West Kent Sunday League


1978-1995
In 1978 Peter Rae, the landlord of the Blue Anchor pub in Platt, Borough Green started a Sunday morning side. This side joined the West Kent Sunday League and went on to win the Division 6 West championship and come runners-up in the Junior Cup Final to Edenbridge E.C.H.O.

Blue Anchor FC (Platt Invicta) 1978

Stacks Image 1274
WKSL Div 6 West 1978-79 P W D L F A Pts
Blue Anchor 22 20 0 2 118 30 40
ECHO 22 16 3 3 100 33 35
Acorns 22 15 3 4 104 50 33
St. Lawrence 22 15 1 6 115 65 31
Black Boy 21 12 1 8 61 44 25
Six in One Res 22 11 2 9 83 66 24
Kemsing Utd 21 7 4 10 51 53 18
Fircroft T.A. 22 7 4 11 67 88 18
Chipstead Colts Res 22 7 3 12 48 71 17
Molescroft Utd Res 21 6 0 15 53 109 12
Tonbridge Post Office 21 2 1 18 41 97 5
Penshurst Park 21 1 0 21 20 155 2

During their first season, they scored over 130 goals, 80 of which were credited to the potent pairing of Trevor Whiffen and Merv Broad.

Having conceded their first goal in the Junior Cup at the semi-final stage they eventually won through to the final by defeating Windmill by three goals to two thanks to goals from Trevor Whiffen (2) and Peter Palmer.

Having already beaten their cup final opponents twice in the league, Blue Anchor arrived at the Culverden Stadium, Tunbridge Wells in confident mood. However, after a close and tense final, in which captain Bob Webb had the ball in the Edenbridge net on no fewer than three occasions, but were all ruled out, they were finally undone by two extra-time goals from the Edenbridge striker Dixie Dean.

Blue Anchor gained their second promotion during the 1983-84 season, when they finished Runners-Up in Division 5 by one point to Stanhope Arms.

WKSL Div 5 1983-84 P W D L F A Pts
Stanhope Arms 20 16 1 3 74 22 33
Blue Anchor 20 15 2 3 76 33 32
Evergreens 20 14 1 5 69 25 29
Anchor 20 8 7 5 54 29 23
Eagles 20 11 1 8 59 41 23
Lord Cornwallis Res 20 7 5 8 32 43 19
Tonbridge Rangers 20 8 2 10 46 45 18
Grapevine 20 4 7 9 34 44 15
Crowborough Cross 20 5 4 11 41 61 14
Capel Res 20 4 2 14 24 96 10
Paddock Wood Res 20 1 2 17 31 101 4

For the start of the 1984-85 season, Blue Anchor changed their name to Platt Invicta and had arguably their finest ever team, narrowly missing out in the
Kent Junior Trophy to Sittingbourne based side Woodcombe.

They did however dominate for the next three seasons in the West Kent Sunday League, which saw Gus Broad lead his team to a hat-trick of championships;

Platt Invicta 1984

WKSL Div 4 1984-85 P W D L F A Pts
Platt Invicta 22 19 2 1 100 19 40
Kent Police 22 16 3 3 111 38 35
Stanhope Arms 22 12 3 7 68 49 27
The George Res 22 12 3 7 60 44 27
St. Thomas 22 11 7 4 62 51 25
Darent Invicta 22 6 10 6 66 57 22
Evergreens 22 8 5 9 47 48 21
Oak Athletic 22 6 5 11 38 72 17
Bristol Arms Res 22 4 7 11 44 60 15
Beacon Res 22 6 3 13 56 92 15
Windmill 22 3 4 15 48 107 10
Red Lion 22 4 2 16 30 91 10

WKSL Div 3 1985-86 P W D L F A Pts
Platt Invicta 20 17 2 1 98 19 36
Pembury Rovers 20 14 4 2 70 19 32
Charcott 20 11 4 5 68 33 26
Mens Club Southborough 20 12 2 6 53 40 26
Gardeners Arms 20 10 3 7 56 35 23
Langton Green 20 8 4 8 47 56 20
Jarvis Brook 20 7 4 9 49 58 18
Crockham Hill 20 6 3 11 51 53 15
Edenbridge Res 20 6 2 12 47 46 14
Sherwood Res 20 4 1 15 24 106 9
Rusthall Sunday 20 0 1 19 20 118 1

WKSL Div 2 1986-87 P W D L F A Pts
Platt Invicta 20 17 2 1 96 20 36
Goudhurst 20 15 2 3 63 33 32
Edenbridge Utd 20 11 5 4 73 32 27
Pembury Rovers 20 10 2 8 61 40 22
Beacon Rovers 20 10 2 8 64 56 22
Ramslye 20 9 2 9 46 55 20
Artois Res 20 6 6 8 64 51 18
Charcott 20 5 5 10 49 78 15
Chart Athletic 20 5 2 13 42 78 12
Hop Pocket 20 5 2 13 43 88 12
Mens Club Southborough 20 3 0 17 37 101 6

Platt Invicta's combined league statistics over the previous three seasons is quite remarkable;

P W D L F A
62 53 6 3 294 58

Due to Platt Invicta's numerous cup runs to the latter stages however, this was to have a detrimental effect on any chance of securing the coveted Division 1 title. Having to play several mid-week league games, which was unheard of at the time in Sunday League football, they eventually fell short and finished third in the top flight.

Platt Invicta 1995

Above is one of the last known photos taken of Platt Invicta (at Holland Sports) before the team stopped playing at the end of the 1995 season. Although by this period they had dropped out of the top flight, on their day they could compete with the very best in the West Kent Sunday League and in fact had some notable victories over Artois, Rose & Crown, Holland Sports, Goudhurst and The George and whilst never lifting the Kent Cup, they took pride in taking Gravesend side The Sun's five year unbeaten record to progress to the quarter-final.

To view a selection of some of the newspaper reports during this successful period click here.