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MAGIC MOMENTS 2ND TEAM |
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Division 3 Winners
As we have said elsewhere, the Old Boys Club got underway back in 1958. It was so popular that it formed a second team the following year and it entered Division 3 of the Canterbury District. They made an immediate impact by reaching the final of the Reserves Section Challenge Trophy during the 1959/60 season. It wasn't long before they also picked up a legal medal by winning the Division 3 league title....
Trophy Winners in 1960/61
In just their second season, they went one better... by lifting that Reserves Section Challenge Trophy for the first time despite competition from sides from higher divisions.
It was a competition that the Old Boys would dominate for the rest of the decade.
A Double in 1962/63
The Challenge Trophy was back at Church Street again 1962/63. Alan Hadler's copy of the Cup Final programme (below) provides the details. The Old Boys overcame Boughton Reserves at Herne Bay FC's Winch's Field ground on the 9th of May.
Scan kindly provided by Alan Hadler
At the time, they were also heading to an even more significant success - the Division 2 Championship title. The incomplete league table published in that cup final programme eventually metamorphosed into the following entry in the official records of the Canterbury & District League....
Yet another medal had been added to the players growing collection.....
The cup and league double was achieved wearing an unusual set of strip of pale blue and maroon stripes....
John Wraight provides some match shots from that time.... with Reserves keeper Dave Ralph in action at Church Street...
The success of the club extended for such a long period that Whitstable itself changed around it. In the background of this photo, Child Brothers builders are developing the old Summerfield meadows. And it wasn't just the town that changed. The shot below shows a brown cannonball hitting the net at the other end of the pitch.... watched by M. Gatehouse (striped shirt) on the left and J Huson on the right...
Footballs would very soon become white, light... and manageable. By the end of the season, the side were in Division 1... and following closely behind their own Premier Division first team.
The Trophy Again 64/65 & 65/66
The problem with following your own first team is that League rules prevent a club fielding two sides in the same division. Thus, the reserves were becalmed in Division One with no chance of promotion... but the silverware continued to arrive with Reserve Section Challenge Trophy in successive seasons. By this time, medals had been replaced by impressive individual shields....
Herne Bay's Winch's Field ground had almost become a permanent home for the competition as Alan Hadler's copy of the 1965/66 cup final programme shows.....
Meanwhile, Whitstable was becoming a permanent home for the trophy itself! The Cup Final result? Alan believes that the Old Boys defeated Herne United 2-0.
County Wide in 66/67 & 67/68
The Old Boys Reserves fell foul of those league rules in 1966/67 when they finished runners up in Division I but were denied promotion..... but it didn't stop them looking for success in a wider context. Perhaps the hardest trophy to win was the Kent Junior Cup (Section C). This involved strong opposition from across the entire county. During 1967, the team achieved a cup final appearance. Although they lost that match, it was their best ever finish in the competition and a significant achievement. In 1967/68, they extended their reputation outside the confines of the Canterbury & District League by finishing runners up in the Reserves Section of the Faversham Charity Cup.
Win to End the Decade in 1968/69
The decade ended as it had started with the Old Boys lifting the Reserves Section Challenge Trophy yet again. With the club also sitting proudly in the First Division, who would argue against them being named the most successful team of their class in the Canterbury & District League of the Swinging Sixties.
.... and to Start a New One
In 1971/72, the Reserves Section Challenge Trophy returned to Church Street.
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