the provision of a new Sports Hub, incorporating a new FA graded (Category C) football stadium.
The approval of such a development, which includes approximately 2,250 new dwellings, will obviously take some time but we will work with the Developer and Canterbury City Council to maximise the chances of getting it through the planning process while meeting the needs of the local population.
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- Canterbury City FC in action at the old Kingsmead Stadium in the late 1990’s. The site is now occupied by a residential development, but was once home to a stadium that hosted football, speedway and greyhound racing.
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- Kingsmead Stadium in the late 1970’s showing the greyhound/speedway track
Realistically, this development is unlikely to yield a new ground for the club for at least 3 or 4 seasons so we need to find an alternative in the interim period – if we aren’t in Canterbury much sooner than that then the existence of the club is at risk. We continue to meet prospective third-party partners, and our target remains to be back in the city for the start of the 2025/26 season.
Non-league football clubs – particularly homeless ones – need all the help they can get. We are wholly reliant on volunteers to keep things running. If you think you can help in any way whatsoever, whether that is donating time on a match-day, assisting with your expertise, providing sponsorship or simply turning up and supporting us, please email [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.
At our home games you’ll meet a friendly bunch of dedicated fans at a great stadium with great facilities. The full fixtures can be found on www.canterburycityfc.co.uk, but these are the remaining home games for this season:
- Saturday 30th March 2024, 3:00pm v Greenways
- Saturday 6th April 2024, 3:00pm v Forest Hill Park
- Saturday 27th April 2024, 3:00pm v Croydon