Tunbridge Wells FC - Supporters
'Looking back' articles kindly provided by long term Tunbridge Wells fan Roger Bassett
Where did they play?
Having looked at when the two Tunbridge Wells Football Clubs were founded, we now look at where they played:
We start with the Two Blues; 1886-91; Lower Cricket Ground - this was next to the London Road by the Church Road traffic lights. It is very obvious that one of its failings was that it never was an enclosed ground. As the club only played friendlies at that time it did not matter until in 1890 when the Kent Badge cup competition was formed this very quickly was renamed the Kent Senior Cup. The Two Blues took the bold step of entering and were drawn to play Tonbridge, but they needed to have an enclosed ground So the Headmaster of Skinners School the Rev TP Knott allowed the match to be played on the ground behind the school the only condition was that the boys were allowed in free. The result Two Blues 3 Tonbridge 0.
1891-98 & 1906-07; Down Lane - Down Lane was renamed Culverden Down around 1900. The ground was behind the Primary School and near what is now Whitefield Road. In September 1907 the ground was sold for building.
1898-1906; The Nevill - The ground was given to the town by the Marquess Of Abergavenny as an athletics, cricket and football ground. The football pitch was where the tennis courts are now. At the time it was felt the ground was too far out and at the wrong end of the town.. After a fall out with the tennis club in September 1906 as to which club had access to the ground in the month of September. The football club lost and decided to return to Down Lane.
1907-11; Swiss Cottage - Swiss Cottage was a folly built in 1830 and the ground was opposite the White House in Culverden Down approximately where Derwent Drive is now.
1911-14; Ferndale - Charity Farm, Ferndale this was the worst ground in whatever league the Wells played in this was particularily so with the Isthmian League. The ground later became the Hilbert Recreation Ground.
Now we come to the Rangers 1903-06; Swiss Cottage - When the Rangers moved on the Two Blues took over.
1906-09; Combley Park - The ground was at the end of Southfields Road on the site of what is now the Girls Grammar school. The name Combley was the name of the farmer who owned Down Farm. The council required them to move so the school could be built in 1909.
1909-10; Powder Mill Lane - The ground was on the right up behind the Cross Keys which were used as the changing rooms. The ground which was found in a rush was not suitable for senior football as passers-by could watch the game from the road even then it had a record gate of 1200. The ground was only used for one season.
1910-40; Down Farm - The ground lay between Reynolds Lane and the A26 a present map shows it to have been behind where Leighton Close is now the exact position is I believe is where the football pitch is now on the far side of the playing field.
Post War; There have been three grounds used by the club since the 2nd World War;
1947-50 & 1951-52 and part of season 1952-53; Down Farm - Although the ground was still called Down Farm it was a different pitch closer to the town and between the A26 and the artificial hockey pitch. This ground had no covered accommodation and was shared with the Telephones FC
1950-51 & part of 1952-53 until 1961-62; Eridge Road - The ground also known as the Agricultural Ground was where the Showfields Estate is now, to pinpoint the exact position of the pitch the goalmouth closest to the A26 is where the Rowan Tree Road Surgery is now.
1961-62 onwards - The Culverden Stadium
Now over 60 years the home of Tunbridge Wells FC by far the longest stay and looking at the pitch now the best they have had. This was not always so as after the visit of Hereford United in 1964 they commented “Tunbridge Wells Rangers having been forced to move grounds only two years previously, the facilities were little better than those of a village green and the rock hard surface caused a number of injuries”
Ten Top Attendances to watch Tunbridge Wells FC
16,751 - May 4th 2013 V Spennymoor – Lost 1-2 FA Vase - Wembley
16,000 - Nov 20th 1954 V Brighton & Hove Albion – Lost 0-5 FA Cup - Goldstone Ground
14,211 - Aug 29th 1936 V Ipswich Town – Lost 1-4 - Southern Portman Road
13,500 - Apr 10th 1939 V Gillingham - Won 4-0 KS Cup – Maidstone
11,500 - Dec 13th 1930 V Carlisle United – Lost 2-4 - FA Cup - Brunton Park
10,462 - Nov 26th 1938 V Walthamstow Ave – Lost 1-4 FA Cup - Green Pond Road
9,801 - Nov 27th 1937 V Brighton & Hove Albion – Lost 1-5 FA Cup - Goldstone Ground
8,869 - Nov 4th 1961 V Aldershot – Lost 1-3 FA Cup - Recreation Ground
8,767 - Apr 2nd 1936 V Margate – Lost 1-2 Kent SC – Maidstone
8,000 - Sep 23rd 1912 V Ajax – Lost 0-2 Friendly – Ajax
Highest home gate
5,788 - Feb 21st 1932 V Margate – Won 4-1 FA Cup - Down Farm
Senior Football in the Wells
When and where did it all start? The first senior side was formed in 1886 at a meeting held in the Mount Ephraim Hotel on October 7th of that year. This club was an amateur club, what must be remembered is that there was a strict distinction between amateur and professional until the 1970’s. Playing only friendlies at first, it wasn’t until 1902 that they played in the FA Cup and 1905 before they played league football. They played under the name of Tunbridge Wells FC and were known as the “Two Blues” this was to distinguish them from the professional team Tunbridge Wells Rangers who were founded in 1903.
Sadly the Two Blues played their last match on April 29th 1914 and were never reformed after the !st World War, although the Wells had two senior sides from 1903 to 1914 it was felt the town could no longer support two clubs.
It was the Kent League that ensured we had a side called Tunbridge Wells Rangers as it was the Vale Rangers who wanted to turn professional and join the Kent League who would only accept them if they used the towns name. The Rangers existed until 1940 when again a World War saw the demise of the club.
After the War the town were very cautious about reforming should it be an amateur or professional side bearing in mind they had already turned down the option of going back to the Southern League. Their answer was to take the easy option and form a club Tunbridge Wells FC to play in the Kent Amateur League. They re-joined the Kent League in 1950 and turned professional in 1952 adding the name United. Having turned down the Southern League after the war they eventually joined in 1959. Having moved to the Culverden in 1962 to complicate things they changed their name again to Tunbridge Wells Rangers in the hope of recreating some of the glories of the 1930’s also changing their colours back to that used before the war.
This change was a total failure as in 1967 the club folded, completely broke, and leaving rather a bad name in local football.
So at last we have the club you now support, but only after much hard work especially by Peter Saunders and Des Hitch, as on August 19th 1967 under the management of Dennis Way the Wells beat Canterbury City Reserves 3.2 in the Kent Premier League. The new club had to drop the name Rangers and the local council again refused to buy the ground which was offered to them for £14,000 (£315,000) in today’s money.
A rather complicated story but we can look more closely at the achievements of the clubs later.
November 28th 1931
F.A.Cup 1st Round Proper
Tunbridge Wells Rangers 1 - 1 Brentford (played at Down Farm)
Attendance 5,660
Goalscorer: Spencer
This match played some 92 years ago was the last time a Football League side played a competitive game in the Wells. The attendance was just a hundred short of the record attendance at Down Farm.
The Rangers goal was scored by player-manager Charlie Spencer ex England, Newcastle and Manchester United centre half. Sadly he was injured during the game so could not play in the replay which the Rangers lost 2-1.
