As a date in your diary, March 26th might not immediately grab you as anything out of the ordinary.
But as Fleet prepare to greet an expected large crowd in a fourth v second clash against Dorking Wanderers at the Kuflink Stadium this March 26th, that date carries some significance from the past as well.
For it will be exactly 20 years since Stonebridge Road was packed to the absolute rafters for what was billed the Ryman League title showdown between that season’s two runaway leaders, the Fleet and Canvey Island.
The pair had gone toe to toe all season and as 2001/02 headed into its final month, the race was still too close to call. Fleet would win on a Saturday, so would Canvey. One might drop points, then the other would do so a week later as the leaders swapped from one to another from one week to the next.
Fleet had won the first meeting between the clubs 2-0 at Canvey’s Park Lane in controversial circumstances two months previously, with the floodlights going out and the home club having to be ‘persuaded’ by the referee to play on when two of them were re-illuminated.
With eight games remaining, the rematch caught the attention of Kent and Essex with the largest crowd through the gates since Fleet’s record attendance of 12,032 that turned up for the FA Cup tie against Sunderland in 1963.
Although the official gate was announced as the capacity at the time – 4,098 – the estimate inside the ground as the turnstiles stayed open for safety reasons to allow all those queuing to get inside was that it exceeded the 6,000 who turned up for the visit of Nottingham Forest in 1980. Certainly Stonebridge Road has never been so full since.
Thousands lined up outside the ground, queues snaking up Stonebridge Hill and in the other direction down past the Swanscombe End. The kick-off was put back 15 minutes to 8.00pm and then by another 15 minutes again as the players waited patiently in the changing rooms beneath the old stand, the volume rising ever higher and the gaps on the old terraces becoming ever fewer as the crowd jostled for a spare foot of space.
Somewhat predictably with such palpable tension in the air, the game was a tight and nervous affair with few chances. Canvey’s Neil Gregory fired his side ahead in the 34th minute and missed another good opportunity shortly before half-time as Fleet seemed unable to carry the expectation on their shoulders.
But Andy Ford’s men rallied in the second-half and when midfielder Darren Smith raced clear on the hour mark, he should have salvaged a point for his side. Instead, he squared the ball for Che Stadhart who fired over to be greeted by agonising silence amongst the thousands of aghast home supporters.
Booked in the eighth minute, the caution did little to deter a mesmerising midfield performance from Steve McKimm. The Gravesend Reporter wrote of his 90 minutes, “McKimm was everything, from being fast to aggressive and subtle and direct all at once. To shine above the Canvey midfield is a true achievement.” But even he couldn’t force an opening and Canvey took the points by a single goal.
Sadly, there are few photographs and no video surviving in the archives of the night (if you do have any, please send to info@eufc.co.uk) but Fleet fans who were there need no reminding of the picture this game conjures up – of Canvey’s Mark Stimson and Adam Miller celebrating in front of a packed Halfway Line as if they had won the title. It was why, when Miller was pictured in tears on the final day as Canvey lost their grip on the title, few Fleet fans had any sympathy.
Certainly, Canvey’s 1-0 win was celebrated by the visitors with a gusto that suggested they thought of it as the breakthrough in the race. In truth, it just put them in the driving seat on goal difference. There were plenty of twists and turns to come, not least when Fleet simply needed to beat lowly Boreham Wood on the penultimate weekend to all but wrap the title up – but lost late on, only to find Canvey had only mustered a draw themselves to take the race into the final weekend. And the rest, as they say, is history!
Now here we are exactly 20 years later – perhaps not quite the title head-to-head of 2002, and certainly without a likely crowd of 6,000 – but at a pivotal point in our season nonetheless. With a big game to look forward to against Dorking Wanderers, who knows where three points could take us once again?
So bring a friend, take advantage of our Non-League Day reduced admission and purchase your tickets now as we seek to make a little more Fleet history! Online tickets can be purchased here until 12.00pm on matchday and you can also buy in person at the ground – but remember the reduced pricing is only applicable until midday.
TEAM v Canvey Island 20 years ago: Turner, Lee, Skinner, McKimm, Burton, Duku, Smith (Williams 75), Owen, Wilkins, Stadhart, Jackson (Parker 67). Sub: Barnett.
