Has it really only been three weeks since the final ball was kicked in a SCEFLP League match
and not even two weeks since Punjab United won a penalty shootout at Rusthall to earn a place in IL1SE next season?
Here are a few of my thoughts on what has happened locally during that time.
Whether this develops into a regular feature will depend on my time commitments or, quite
frankly, whether I can be bothered.
League Allocations
Quite often at this time of the year there is plenty of anticipation and expectation around new teams in different leagues but this year it all seemed a bit flat in this area and was very predictable this year with the FA creating no shocks.
There were 19 teams in SCEFLP last season after Soul Tower Hamlets, the winners of the SCEFL1 play-off, were sensibly placed in the Essex Senior League. An odd number of teams in a league is not ideal, particularly as there would be Clubs who miss out on potentially lucrative holiday fixtures.
Promotion and relegations issues were straightforward with Whitstable Town and Punjab United moving up to IL1SE, Stansfeld and Hythe Town dropping to SCEFL1 andAFC Greenwich Borough and SE Dons gaining promotion to SCEFLP. Beckenham Town came down from IL1SE and would have been joined by VCD Athletic but with their lease at Oakwood not being continued, as expected, they did not feature in the allocations announcement.
With there being no teams switched into SCEFLP, the League will run this season with just 18 teams. It seems that the FA’s optimum number of teams in a Step 5 League is, quite reasonably in my view, 20. In the new allocations announced, twelve of the Step 5 Leagues have 20 members, two have 22 (Northern League Division 1 and Wessex Premier League) and the United Counties Premier Division North joins SCEFLP in having just 18 teams.
Whilst my opinion is that 20 teams in SCEFLP would have been better, there probably weren’t two obvious candidates. If it was down to me, I might have been tempted to move East Grinstead Town, relegated from IL1SE, and Lingfield, Southern Combination League Premier Division, who had been playing at AFC Whyteleafe, but I haven’t considered any knock on effects with other Leagues in Southern England.
Probably continuity is best this season as the FA’s allocations in other areas, particularly in the Midlands and North West, have caused controversy.
What this does mean is that each SCEFLP club will only have 17 home league matches this season and there will be little need for midweek league fixtures apart from rearranged games due to cup runs and the inevitable weather postponements later in the season.
Whilst I understand the idea behind playing more fixtures in the first few months of the season, there were several clubs who went over three weeks without games later in the season and this situation arose not just because of weather related postponements. A similar frontloading of fixtures could see similar situations arise.
I hope that the League doesn't introduce a Premier Division Cup, as they have previously done for Division 1 sides. There is already the Challenge Cup and Kent Senior Trophy and we regularly see Managers, understandably, using these competitions to give valuable playing minutes to squad players.
Just to touch on promotion and relegation from SCEFL1. Up to three teams, in theory, can be relegated from Step 6 leagues, although, in practice, it is usually only one or two sides.
As you can see, Chessington & Hook Utd finished bottom of SCEFL1 by having a goal difference of just one worse than Welling Town who were reprieved this season.
Presumably Chessington & Hook Utd will move to the Surrey Premier County League and it may be more suitable for them as they would have had long trips to Hythe Town, Lydd Town and Margate (Minster) if they had remained in SCEFL1.
It does seem unfair that they were demoted with 21 points, there are likely to have been Step 6 sides relegated with even more points, when Axminster Town survived in the South West Peninsula League East despite only picking up one point in 30 league matches, scoring just 14 goals and finishing with a goal difference of -120!
They survived because of this regulation:
"Where a Step 6 division is operating with fewer than 18 Clubs at the end of the Regular Season (or where the number of Clubs could fall below 18 following promotion, relegation and/or lateral movements), the Committee shall decide at its absolute discretion whether the Clubs in the bottom three, bottom two or bottom positions of that division will be liable to relegation."
SWPE and SWPW operated with just 16 teams and Truro City Reserves withdrew from SWPW in February, leaving 15 teams.
Minster have been promoted to SCEFL1 despite only finishing as runners up in the Kent County League Premier Division. five points behind Hawkinge Town. Although Hawkinge had a groundshare agreed at a Step 6 or above compliant venue, they could not be promoted as they weren’t playing at that location in 2025/26.
A similar situation occurred in 2024/25 when Minster again finished as runners up in the league and as a result moved to share at Hartsdown Park in Margate.
Management Changes
As can be expected at this time of the year there have been management changes announced at several SCEFLP clubs.
First off the mark was the announcement that Luke Jessup and Fred Dillon had decided to leave Snodland Town.
Fred Dillon joined existing Manager Luke Jessop after departing from Glebe last summer.
The club had a promising first half of the season which left them challenging for a play-off position and they also had a decent run in the FA Vase reaching the 3rd Round. However, their form tapered off in the second half of the season with three wins, six draws and nine defeats.
The Club later announced that Connor Dymond would take over as Player Manager with Martin McCarthy joining as Assistant Manager.
Connor Dymond had joined Snodland early on in 2025/26 having started the season with VCD Athletic where he had played a key part in their SCEFL play-off winning side the previous season. Macca had also played a key role in that side as a member of the coaching staff and had been made a Co-Manager in the close season but left the club shortly afterwards.
Both have had success as joint managers of Dartford FC's Women's team in recent years, culminating in their side winning the London and South East Regional Women’s Premier League just last week and earning a promotion to the National League System.
If the pair can bring their success from the Women’s game to Men’s football, I would expect Snodland Town to improve on their 12th position of 2025/26 and probably be in the running for a play-off place.
Holmesdale (soon to be Petts Wood & Holmesdale) announced that Andy Constable and Pete Nolan will be their joint First Team management team for 2026/27. Andy Constable continues in the role after leading the side last season and Pete Nolan was until February Manager at Sutton Athletic, having previously led them to their highest-ever finish in 2024/25..
In their first interview the pair laid out their aims for next season, including new plans for U23 and U18 teams and the pathway for young players following the merger.
Again, I would expect the club to improve on last season’s 15th place.
Although not specifically announced at the time, Lee Scott and Steve Tindle stepped up to manage Corinthian for the remainder of the season after Keith McMahon’s departure in January. Corinthian’s record from February, with minimal change of personnel, the only debutants being players from their U23 side was:
Played 12, Won 4, Drawn 4, Lost 4, For 18, Against 22
The Club have now invited applications for the vacant First Team Manager position as the pair will be returning to their roles of Joint Managers of Corinthian’s U23 side.
Fraser Walker has departed from Larkfield & New Hythe after three years, two trophies and the highest finish in the club’s history. Alongside Tony Reid, he had been Joint Manager since the start of 2025/26.
The club surprised me this season (finished 4th before losing on penalties in the play-off semi final), I didn't have them down as play-off candidates pre-season and seeing as the pair took over very close to the start of the season, their record, particularly in the first half of the season, was very good.
Tony Reid will continue as the sole First Team Manager and Sian Fitzpatrick moves up to be his Number 2.
Darren Blackburn has stepped down at Hollands & Blair due to work commitments and.Ian Draycott takes over as First Team Manager. The club had a mixed season in 2025/26 when from early September they picked up just one point from ten league matches. However they then won eleven of their next 13 league games, keeping nine clean sheets. They finished 7th in the league, six points short of a play-off spot.
In a surprising move, SCEFL1 champions and London Senior Trophy winners, AFC Greenwich Borough, announced the departure of First Team Coach/Manager Reece Parrara.
Jake Goodman will continue as Phoenix Sports’ First Team Manager for the coming season and Assistant Manager James Marrs will remain in that position with Luke Johnson staying on as First-Team Coach. The club finished 8th, ten points off of a play-off position, having had an unbeaten run of eleven league games from December, although this included five draws.
In SCEFL1, Andy Crush has moved to Hythe Town, relegated after finishing bottom of SCEFLP, having led Hawkinge Town to the Kent County League Premier Division title and Michael Betts has stepped down at Rochester United after the club finished 3rd in SCEFL1 before losing in the play-off final to SE Dons.
In the Isthmian League, the Kent Managerial Merry-Go-Round is pretty much up to full speed.
Ady Pennock moved from Dartford to take over the vacant position at Ramsgate with Ben Greenhalgh leaving Margate to replace him at Dartford, where he has been involved with their Academy for several years.
However, the move which seems to have caused the most controversy is that of Jamie Coyle and Matt Longhurst from Whitstable Town to Margate.
The pair’s success at Whitstable Town, FA Vase winners in 2024/25 and SCEFLP champions and Kent Senior Trophy winners in 2025/26, speaks for itself. Although I had previously suggested that any Chairman in the South East looking for new management would be foolish not to have them on a shortlist, the pair seemed very settled at Whitstable Town.
Indeed many of the excellent post match interviews which Whitstable Town released in the last few months of the season, suggested that they were both aware of and relishing the challenge of building a squad that would be competitive in IL1SE in 2026/27.
On 4 May, Whitstable announced that an agreement has been reached with First Team Manager Jamie Coyle and Assistant Manager Matt Longhurst to extend their contracts for a further two years, adding that the Club believed this extension was a clear statement of intent as they looked ahead to the next chapter of their journey, with a continued focus on sustainable growth, player development, community engagement and further progress through the football pyramid.
However just ten days later the club were advised that the pair had decided to leave Whitstable Town to join Margate who had presented a financial package that was beyond what Whitstable could responsibly commit to.
It took around 20 hours for Margate to announce that terms had been agreed in principle with Jamie Coyle to become First Team Manager, subject to completion of the necessary formalities, and that Matt Longhurst would be joining as Assistant Manager.
It is not clear whether the financial package was bigger for the pair or that it meant a larger player budget, possibly both, and maybe the task of building a competitive Step 4 squad at Whitstable was too big. Over the coming days/weeks it will be interesting to see whether any Whitstable players will also make the short journey along the A299 and A28.
Player Availability
Understandably after a long season, there have been very few player movements revealed. However, several players have announced that they are either seeking new clubs or have left their previous clubs.
Both Rafael Garcia and Tom Jones from Fisher, runners up in SCEFLP, have advertised that they are looking for a club at Step 4 and above.
Rafael Garcia joined Fisher at the end of July from Finnish third tier side JJK Jyväskylä. He made 39 appearances for the club, 29 starts, and scored six goals, including a brace in the 5-0 win at home to Tunbridge Wells. He is a former England youth international.
Tom Jones joined from Tunbridge Wells last summer and made 45 appearances, 42 starts, scoring 18 goals, including three braces.
Whilst I only saw Fisher a couple of times in 2025/26, having also seen video footage during the season, I would be reasonably confident that Tom Jones, in particular, would be capable of playing at a higher level.
Other departures announced include two from Bearsted.
Billy Lewins made 19 appearances for the club in 2025/26, 14 starts and scored eight goals, including a brace against Corinthian. He has previous SCEFLP experience with Canterbury City, Lordswood, Hollands & Blair, Tunbridge Wells and K Sports.
Similarly, James Nurden made 19 appearances, 14 starts, and has previous SCEFLP experience with Canterbury City, Tunbridge Wells and Hollands & Blair.
Danny Lear has announced his departure from Erith & Belvedere after four seasons with the club and having made over 100 appearances and scoring 50 goals. In 2025/26 he made 29 appearances, 22 starts, and scored ten goals.
Groundshare
Sutton Athletic have announced that they have entered into a long term groundshare agreement with Bexley FC of the Kent County League who had been playing at Cray Wanderers.
From a follow up message posted by Sutton Athletic it appears that previous tenants FC Elmstead would be moving on. Although no announcement has been seen from FC Elmstead so far, Sutton said that it was a ‘fantastic move for them’ and wished them nothing but success.
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