Ebbsfleet United FC Official Website

The first season of the new Alliance League proved to be a great successor the Fleet finishing a creditable 5th and again entertaining Football League opposition in the FA Cup, this time Torquay United who had played here at the same stage 30 years earlier in 1949/50. As with that game they rode their luck to win through this time by the only goal of the game. Another highlight was the appearance of the European Champions, Nottingham Forest, to open the floodlighting system. The Fleet's largest crowd since the famous cup clash with Sunderland 17 years earlier turned up, just over 6,000, and in a strange irony Sunderland's teenage goalkeeper Jim Montgomery turned up as the seasoned veteran in the Forest goal as replacement for flu victim Peter Shilton. The crowd were suitably impressed with a tremendous Forest display led by Trevor Francis, but is was Phil Stonebridge who struck first before the European Champions took over to win 6-1. That game in January 1980 should have heralded an exciting decade for the Fleet, but it was to prove anything but that

The gradual decline in the vital relationship between Chairman and Manager saw the sacking of Tony Sitford, the club's longest serving Manager, in December 1980 by Roger Easterby, who had replaced Vic Troke as Chairman in 1974, following a poor run of results that included a disappoint FA Cup exit to St Albans in the First Round Proper. The man chosen to replace him was already on the staff, the experienced former Wolves, Gillingham and Wimbledon player Dave Galvin. He managed to fire up some early enthusiasm which took the club away from a potentially perilous position just outside the relegation zone and an excellent bonus came in the Kent Senior Cup with victories over Sittingbourne, Bromley and Maidstone taking the Fleet through to the final and a 2-0 win over Ashford with Gary Aldous and Charlie Pooley providing a third success in the top Kent competition. This victory only papered over the cracks and in the 1981/82 season our coveted place in the Alliance was soon under threat again

By January 1982 the Fleet were third from bottom and in one of the trio of relegation slots. Dave Galvin resigned, and in desperation Chairman Roger Easterby brought in Stan Harland, formerly player manager at Yeovil. The tide was running against the team, and despite bringing in several players who would make their mark in Non-League Football it was not at Gravesend and the last game of the season at Barrow needed the minimum requirement of a draw, a tall order which the team were not capable of producing, and a 3-1 defeat meant that the Fleet were relegated on goal difference saving Barnet and Kettering from the drop with A P Leamington and neighbours Dartford

Relegation led to the inevitable cash crisis that came after a good start to the 1982/83 season back in the Southern League Premier Division. Once the early form faded, the crisis arrived and a horrendous debt of £80,000 plus led to the exit of the Chairman, Manager and several key players whose expensive contracts could no longer be maintained. Local businessman and lifelong Fleet supporter Lionel Ball stepped up into the Chairman's role, appointing Tony Burns as the new Manager who steered the club to 10th position and in 1983/84 an excellent late run saw 4th place attained and debts being reduced considerably

Having achieved this progress, hopes were high for the 1984/85 season and a good start saw the club head the table in the Autumn. The team's form the dropped quicker than the leaves on a windy day and 13th place was a disappointment, as had been the surprising resignation of Chairman Ball, at a time when the club were top of the table in the Autumn spell. Vice Chairman David Hockley took over but was unable to continue the impetus. A change of Manager in November 1985 with the Fleet firmly anchored to the bottom brought Eddie Presland into the hot seat as the club's 20th Manager. The Fleet's chances of avoiding relegation looked high when it was announced that only one team would be relegated, but even this limited ambition proved beyond the Fleet's players and so for the first time in a decade, the club sank into the Southern Division

Trips for the first time to places like Burnham, Ruislip and Woodford hardly wetted the appetites of supporters or players and 6th place in such a low standard was less than anticipated. Hopes were high for a return to the Premier Division in 1987/88 and matters went better than in the previous season despite the resignation of Chairman David Hockley and Manager Eddie Presland in December 1987. Assistant Manager Dennis Moore took over the managerial reins while the remaining members of the board ran the club in the short term before the return of Lionel Ball, who offered his help and again took the chair as the club had run into further problems. Despite only eight defeats, fourth place was the best the Fleet could manage as Dover, Waterlooville and Salisbury lost only 10 games between them, setting a remarkably high standard. So high in fact, that the Fleet lost more games the following season yet managed a coveted promotion spot as runners-up to Chelmsford, shaking off determined efforts by Poole and Bury in the process to provide a great triumph for Dennis Moore and his highly seasoned squad which included veterans Colin Dalton, Mick Crowe, Mark Penfold, Ron Pountney and Paul Currie...