Aylesford - Aylesford Recreation Ground

Aylesford FC

Aylesford Recreation Ground

Forstal Road

Alyesford

Kent

ME20 7AU

01622 296710

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Ground Number: 1499

Saturday 8th November 2025

Aylesford 3-2 Hawkinge Town

Kent County Premier

AYLESFORD FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1970 and, as with many, started out to serve the wider community and youngsters, rather than focusing on the first team. They spent their early years in the Maidstone & District League, their first honour coming in 1990 when they were Division 2 champions, followed by a Division 1 title the following year. They were also Division 1 champions in 2012. Three seasons were spent in the Premier Division before Aylesford moved to the Kent County League in 2015. They finished in mid-table in their first season in Division 3 East but were still promoted to Division 2 Central & East. They were relegated straight away and then finished bottom of Division 3 Central & East in 2018, after resigning mid-season the following year. Aylesford re-emerged in the same division in 2020, but the season was curtailed due to the pandemic.  The results they did get were good enough for promotion to Division 2 Central & East, where they spent three seasons before winning the title in 2024. Last season, they won Central & East to earn promotion to the Premier Division for the first time.

The village of Aylesford is located four miles from Maidstone in Kent. Originally a small riverside settlement, the old village comprises around 60 houses, many of which were formerly shops. Two pubs, a village shop and other amenities are located on the high street. Aylesford's current population is around 5,000. Aylesford Newsprint was a major employer in the area and the largest paper recycling factory in Europe, manufacturing newsprint until it closed in 2015. The works team of the factory, originally known as Aylesford Paper Mills, competed in the FA Cup in the 1940s. They still exist to this day, going through numerous name changes and location moves to become Sheppey Sports. The village is home to what is claimed to be Britain's oldest operating sauna, the Finnish Sauna Bath. Built for the London Olympics in 1948, it was subsequently moved to Aylesford.

MY VISIT 

It was a long, old walk from Mendip Broadwalk back into Bristol, longer than I'd hoped due to a couple of diversions. I listened to the summary of Wycombe's 2-0 FA Cup win over Plymouth, but only half-digested what had gone on elsewhere. I was disappointed that Hemel had lost at Wigan after taking them all the way to penalties, a really brave effort by a fairly local team to me. The dull walk back yielded little in the way of shops for me, and the offerings at the coach station were pretty pathetic. Greggs, with its end-of-day stock, looked like a Russian shop with paltry choice and bare shelves, so I settled for a bottle of Ribena as I wasn't overly peckish. I was 15 minutes early for my coach, which was quite full again, and left a couple of minutes late. I was happy to get a double seat to myself and be able to do my blog, though which passed the first hour nicely and quickly. In fact, the entire journey flew by. We were back at Earls Court at 8.45 and I decided to get off there. It was a ten-minute walk to the tube station, then another ten minutes wait for a train to Edgware Road. I walked the 15 minutes to Baker Street, where the notice advised us to go to Harrow on the Hill to get to Amersham. Everything appeared up the spout here, with trains not matching the destination board. I got lucky, got on one that said it was slow to Chalfont, but it changed its mind and went fast to Amersham. This was a nice bonus, and getting back 20 minutes early was a blessing as I fancied a nightcap or two. I played pretty fast and loose with my bedtime, but it wasn't like I hadn't arrived back late before. Winding down was more important to me, and I could catch up the following afternoon.

It turned out to be a good decision to put myself first, for when I got to work, our Gestapo-like supervisor was hanging around the clocking-in machine, spying at a level not seen since the Berlin Wall came down. I wouldn't mind, but the vast majority of the time, I don't take my full break, not that he'd listen. Hard work was therapeutic, but it was even better without earphones, since the Führer had banned them. Later, the proper manager came in and is a decent bloke, so I ended up staying on for an hour to work out. I needed to sleep late in the afternoon to catch up on what I missed out on the previous night. Monday was another busy one, so I was glad to have Tuesday off. That consisted of my usual walk to Wycombe and back, eleven miles in all. In the evening, I made my 975th visit to Adams Park for the FA Youth Cup game against Bristol Rovers. The early kickoff, £5 entry and free parking made it perfect with a 3.50 alarm the following morning.  That consisted of my usual walk to Wycombe and back, eleven miles in all. In the evening, I made my 975th visit to Adams Park for the FA Youth Cup game against Bristol Rovers. The rest of the week saw work become more tolerable again, though there was still the usual air of negativity. I was still very glad of my day off on Saturday, though.

Usually, it would be a few drinks on a Friday night. Instead, it was an away day with my local club, Holmer Green, for their game at Slough Town against Langley. We were taken an absolutely vile route down dark roads, and I thought it was accidentally taking us to Wexham Park, their ground from nearly 20 years ago. Eventually, we got there, entry was good value at £7, including a programme which was a very decent effort. On the pitch, Holmer Green were a class apart, racing into a 4-0 lead and eventually winning 6-2 after a bit of complacency. It was a fairly horrible trip back, too, but that will be the nature of the beast for the next four months, with the vast majority of the day spent in darkness or poor light. I came home and had a couple of ciders before bed. It was not the greatest night's sleep, but the 7.15 alarm was better than the 3.50 one for work tomorrow. I got up, washed and dressed before having breakfast and leaving at 8.10.

The other two games are covered elsewhere on this blog. From our game at Kings Hill, it was an easy 15-minute trip to Aylesford. The ground was full, but there was alternative, free parking across the road courtesy of the council. The food offerings were disappointing, just hot dogs. The merchandise was excellent, but I chose not to buy anything as it was the only club that was charging today. I personally think they should all ask for a contribution, but later, entitled scrounger Colin threw a hissy fit at the lad on the gate as he couldn't get a concession for his epilepsy. Before that, though, I got two blogs up and also went across to my car and got a cider with there being no proper bar. Entry was fair at £5, and we bumped into Retford-based Terry and had a good chat and catch-up before kickoff.

 

Aylesford had enjoyed a good start in the league and sat 5th. They'd won eight, drawn two and lost seven of their games so far. They'd now won for a couple of games, losing 3-1 to Long Lane last time out. Hawkinge were a place above, having won nine and lost four. They were in mixed form but had won an epic game 5-4 at Kent United last week. Aylesford were much the better side. Around fifteen minutes in, they hit the post and bar, had a shot cleared off the line and forced a great save from the keeper in quick succession. As often happens in these situations, Hawkinge soaked it up and then just before half time took the lead when a low ball from the left was dispatched at the back post. There was still time for Aylesford to equalise as they netted from a corner, being poked home by Oscar. It was another corner routine that saw them take the lead just before the hour through Fawell. Another close-range effort by Brislee made it 3-1 on 78 minutes. There was still time for Hawking to get a goal right at the death. A free kick was awarded on the edge of the area, and the resulting kick was pushed out by the keeper. From the resulting melee, an attacker was chopped down. From the resulting penalty, Hawking scored to reduce the arrears to 3-2, but the outcome never seriously looked in doubt.

 

THE GROUND

The venue is a large complex, the main pitch being a one-sided 3G cage with all the usual traits. There was no stand or cover, but there was a shed selling basic snacks and drinks. There was a clubhouse a few minutes walk away, which had a small range of booze plus hot dogs and a load of outdoor seating. There was a small car park at the ground, plus plenty of car parking across the road. There were also regular buses passing through, and apparently a train station. The village had a few pubs and restaurants but limited takeaways.