Rochester United F.C.
Rochester United F.C. is an English football club located in Strood, in Kent. The club are members of the Southern Counties East League Division One and play at the Rochester United Sports Ground.
![]() | |||
Full name | Rochester United Football Club | ||
---|---|---|---|
Founded | 1982 | ||
Ground | Rochester United Sports Ground, Strood | ||
Owner | Bernard Hurst | ||
Chairman | David Archer | ||
Manager | Lee Garlinge | ||
League | Southern Counties East League Division One | ||
2019–20 | Southern Counties East League Division One (season abandoned) | ||
|
![](../I/Bly_Spartans_F.C._logo.png.webp)
History
The club was founded in 1982 by Bernard Hurst as Templars and joined the Sunday Medway Football League.[1] There they changed their name to Bly Spartans and played for 15 years before being promoted to the Senior Division.[1][2] In 1997, the club successfully applied to join the Rochester and District Football League Division One. The following season they won the title and were promoted to the Premier Division.[1] They were accepted into the Kent County Football League in 2000, being placed into the Division Three West.[1] After two successive promotions as runners-up the club was in Division One West by 2003.[1] In the 2006–07 season they finished runners-up, and the following season, after being transferred to Division One East, won the title as well as two cup competitions and were promoted to the Premier Division.[1][3] The club achieved Chartered Status in 2009 and installed floodlights in 2010, leading to their successful application to become founder members of the Kent Invicta League, at level 10 of the English football league system for the first time.[1][4]
In 2012, they became the inaugural champions of the Kent Invicta League and gained promotion to the Kent League.[5] In May 2012 the club announced that they had sought permission to rename themselves Rochester United from the start of the 2012–13 season.[2]
Ground
Rochester United play their home games at Rochester United Sports Ground, Rede Court Road, Strood, Kent, ME2 3TU.
Colours
Rochester United's colours are red and black shirts, black shorts and socks.[6][7] The away kit is all white.[6]
Honours
- Kent Invicta Football League
- Champions 2011–12
- Kent County League Division One East
- Champions 2007–08[3]
- Kent County League Division One West
- Runners-up 2003–04, 2006–07[3]
- Kent County League Division Two West
- Runners-up 2001–02[3]
- Kent County League Division Three West
- Runners-up 2000–01[3]
- Rochester & District League
- Division One champions 1997–98
- Les Leckie Cup
- Winners 2007–08[3]
- Floodlight Cup
- Winners 2007–08
- Inter-Regional Challenge Cup
- Kent Invicta League Challenge Shield
- Winners 2012
References
- Bly Spartans history – Official website Accessed 22 December 2011
- "New Name and Manager For Bly". NonLeagueDaily.com.
- Kent County Football League list of winners and runners up Archived 2012-06-02 at the Wayback Machine
- "Southern Counties East League Division One - NonLeagueMatters". nonleaguematters.co.uk. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- FA Full Time – Kent Invicta League 2011–12 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 1 May 2012
- "Kent Invicta League official website – Bly Spartans". kentinvictaleague.com. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- "Bly Spartans official website – Gallery". blyspartansfc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- Rochester United at the Football Club History Database