Saturday 4 December 2025
Merton Lane North, Canterbury CT4 7DZ
KO 2pm
A2, M2, A2 SatNav
Mainly Cloudy with a 75% Chance of Rain at some point. High of 4 degrees

Happy New Year, Everyone. I think I’m still entitled to say that. I hope you all had a good Christmas and didn’t overdo the celebrations on New Year’s Eve. It was a bit low-key in Charlton Park towers as yours truly went down with a heavy cold and chest infection on Boxing Day. But I’m getting better.

Today, we make a 55 mile trip down the A2 / M2 to take on Canterbury 2nds otherwise known as the Pilgrims. This is our first match since we took to the field on 14 December where we lost to a very well drilled Bromley side despite putting in a spirited performance. We had to concede our match to Beccehamians on the Saturday before Christmas due to a large number of players being unavailable. However, we did take a side over to West Wickham and played a friendly with a weakened side. So, thanks go to Beccehamians for agreeing to that.

With the state of the community game at grassroots level, you have to question why the RFU would schedule fixtures on the Saturday before Christmas and the first Saturday in the New Year when many clubs are struggling to get sides out. Poor planning, in my opinion.

We were supposed to be playing at home today. However, because we cried off for the away fixture in September, we have to concede home advantage for this fixture. As if losing 5 points wasn’t bad enough, it is argued by some (RFU) that we should sacrifice home advantage and bar takings to compensate our opponents for similar.

The Canterbury Pilgrims sit at the top of the pile as we enter the second half of the season with a 10-2 win loss ratio. It’s going to be a tough one today. They have Sevenoaks 2nds breathing down their necks and only one point separates them. It’s going to go down to the wire. Did we expect anything else? Not really. So, before we kick off today’s game, it will be an interesting watch to see who comes out on top of the battle of the well resourced, National League sides.

Off the field, we have our Annual General Meeting coming up on Thursday 9 January 2025 at 8pm. It’s your chance to have a say so please make every effort to attend.

We will also have a good news story about work that has been going on behind the scenes to secure the financial future of the club. So, watch this space.