Lockdown project
I have always wanted to revisit the formation of Tonbridge Juniors and their early years. They are the club very close to my heart. Long before I was involved in the club, in early 2000s I always remember hearing the dulcet tones of PA system drifting across the Racecourse Sportsground into my garden for two days every summer as part of the Tonbridge Football Fiesta.
As soon as my football mad son was old enough, he joined the Under 6s training sessions with Brian Tippett in 2007. And as coaches know, you offer to help out and before you know, you are sucked in and next thing you know you are managing a team. Both Ben Sceal and myself were those two new coaches for as we moved to Under 7s in 2008. But the experience has been immensely rewarding, filled in so many happy memories, laughs and friendships. Fourteen years on, I am still at the club and now managing my daughters team.
So with the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, it has given me an opportunity to revisit my club's creation, its struggles and early successes.
Background and Dunton Green Juniors
As previously detailed in my blog on Tonbridge Olympic, football in the early 1990s was booming. North Tonbridge Juniors dominated the junior football scene within the town in 1970s & 80s, but a number of new clubs were starting up - Tonbridge AFC Under 18s in 1990, Tonbridge Olympic in 1990 and The Heath 1990.
Whilst cub scout football was the launch pad for Tonbridge Olympic, boys not within the scouting movement sought out football opportunities elsewhere. It appeared for boys aged 7, 8 and 9 years old, no clubs offered or played matches in the town. However Dunton Green Juniors did and had a Under 9s team, along with teams other age groups and played friendly matches in the Tandridge League.
By the early 1990s, the majority of the Dunton Green players were from Tonbridge. Whilst there is a clear and definitive link to the creation of Tonbridge Invicta in 1992 from Dunton Green Juniors, one of the parents of an Under 9s player was Barry Jeffrey who did not move across to Tonbridge Invicta.
And so it begins, the creation of Tonbridge Juniors in the summer 1992
North Tonbridge Juniors, as their name suggests, appeared from the onlookers to represent the north end of town and played out of Longmead sportsground. Barry Jeffrey wanted to create a new club to represent the whole of the town. At the time Barry was friends with the then Tonbridge AFC manager Phil Emblem and approached Phil in the spring of 1992 about setting up a Juniors football section for Tonbridge AFC. Barry then went about launching Tonbridge Juniors.
The following text is from an article that appeared in the Kent & Sussex Courier on the 15 May 1992:
“More than 150 boys between the ages of eight and 14 have
expressed an interest in joining the new Tonbridge Football Club Juniors, being
run by Barry Jeffrey. The club will
enter either the Crowborough & District or the Tandridge Junior league, and
the players will wear the Tonbridge senior club’s colours.
The first training session takes place at Tonbridge’s
Longmead stadium on Sunday (9.30am) and the boys will using the club’s
facilities.
Jeffrey’s venture has the full support of Tonbridge’s
manager Phil Emblen, who said this week: “It can only be good for us, because
it stops youngsters going outside of the area to play. I’m pleased to be able
to help the juniors get established. We
need to develop the football skills and knowledge of the boys to increase their
enjoyment and improve the game generally.
Any boys between between eight and 14 who would like to
play for the new club should go along to Longmead Stadium on Sunday morning,
taking with them their kit, a football and 50p.
Among the coaches will be Phil Emblen’s son, who played
for Sittingbourne last season, Colin Blewden, another former Tonbridge player,
who has been stalwart at Dover Athletic, and Steve Clark, whose season at
Tonbridge was ruined by a knee injury, and Phil Emblen will occasionally help
out.
Jeffrey also to hear from anybody who would be prepared to help manage a squad”.
First season 1992-93
Such was the success of the open day, that four Tonbridge Juniors teams were formed and they joined the Tandridge Junior League for the start of the 1992/93 season. The four teams were an U10s, U11s, U12s & U13s managed by Barry, John Sceal, Brian Tippett & Paul Carter. All four teams played 11 a side football.
The club played their home matches at Schools at Somerhill, with the younger teams on the junior pitches down towards the bypass, whilst the older teams played on the main pitch closer to the main school buildings. They also occasionally played home matches on the pitches at Longmead sportsground.
The first season was the particularly successful for our Under 10s, who finished runners up in the B Division, as they reached the cup semi final losing to Sevenoaks Juniors the eventual winners of the A Division. To top the season off, the Under 10s also won the Sportsmanship Award for their division. Paul Redfearn finished top scorer with 34 goals, followed by Chris Feast with 22 goals and James Barden with 20 goals. Below is a photo of a number of the Under 10s team at a summer tournament in 1993.
The Under 11s & Under 12s played in the South division of their respective divisions, whilst the Under 14s in the C Division. The Under 11s team is also featured in the photograph below at the same summer tournament in 1993. The blonde haired boy at the front is Ben Sceal, a future Tonbridge Juniors manager.
As the season came to a close it was clearly a very successful start and plans were being put in place to rapidly expand the club in an influx of new players. For the following season, the club entered 7 teams into the Tandridge League and 1 team into the Crowborough League. The club was on the up, or so it seemed.
Tonbridge AFC get promoted back to the Southern League
The senior club Tonbridge AFC had just won the Kent League 1993 and been promoted back to the Southern League, after four seasons languishing in the Kent League. Around this time new investment came into the main club, including from a backer from Sevenoaks with links to the Sevenoaks Juniors football club.
The idea of a merger between the two junior football club was soon mooted to form a “premier” (my words) Junior football club serving the West Kent area. The teams would play and train either in Sevenoaks, Westerham or Tonbridge and all players being graded on their playing ability, with A and B teams.
At time Sevenoaks Juniors were a well established junior football club having been formed in 1982 and had teams playing in the Tandridge, Horley, Rural Clark Boys & Crawley Leagues since their creation. However Sevenoaks Juniors didn't have a secure base or clubhouse and were keen to develop links to Tonbridge AFC as the most senior football club in the local area.
A meeting was held in the early summer of 1993 by Tonbridge AFC and both junior clubs, team managers and parents were invited to attend to discuss the proposed merger. There was much opposition to the changes from the Tonbridge Juniors contingent, as Tonbridge kids would potentially be asked to play matches and train in Sevenoaks or Westerham as their home base. The Tonbridge Juniors managers were not in favour merger, including the club’s creator Barry Jeffrey. During the discussions Reg Spicer, who was only a parent at the time, spoke up against the proposals and said that there should be Tonbridge team for Tonbridge kids. After Reg's speech John Sceal (one of the team managers) congratulated him and showed him what he had written on a back of a fag packet “Reg Spicer for Chairman”.
Tonbridge AFC subsequently voted their proposed changes through and Tonbridge & Sevenoaks Juniors were formed as the new and official youth section for Tonbridge AFC for the forthcoming 1993/94 season. With the merger Sevenoaks Juniors moved across lock stock and barrel to run the new official youth set up for Tonbridge AFC.
What now?
Following the meeting, the Barry Jeffrey, John Sceal, Brian Tippett & Reg Spicer all decided to continue with Tonbridge Juniors for the forthcoming 1993/94 season. They had effectively been detached and dropped by Tonbridge AFC, as they were no longer part of their plans going forward and had to go it alone.
With the creation of a new "premier" Tonbridge & Sevenoaks club on the doorstep of Tonbridge Juniors, this caused significant problems on the playing front in retaining players and enticing potential new players for the forthcoming season. Unsurprising a number of players moved across to Tonbridge & Sevenoaks Juniors to the perceived stronger club. Tonbridge Juniors close season expansion plans for eight teams rapidly disappeared and the club had to withdraw four of its proposed teams for the forthcoming season. Remarkably the club managed to still field four teams for the new season. Whilst the newly formed Tonbridge & Sevenoaks Juniors formed 10 teams for their inaugural season.
Second season 1993/94
By the start of September 1993 the Juniors had found a new home at Five Oak Green Recreation ground and following various works they had a junior sized pitch for the two younger teams and used the existing full sized pitch the older teams. The club also managed to get hold of a caravan, which operated as a tea hut on match days. There is also a certain amount of irony, that the Tonbridge team for Tonbridge kids, wasn't actually playing their football in Tonbridge, but a village five miles away.
This second season was very much about creating stability, rising to the challenge of the playing in the very competitive Tandridge League and the creation of a new management committee, which Reg Spicer headed up as chairman. The club was also involved in disagreements with Tonbridge AFC and threatened with legal action over the name of the club and the use of the old Tonbridge Urban District Council badge as our logo, which was also used by Tonbridge AFC. All of which were subsequently dropped.
On the playing front, 1993/94 was a difficult season, with the majority of teams finishing in the bottom half of their respective division.
The Under 10s managed by Keith Stevenson finished eighth in the C Division:
The Under 11s managed by Barry Jeffrey finished bottom in the A division:
The Under 15s managed by Brian Tippett and actually started the season as Under 16s, but quickly switched to Under 15s. The team finished bottom of the C Division, but won the Sportsmanship Award:
Come the summer, football tournaments enabled the players to continue to play football in the better weather and raise much needed club funds through the Tonbridge Football Fiesta. Our teams also played tournaments far and wide, including the Under 12s team who competed on the Selhurst pitch, home to Crystal Palace. The following pictures below are from that day.
Third season 1994/95
The club with a home ground started to slowly grow again, adding an Under 10s team to the four existing teams. The biggest change was that the Under 16s moved to the Crowborough & District Junior Football League, as they haven't enjoyed the last season in the Tandridge League and were looking for a change. The movement of this single team, whilst appearing relatively insignificant, started to shift the direction of travel of the club.A number of teams match reports of this season featured in The Tandridge League magazine. The first match report is for the Under 10s from 26 February 1995:
The second match report also for the Under 10s from the 19 March 1995 against local rivals Tonbridge Invicta. The Tonbridge Juniors team featured current Under 12s girls team coach Marc Faulkner.
It wasn't just the Under 10s who were having success on the pitch, the Under 13s team who also finished runners up and time for another team photo.
The Under 10s managed by Malcolm Roberts finished runners up the Under 10s South Division:
The Under 12s managed by Barry Jeffrey and Melvyn Jenner bottom of Under 12s B Division:
The Under 13s managed by John Sceal finished runners up in the Under 13s South Division. The team won their remaining match.
The Under 16s managed by Brian Tippett finished bottom of the Crowborough League B Division. Whilst the team finished bottom, the team had thoroughly enjoyed their time in the new league and played far more local matches.
All seemed rosy, or so it seemed.
The split
During close season, the direction of the club was up for debate, as to whether the rest of the club should follow Brian's Under 16s team to play in a perceived friendlier and more local Crowborough league, albeit it wouldn't be as strong or competitive as the Tandridge League. Barry wanted the teams to continue to play in higher standard of the Tandridge League.
John Sceal and Keith Stevenson teams decided to leave and set up Capel Sports & Social Club Juniors, who would also play out Five Oak Green Recreation ground and would play in the Crowborough League. Interestingly Brian Tippett is listed for the forthcoming season as the Capel Under 17s team manager in the League handbook, but this did not materialise, as ultimately Brian stayed with Tonbridge Juniors for the following season as their Under 17s team manager. By the time the season started three former Tonbridge Juniors teams had moved across to Capel.
Fourth season 1995/96
The club regrouped yet again and managed to field three teams for the start of September. Two teams playing in the Tandridge League (U10s & U11s) & Brian's U17s team in the Crowborough League. The teams continued to play their home matches at Five Oak Green. On the pitch, the teams had a tough season:
The Under 10s finished eighth in the Under 10s East Division in the Tandridge League:
The Under 11s finished bottom of the Under 11s South division:
Brian's Under 17s team finished bottom of the Crowborough League Under 17s B Division, but did win the Sportsmanship Award:
By the end of the season, the football landscape was changing. The FA was carrying out a review of youth football to provide more appropriate playing formats for kids. Under 10s teams and above age groups all played 11 a side matches, whilst the Under 8s & 9s officially were banned from 11 a side football. However it appears such unauthorised matches were being being played undercover in some areas of the country.
Crowborough League Mini Soccer Alliance 1996
During the close season, the Crowborough League set out a progressive approach to introduce mini soccer football for Under 8s, 9s & 10s teams, two seasons before the FA made it compulsory for the 1998/99 season. Brian Tippett joined the League management committee as an Under 10s manager representative. As we know, mini soccer teams don't play in any league or compete for League honours. The emphasis is on player development, with friendly matches organised every two to three weeks.
Parting ways
The direction of travel of the club towards the Crowborough League and mini soccer format with friendly matches, rather than staying in the more competitive football in the Tandridge League proved a step too far and Barry Jeffrey decided to leave the club he had set up. Barry went onto manage the Under 14s Tonbridge & Sevenoaks Juniors team for the 1996/97 season in the Tandridge League and continued to be part of the Tonbridge Angels Youth set up until 2005.
Mini soccer saviour
If it wasn't for the Crowborough League setting up mini soccer for the 1996/97 the club would have been left with just two teams and an uncertain future. Mini soccer effectively saved Tonbridge Juniors and enabled them to built its foundations and became the club it is now, with Brian and Reg being driving force for the club for over twenty years.
For the record the Tonbridge Juniors club started the 1996/97 season with the following eight teams:
Under 8s Sporting playing 5 a side
Under 9s Rangers & United playing 5 a side
Under 10s Rovers & United playing 6 a side
Under 10s team playing 11 a side
Under 11s in the B Division playing 11 a side
Under 12s in the C Division playing 11 a side.
The early years of the club was one of perseverance in the face of adversity. A roller-coaster ride of highs and lows, but it is wasn't for the vision and commitment of Barry Jeffrey, Brian Tippett, John Sceal & Reg Spicer we wouldn't have Tonbridge Juniors.
Three years ago Tonbridge Juniors and Tonbridge Angels finally reconnected, with Tonbridge Juniors now effectively running the Angels youth set up. So the Juniors have now come full circle.
Many thanks to the contributions and photographs from Brian Tippett, Reg Spicer, Barry Jeffrey, Ben Sceal, Lewis Kerton and Steve Davis (Tandridge League)
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