Ebbsfleet United FC Official Website

Following a period of consolidation in the new league, Andy Ford's first piece of silverware was won in season 1999/00 with victory over Folkestone Invicta in the final of the Kent Senior Cup. There were also changes in the boardroom, with Brian Killcullen taking over the Chairmanship following the resignation of Peter Dean, and the appointment of Jason Botley as Assistant Chairman. Season 2000/01 was by far the most significant in the club's short Ryman League history, reaching the First Round Proper of the FA Cup against Notts County, in a tie that was postponed several times due to flooding of the Stonebridge Road pitch and which eventually took place at Gillingham FC. The Kent Senior Cup was won for the second time in three years with victory over Dover Athletic, a win over Purfleet secured the Ryman League Full Members Cup for the first time and the club's highest Ryman League placing of sixth was achieved. 

The Fleet's desire to progress also brought about the most major redevelopment of the stadium in the club's history. During this close season a £150,000 investment provided for the installation of new floodlights, new terracing/crash barriers, new seating in the main stand and many other smaller improvements to the infrastructure of the ground that were necessary in order to attain Conference Ground Grading. Perhaps the most major undertaking was the laying of a completely new playing surface which was essential following the major waterlogging problems of the season just gone.

The following season, 2001/02, saw even more improvement on the playing field with another trip to the first round of the FA Cup which saw the club visit the magnificent McAlpine Stadium where only a last-minute goal saw Division 2 side Huddersfield through to the next round. But it was the Ryman League that created all the excitement, where a season-long battle with Canvey Island saw the Fleet win the league on the last day of the season with a tense 1-0 victory at Bedford, having played in front of an official 4,038 at home to Canvey the month before (though 6,000 might have been nearer the mark). After 20 years the Fleet were back at the pinnacle of non-league football. The celebrations continued with a 5-0 victory over Margate in the Kent Senior Cup final to make it three wins in three years.

The new season in the Nationwide Conference started well, and although the Fleet did sit as high as seventh, the majority of the season was spent just above the relegation zone, and it required a last day victory over Halifax to ensure that the Club remained in the Conference.

The second season in the Conference started badly, and a number of players had left during the close season; up to Christmas, the side again flirted with the relegation zone. However, a run of matches which saw the team undefeated away from home from Boxing Day to the end of season, and unbeaten in all matches from February, saw them finish a creditable 11th.

At one time, Fleet sat fourth in the League during 2004/05, but a run of 14 matches without a win saw them tumble down the table, culminating in Andy Ford's resignation in January 2005. Probably the most successful manager the club has had left under the mistaken belief that he no longer had the backing of the board and he was replaced by former Irish international and Birmingham and Coventry defender Liam Daish. The former Premiership player kept the club in the Conference that season, and also took the side to the quarter final of the FA Trophy where last-minute goals in both the first match and the replay saw the Fleet go out to Bishop's Stortford.

In 2005/06, the Fleet began to sign full-time professionals, the first of which - Charlie MacDonald - was to become one of the club's greatest strikers over the next two seasons, with 42 goals in 68 matches. The season itself was fairly uneventful and after a torrid last two months, with the Fleet finishing 14th, the club announced a move to an entirely full-time set-up and Liam Diash released all but five of his squad in the close season. Brian Kilcullen stepped aside as chairman to concentrate on the fight to secure the Fleet a new ground, with Jason Botley stepping up to replace him.

With most fans predicting relegation for the Fleet in 2006/07, Daish's new recruits achieved quite the opposite, finishing seventh - their second-highest placing at Conference level - and were in with a shout at the play-offs right up to the final day of the season. The quarter-finals of the FA Trophy were reached once again, though despite the admirable season, crowd numbers remained disappointingly low.

With this in mind, and with an eye to the future redevelopment of the region, the club decided to make an unprecedented leap and change its name for the forthcoming 2007/08 season. At a meeting on May 1 2007, it was announced that the name Gravesend & Northfleet would pass into history and in its place would rise Ebbsfleet United. The move was not without some controversy but in a year of change for the Fleet, it didn't stop there.

On 14 November 2007 it was announced that the club was to be taken over by internet venture MyFootballClub, the brainchild of Will Brooks which allowed fans to own the club and pick the team in return for a £35 annual investment. The Fleet were suddenly thrown into the international spotlight with 30,000 new fan "owners" pumping upwards of £700,000 into the club. The takeover was completed in February 2008 and the new owners celebrated a fantastic first season. The Fleet were once again in the play-off hunt until the latter stages though eventually settled for a disappointing 11th place as a hectic fixture backlog took its toll.

But the reason for this was an historic visit to Wembley Stadium in the FA Trophy Final. Having beaten Conference champions Aldershot over two legs in the semi-finals, Fleet and 25,000 supporters went to Wembley on May 10 2008. A Chris McPhee goal was enough to clinch victory over Torquay United in front of the second highest Trophy Final crowd to date (40,186) and the team subsequently enjoyed an open-top bus tour of the town.

In the summer of 2008, new chairman John Moules was appointed together with the club's first full-time chief executive, David Davis. Daish was given a bigger playing budget, voted into place by MyFC members, and hopes were high for a play-off spot. But after a reasonable enough start, Fleet fell away after a disastrous autumn and winter saw them rooted firmly in lower mid-table. A fixture backlog ensued in 2009 courtesy of another FA Trophy run and a spell of bad weather and the side slipped as low as 22nd in the table at one point. A superb quarter-final win in the Trophy over Wrexham took the Fleet again within a whisker of Wembley, but this time the semi-final proved too much and opponents Stevenage Borough prevailed. All that was left was a scramble for league points as the Fleet survived a gruelling schedule of 16 games in six weeks to eventually finish 14th.

Off the field, meanwhile, the MyFC membership renewals had been lower than hoped-for and it meant major cost-cutting in all areas of the club. CEO Davis resigned and he was temporarily replaced by John Moules, but he too declined to carry on beyond the summer, paving the way for ex-director Duncan Holt's tenure as chairman. Liam Daish was forced to let nearly all his playing squad go as he was unable to offer them contracts given a budget slashed in half and the summer of 2009 was as unsettling a time as the Fleet had faced in more than 20 years. But with Daish deciding to stay on as manager, he began the tough task of building a competitive squad of youngsters on a miniscule budget.