Hawkinge Town - Pavilion Ground

Hawkinge Town FC

Hawkinge Trust Pavilion Ground

Pavilion Road

Hawkinge

Folkestone

Kent

CT18 7UA

01303 893562

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Ground Number: 1283

Saturday 23rd March 2024

Hawkinge Town 6-1 Ide Hill

Kent County Premier

HAWKINGE TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established as recently as 2006 in junior football and 2013 in the men's game. They joined the Kent County League that season, winning Division 3 East in their debut season. A 4th place finish in Division 2 East was good enough for a second successive promotion to Division 1. Three seasons were spent in various regional leagues before they finished as runners-up to Kings Hill in 2018. They've been in the Premier Division ever since, generally finishing in mid-table.

Hawkinge is a town and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe district of Kent, England. Hawkinge's original village is just less than a mile due east of the present town centre; the merging of Hawkinge and Uphill formed the village of Hawkinge. The area has a population of 8,000. During World War II, RAF Hawkinge was the closest operational airfield to France and was used during the Battle of Britain. The discovery of several pipe bombs hampered the construction of the houses, put there in the event of a German invasion to render the airfield useless to enemy aeroplanes. There are several reminders of the war in and near the site of the original village; the Kent Battle of Britain Museum and various pillboxes are scattered amongst the farms.

MY VISIT

This hop was mooted around a month before when Faversham Strike Force announced an 11 am kick-off. There were very few other options for doubles despite it being Non-League Day. This is a day when clubs are encouraged to think outside the box to attract fans when other teams are taking an international break. Back in the early days, a staggered kick-off was engineered to allow fans to attend Bishops Stortford, Braintree Town and Chelmsford City in the same day. Sadly, despite the success, it has rarely been repeated with most clubs sticking rigidly to 3pm kick-offs. There had been a few novel ideas put about though but the lack of chances to do an extra game was disappointing.

Initially, I couldn't find anything to pair it up with. This meant that it was put on ice for a while as I had been to Faversham in 2013 for another double with Whitstable. There was the attraction of not having been there for 11 years, plus the fact that I'd not ticked the Wetherspoons. Therefore, I was pleased when fellow hopper Dan offered to drive. Though he would be taking himself and Colin to Hythe, he offered to drop me in Hawkinge which would help me complete the Kent County League. The total cost was the same as a straight trip to Hawkinge on the train so I was happy to accept.

It had been a busy time for me, with nine days of football in a row and a return to work and 5 am starts. I was glad of a night in on Thursday and an early night. It didn't help much and Friday was a ten-hour grueller at work. I had a couple of drinks to relax but nothing major. It was an early night for me with a 5.35 alarm. It was a poor night's sleep for me but even so, I was up, dressed, had breakfast and was out with twenty minutes. This compares to the 45 I need for work. I drove to Amersham station and met Colin at 6.10. Ten minutes later we were on the train towards Harold Wood, albeit with a change at Moorgate. We were there at 8.05 and after going to a shop, we were at Harold Wood library for 8.15 as arranged. Dan eventually turned up at 8.28 but we were still on schedule to get to Faversham in plenty of time.  We arrived at 9.25, parked up and headed to The Leading Light, Wetherspoons number 318. An good full English with Black Pudding and a pint of Black Dragon was enjoyed.

From Faversham, the ground was a half-hour drive through the back end of beyond. The ground was in the middle of nowhere too but looked like a good setup. There was just one issue, a total lack of usable mobile signal on ID & Three. There was also a brief hail storm that meant work was needed on the pitch. I sat in the bar and had a pint of Somersby for a fiver, pricier than usual but it was free entry. I also picked up a programme for a quid. Thankfully there was a bit of cover should the rain persist but with a biting wind, late March weather it was not. 

Hawkinge Town 1-0 Ide Hill, saved penalty followed up. A deserved lead and a tidy setup here. #groundhopping pic.twitter.com/93NMO76Gxw

— ⚽Russell Cox💙 (@RussWWFC) March 23, 2024

It was a game between Hawkinge Town in 2nd and Ide Hill in 3rd. The hosts' form was patchy but they had won their last two games with 2-1 wins at Bexley and Minster. Ide Hill's form was also mixed, they had lost their last game 4-2 at Cuxton 1991. The hosts came close a couple of times in the opening few minutes, first forcing the Ide Hill keeper into a good save, then having a header cleared from the resulting corner. They had several chances before they took the lead on 18 minutes. Awarded a penalty for a foul on the edge of the area, the initial effort was saved before it was followed up and forced home by Billy Somerville. It was 2-0 on 24 minutes, a through ball found Tyla Clements who finished calmly underneath the keeper's dive. Hawkinge made it 3-0 a few minutes into the second half, the Ide Hill keeper failing to deal with a simple high ball to concede a soft goal by Somerville. On 65 minutes, a penalty extended the Hawkinge lead to 4-0 and a hat trick for Somerville. On 75 minutes, it was 5-0 as Clements advanced into the area down the right and finished with a low shot from 15 yards out. The visitors finally got a consolation on 84 minutes, a good through ball from the right side and a low finish from six yards. The Hawkinge lead was restored to five goals a minute from time, a defender putting the ball in his own net from a right-sided cross for 6-1. 

It had been an enjoyable visit, though the weather could have been better. A bovril was required to ward off the cold. It had been a pretty sober Saturday for me compared to a normal one. Both of our games had finished around the same time so I walked ten minutes to the bottom of the road to get a picture of the club sign. The atrocious mobile signal meant that it was tricky to track where he was and I was glad I only had around a month left on ID mobile as its not the first time I have been left in limbo thanks to a stinking exclamation mark next to the signal bar meaning no data. I met with the others just after 5. They had seen Borden Village win 4-1 at Ashford who played at Hythe. Colin was not a fan of Hythe which was baffling as I liked it. The plan was to get dropped at Harrold Wood and hopefully, be home reasonably early after a long train trip.

THE GROUND

THE PAVILION GROUND is a decent setup for step 7. Although the pitch is a basic roped-off affair, there is a bit of cover provided by the clubhouse overhang. Otherwise, it is open hard standing but there is room for potential expansion. The clubhouse itself is pleasant with sports TV and a reasonable range of drinks and hot food such as burgers and pies. It could do with some dry cider though, just Kopparberg and Somersby are available. There's also a wide range of snacks and a decent amount of parking. The mobile signal is a bit patchy and the WiFi is for club use only which is frustrating.