Club Background
Tonbridge FC was a post-War foundation formed in 1947 but didn’t start playing competitive games until 1948-49 when it joined the Southern League so regards this 2023-24 season as its 75th anniversary. Although nicknamed The Angels from 1949 after it took over what had formerly been one of Kent County Cricket Club’s grounds, Angel, named after the nearby Angel Hotel, it didn’t formally alter its name to Tonbridge Angels FC until 1994. Quite why it did so then is somewhat strange as it had lost the ground after a protracted three year legal battle, 1977-80, that eventually reached the High Court of Justice, with the local council which wanted to evict the club to develop the site. As a result Tonbridge had moved out to Longmead over a decade before deciding on this name change.
From 1948 to 1989 Tonbridge was a member of the Southern League, though after the Southern League Premier Division was formed in 1959 more frequently in its lower tiers. This meant fixtures against Yeovil Town were periodic as the Glovers never fell out of the SLPD before leaving it upwards to join the national Alliance Premier League in 1979.
The Tonbridge Angels Official Site in its Club History carries a story that in 1975-76 the club survived by the skin of its teeth when severe financial problems saw it go into voluntary liquidation and a rather dubious deal was done with the Southern League that a phoenix club could play out the remaining fixtures but would be automatically relegated wherever it finished… and that it claims is how the new name, Tonbridge Angels came about. Naturally this tale is repeated on Wikipedia. It’s complete garbage as the club that happened to was in fact Dunstable Town not Tonbridge. It finished 8th as Dunstable FC and was relegated as agreed. Tonbridge was relegated in the normal way as it was rubbish that season and finished 20th. In the season after, now in Southern League Division One South, it did tweak its name to Tonbridge AFC, with possibly in their own minds the A standing for Angels; but that’s not what they registered with the Football Association or what appeared on their subsequent programme covers, merely “Tonbridge AFC”. The club didn’t become Tonbridge Angels FC until 1994 (see above).
Ridiculous false history aside, the club spent the next 13 years in lower Southern League divisions mostly doing not very much before eventually getting itself relegated into county football and the Kent League for 1989-90. It took four seasons to get back out, Champions in 1992-93 and promoted to the Southern League South Division.
Again the club did nothing much for a decade (apart from really change its name to Tonbridge Angels) until deciding in one the lower pyramid’s endless restructurings to take the opportunity to switch into the Isthmian League Premier Division for 2004-05, from which The Angels instantly got relegated at the first time of asking. However it did immediately bounce back, promoted out of Isthmian League Division One through the play-offs the following season.
There were five seasons back in the ILP before a second place finish led to more play-off success with a 3-2 victory over Harrow Borough and a 4-3 victory over Lowestoft Town… and up to the dizzy heights of Conference South for 2011-12. 9th the first season, 16th the second, The Angels were relegated in the third in 21st.
Back into the Isthmian Premier again, the first season it only just avoided a double relegation but from 2015-16 began to turn things around getting to the play-offs that season (unsuccessful); and the play-offs again in 2018-19, this time successful, beating Haringey Borough 1-2 away in the semi and Merstham 2-0 at home in the Final. Up to what had by then become National League South Tonbridge has remained there since, a mid-ranking club so far not particularly bothering either end of the table.
For the start of the 2022-23 season a 3G pitch was installed at Longmead.
We’ve Met Before
Previous Results for Yeovil Town First Team vs Tonbridge / Tonbridge Angels
| 16/01/1949 | Away | SL | L | 1-2 | Own Goal | ||
| 04/04/1949 | Home | SL | W | 6-0 | Wright(2), Bryant(2), Stock, Hamilton | ||
| 27/08/1949 | Home | SL | W | 5-0 | Foulds, Bryant, Wright(2), Coffey | ||
| 29/03/1950 | Away | SL | W | 1-0 | Mansley | ||
| 20/09/1950 | Away | SL | W | 3-0 | Rae(3) | ||
| 30/12/1950 | Home | SL | W | 5-0 | Rae, Wright(2), Mansley(2) | ||
| 03/11/1951 | Away | SL | L | 1-2 | Aldred | ||
| 02/02/1952 | Home | SL | W | 2-0 | Hamilton, Hunter | ||
| 07/09/1952 | Away | SL | L | 1-3 | Peart | ||
| 02/05/1953 | Home | SL | L | 1-2 | Lunn | ||
| 28/12/1953 | Away | SL | D | 2-2 | Edwards, Lunn | ||
| 01/05/1954 | Home | SL | W | 4-2 | Reid(2), Lunn(2) | ||
| 20/11/1954 | Home | SL | W | 2-1 | Fraser, Ryan | ||
| 21/04/1955 | Away | SLCF1 | D | 0-0 | |||
| 27/04/1955 | Away | SL | L | 2-3 | Reid, Clarke | ||
| 05/05/1955 | Home | SLCF2 | W | 3-1 | Ryan, Clarke, Fraser | ||
| 08/10/1955 | Home | SL | W | 4-0 | Fidler(2), Woan, Lunn | ||
| 18/02/1956 | Away | SL | W | 4-2 | Brown, Fidler(2), Fraser | ||
| 08/12/1956 | Home | SL | D | 2-2 | Gaillard, Fidler | ||
| 13/03/1957 | Away | SLCSF | L | 1-4 | Long | ||
| 20/04/1957 | Away | SL | L | 0-6 | |||
| 31/08/1957 | Home | SL | W | 5-0 | McKay(3), Davies, Travis | ||
| 28/12/1957 | Away | SL | L | 3-5 | Torrance, Alexander, McKay | ||
| 30/08/1958 | Home | SLSE | W | 3-0 | McKay, McConnon(2) | ||
| 03/01/1959 | Away | SLSE | W | 3-1 | Emmonds, McConnon, Dennis | ||
| 03/10/1959 | Home | SLP | D | 0-0 | |||
| 20/02/1960 | Away | SLP | W | 3-2 | Topping, McConnon(2) | ||
| 01/10/1960 | Away | SLP | L | 2-4 | Kelly, Own Goal | ||
| 18/02/1961 | Home | SLP | D | 2-2 | Pounder, Taylor | ||
| 02/12/1961 | Home | SLP | W | 4-1 | Muir, Taylor(2), Coughlin | ||
| 12/03/1962 | Away | SLP | W | 4-1 | Coughlin(2), Pounder, Ashe | ||
| 09/01/1965 | Home | SLP | W | 1-0 | Hall | ||
| 30/01/1965 | Away | SLP | L | 1-2 | Hall | ||
| 12/02/1966 | Home | SLP | W | 6-1 | Ashe, Foley, Muir(2), Read, Hirst | ||
| 05/03/1966 | Away | SLP | L | 1-3 | Foley | ||
| 07/02/1968 | Home | SLC3 | W | 1-0 | Bramley | ||
| 05/01/1974 | Away | SLP | L | 1-2 | 675 | Brown | |
| 26/01/1974 | Home | SLP | W | 1-0 | 1675 | Pickett | |
| 05/10/1974 | Home | SLP | W | 3-0 | 2125 | Housley, Plumb, McMahon | |
| 08/02/1975 | Away | SLP | D | 1-1 | Verity | ||
| 30/08/1975 | Home | SLP | W | 1-0 | 2146 | K Thompson | |
| 27/12/1975 | Away | SLP | W | 2-1 | Clancy(2) | ||
| 26/10/1991 | Away | FAC4Q | W | 2-1 | 1483 | Shail, Spencer | |
| 21/11/1998 | Home | FAT2 | W | 1-0 | 1525 | Pounder 45 | |
| 26/08/2023 | Home | NLS | W | 2-0 | 2896 | Young 13, Nouble 90+5 | |
| 10/02/2024 | Away | NLS | W | 4-2 | 1386 | Young 10, Wannell 17, 66, Worthington 90+4 | |
Results Summary For Yeovil Town First Team vs Tonbridge / Tonbridge Angels
| Home | Away | Overall | ||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A |
| 19 | 3 | 1 | 64 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 11 | 43 | 49 | 28 | 6 | 12 | 107 | 61 |
Club Statistics
RECENT RESULTS
| 16/12/2023 | Dartford | Home | NLS | W | 4-0 | 1237 | Greenidge 22, 77, Gard 25, Dabre 34 | |
| 23/12/2023 | Taunton Town | Away | NLS | D | 2-2 | 768 | Shields 86, Higgs 90+3 | |
| 26/12/2023 | Maidstone United | Home | NLS | D | 1-1 | 2806 | Higgs 90+4 | |
| 01/01/2024 | Maidstone United | Away | NLS | L | 0-2 | 3021 | ||
| 06/01/2024 | Weymouth | Home | NLS | W | 2-1 | 1130 | Greenidge 35, Lyons-Foster 72 | |
| 13/01/2024 | Hemel Hempstead Town | Away | NLS | L | 0-2 | 609 | ||
| 20/01/2024 | Worthing | Home | NLS | L | 0-1 | 1337 | ||
| 23/01/2024 | Dover Athletic | Away | NLS | W | 2-1 | 455 | Higgs 16, Mampolo 52 | |
| 27/01/2024 | Weston-super-Mare | Away | NLS | L | 1-3 | 981 | Odokonyero 30 | |
| 03/02/2023 | Chippenham Town | Home | NLS | W | 2-0 | 1005 | Lyons-Foster 23, Shields 55 | |
| 10/02/2024 | Yeovil Town | Home | NLS | |||||
LEAGUE ATTENDANCE STATISTICS
Highest League Attendance: 2,806
Lowest League Attendance: 656
Average League Attendance: 1,105
CURRENT LEAGUE SEQUENCE STATISTICS
| Games Without A Win: | 0 | Games Without A Home Win: | 0 | |
| Games Without An Away Win: | 1 | Games Without Defeat: | 1 | |
| Games Without A Home Defeat: | 1 | Games Without An Away Defeat: | 0 | |
| Games Without A Draw: | 7 | Games Without A Score Draw: | 7 | |
| Games Without A No-Score Draw: | 15 | Games Without Scoring: | 0 | |
| Games Without Conceding: | 1 | Home Results Sequence: | WDWLW | |
| Away Results Sequence: | DLLWL | Overall Results Sequence: | WDDLWLLWLW |
Club Information
Address : Longmead Stadium, Darenth Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent, TN10 3JF (current full sponsorship name The Halcyon Wealth Longmead Stadium)
Telephone Number : 01732 352417
Email : not found a general e-mail address for the club. Of the individuals listed the club secretary seems the best bet (Club Secretaries always know absolutely everything!) – charlie.cole@tonbridgeangels.co.uk .
Chairwoman : Sophie Purves
Club Secretary : Charlie Cole
Team Manager : Jay Saunders
Capacity : 3,000
Seated : 760
Covered Terrace : 1,500
Surface : artificial
Record Attendance : 8, 236 (at The Angel) v Aldershot, FA Cup 1st Round Proper, 24/11/1951; 2,806 (at Longmead) v Maidstone United, National League South, 25/12/2023
Colours : shirt blue with white sleeves and collar, white shorts, blue & white hooped socks
Nickname : The Angels
Programme : they have a programme editorial team so presumably produce one but haven’t found details of current format /price etc.
Ticketing
For advance purchase through their on-line ticketing portal go HERE. Turnstiles open from 1.00 p.m. with both card and cash payment accepted. Not seen anything to suggest there’s a surcharge if buying walk-up on the day.
Prices :
Adult: £16.00
Concession (65 & over): £13.00
Youth (12-17): £7.00
Under 12 : FREE
(Children under 15 must be accompanied by an adult.)
Disabled
There are six designated disabled car parking spaces adjacent to the turnstiles (no indication whether these are bookable and if so how or merely first come first served). A gate to the side of the turnstiles can admit entry to the ground for those with wheelchairs. There is paved step free access from the turnstiles area to the main stand on the far side of the stadium where ground level seats are provided, and also to the marquee behind the North Stand. Toilets at the north end of the ground also have level access from the paved perimeter path. There is ramped access to the clubhouse, sponsors lounge, boardroom , the ‘1948’ lounge and the club shop.
Official Away Travel
The Green & White Supporters’ Club is running away travel to Tonbridge Angels on Saturday 10th February, 3.00 p.m. kick-off.
Details are as follows:
Members: Adult £29; Concession £27
Non-Members: Adult £32; Concession £30
Coach departs Huish Park: 8.30 a.m.
To book, call Paul Hadlow on 07736 044570 (after 6.00 p.m. please) or email him on paulhadlow@outlook.com.
If you are getting in touch by email, please make it clear which match you are booking for and that you give your full name, the names of people that are travelling and a contact telephone number.
You may be asked to pay a £5 deposit to reserve your seat.
Directions To The Ground
General
Tonbridge is an inland market town on the upper reaches of the River Medway with a population (the town itself rather than the wider district) of around 36,000. From Huish Park to Longmead is 152 miles.
By Road
This is an A303, M3, M25 trip from the Yeovil area, exiting the M25 at Junction 5 onto the A21 (Sevenoaks Bypass) from where it’s just under 10 miles to Longmead Stadium. Follow the A21 South for four miles, then drop off on the slip road approach to Morleys Roundabout taking the second exit onto the B245 (London Road). This takes you all the way (about another four miles) into Tonbridge.
Turn left off the B245 into Dry Hill Park Road, following it to the first roundabout at which take the first exit onto Shipbourne Road (A227). At the next roundabout take the first exit onto Darenth Avenue. 0.4 of a mile along Darenth Avenue you will see the stadium and car park to your right.
Parking
There’s a large free car park along the East side of the stadium.
By Rail
Despite the pretty small size of the town location and geography make it one of the major rail hubs in Kent, the junction point of four lines – from London, Ashford, Hastings and Redhill. The train companies serving Tonbridge are Southeastern (so rubbish a franchise its services are currently being run by the Department of Transport) and Southern (and we all know about Southern!).
There are four direct London services an hour off-peak (and a couple more at peak times) calling at Tonbridge with the London terminus being Charing Cross. Journey time is around 40 to 45 minutes. If training it from other directions there’s two services an hour on the Ashford and Hastings routes and one an hour from Redhill.
From the railway station to the stadium is 1.7 miles (around a 35-40 minute walk). There’s a taxi rank to the right of the station exit. The ride up to the ground is between five and ten minutes depending on traffic conditions. If going for a bus option the nearest stops are in Quarry Hill Parade which is one minute walk south of the Railway Station (so away from the town centre and ground initially). All the services mentioned in By Bus (below) have stops here as well as in the High Street.
By Bus
The nearest stops to the stadium are in Darenth Avenue: the Arriva No. 219 service (alighting at Waveney Road stop) for going up from the town centre; the Arriva No. 218 (boarding at Derwent Road stop) for the return. The Nos. 208 and 222 also head up reasonably near to the ground. It’s a third of a mile (5 minute walk) from these bus stops to and from the stadium. It’s around a ten minute journey between Tonbridge High Street and Darenth Avenue with two buses an hour each way. Payment is by card or cash with the £2.00 single journey cap still in place.
By Taxi
A selection of Tonbridge taxi companies can be found here.
Web Resources
Web Sites
Tonbridge Angels FC – Official Website.
ANGELStv – club’s Official YouTube channel.
Tonbridge Fan TV – YouTube channel (unofficial am presuming).
Angels Online Fans’ Forum – have to register to access anything at all.
Social Media
@tonbridgeangels – Official Twitter account.
Local Press
Kent Online – actually makes an effort at coverage, giving Tonbridge Angels its own dedicated section.
Food & Drink
General
Obviously, with Longmead some way out of the town centre towards the northern fringes of Tonbridge, there’s not a lot up by the ground apart from its own bars. However, if anyone does want a ‘crawl’ there’s a line of hostelries running up from the High Street and along the Shipbourne Road (A227) towards the stadium (in order, South to North): Humphrey Bean (below); Ye Olde Chequers Inn; Fuggles Beer Café (below); The Ivy House; George & Dragon (below); Royal Oak (below).
Club Bar
The ‘clubhouse’ is likely the unit called Angels Sports Bar. It looks pretty small on the stadium site plan and, tucked between the Boardroom and the Sponsors Veranda, may be more for the posh folks if not actually reserved for them. Behind the North Stand there’s a much larger marquee (we know all about marquees) where, one suspects, the riff-raff are encouraged to go for their drinking. Longmead is one of those relative rarities in football, a stadium with cask ale on the bar: there’s a house badged beer – Angel Bitter – brewed for it by Tonbridge Brewery ; and can be up to a couple more (would guess from the same brewery but not seen definite confirmation of that). Elsewhere there are two refreshment kiosks, one on the East (unspecified hot food) and one on the West (Pukka Pies) sides of the stadium, which presumably also sell hot and cold soft drinks, chocolate, sweets, crisps etc.
The stadium is no-smoking & vaping apart from two designated areas, one outside Angels Sports Bar and one outside the marquee, and the club states several times on its website that it will enforce that restriction if fans attempt to smoke or vape elsewhere.
Local Pubs
Fuggles Beer Café: An independent craft beer café and bottle shop, the original branch opened in Tunbridge Wells in 2013, this one in Tonbridge in 2017, and a third, back in Tunbridge Wells, was launched in 2021. Has four cask lines and two real ciders but its main focus is on up to 30 ‘craft’ keg lines from British and Continental breweries. The fridges stock around another 100 different cans and bottles. Food is a variety of Hot Dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches and cheese and charcuterie ‘sharing’ boards (I don’t share!) served from noon to 9.00 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 6.30 p.m. Sunday. Disabled access, family friendly. Opens at noon every day, closing 11.00 p.m. Monday to Wednesday, midnight Thursday to Saturday, 10.30 p.m. Sunday. 1.1 miles (20 – 25 mins walk) to the ground or see By Bus (above).
Fuggles Beer Café, 165 High Street, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 1BX. Tel: 01732 666071. Map: Fuggles Beer Café.
George & Dragon: Heading up to the stadium by the most obvious route from the town centre you’ll pass this pub whether on bus or walking. Second closest pub to the ground after the Royal Oak (below) at one mile (20 mins walk). Does some food (no idea what) on Saturday 1.00 p.m. – 9.00 p.m. Three real ale pumps, with Harvey’s Sussex Best the regular and the other two usually something by local Kent breweries such as Tonbridge or Larkins. Sports TV, pub games area with Pool & Darts, beer garden including covered/heated smoking area, parking. Opening hours are given as 4.00 p.m. – 11.00 p.m. weekdays, noon – 11.00 p.m. Saturday, noon – 9.00 p.m. Sunday.
The George & Dragon, 17 Shipbourne Road, Tonbridge, Kent, TN10 3DN. Tel: 07368 150414. Map: George & Dragon.
Humphrey Bean: The Wetherspoon in Tonbridge couldn’t be much more central, right in the middle of town where the High Street bridges the River Medway. Food service up to 11.00 p.m. Disabled access, riverside (just about, there’s a broad public ‘walk’ in between) beer garden. Opens from 8.00 a.m. every day, closing midnight Sunday to Thursday and 1.00 a.m. Friday & Saturday. 1.4 miles (so a little under half an hour walk) from the ground , or see By Bus / By Taxi above.
The Humphrey Bean, 94 High Street, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 1AP. Tel: 01732 773850. Map: Humphrey Bean.
Nelson Arms: A failing Shepherd Neame pub hidden down residential back streets, was purchased to become a Freehouse in 2018 and been completely transformed. Multiple awards since, culminating in reaching the top four in CAMRA’a National 2023 Pub of the Year. Live lists via Untappd display the changing lines: up to 10 real ales (sourced widely whereas many Kent real ale outlets often restrict themselves to very local style Bitters); up to 10 keg lines of ‘craft’ beers and continental lagers (genuine ones, not faked ones such as Madri); around a dozen different ciders; broad range of around 35 different bottled and canned beers in the fridge. Menu (pub comfort food style) service times are quite complicated so here shall just give for Saturday: noon – 2.30 p.m. and 5.00 p.m. – 8.30 p.m. Sports TV, Darts, covered heated terrace area. Opening hours are also quite complex (and different sources disagree at the finer margins) so again just giving for Saturday where everyone has the same: noon – 11.30 p.m. Exactly two miles from the ground.
The Nelson Arms, 19 Cromer Street, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 1UP. Tel: 01732 358284. Map: Nelson Arms.
Royal Oak: Closest pub to the stadium at 0.6 of a mile (so around 15 minutes walk). Community/estate style pub with Sports TV, Pool and Darts. Paved terrace area to front, car park. No indications does food. Couple of real ales and presumably a selection out of the usual range of suspects from the multinational industrial keg producers. Opening given as 1.00 a.m. – 11.00 p.m. every day.
The Royal Oak, 82 Shipbourne Road, Tonbridge, Kent, TN10 3ED. Tel: 01732 359357. Map: Royal Oak.
Station House: Putting this one in not because it’s anything special (Stonegate Craft Union pubs very rarely are) but for the potentially useful location as closest pub to the Railway Station. Has one generally (that’ll be Doom Bar) but occasionally two real ales on and the usual types of industrial keg: Carling, Fosters, Guinness, Strongbow, Worthington’s Creamflow etc. in this case. Sky & TNT Sports on multiple screens, Pool, Darts, outside area. Opens from 10.00 a.m. every day, closing 11.00 p.m. Sunday to Wednesday, midnight Thursday, 1.00 a.m. Friday & Saturday. 1.6 miles from the stadium.
The Station House, 8 Barden Road, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 1TX. Tel: 01732 363902. Map: Station House.
Likelihood the Natives Will Understand You: Backwater rustic market towns dating back to the Middle Ages with uninspiring 1,000+ years of existence (Tonbridge just pips Yeovil there as it did produce a regicide, Walter Tirel, who killed King William II Rufus with an arrow in 1100, being born here – accident or murder has never been decided)… we should understand each other very well.
Top-Tip: Tonbridge, which used to be called Tunbridge, is about four miles North of Tunbridge Wells. In 1870 it was Tunbridge, despite having the name for hundreds of years before Tunbridge Wells came into existence, that the Post Office forced to change its name to Tonbridge to avoid the confusion it was supposedly causing the postal services (no one had thought of postcodes back then). As you’ve had 154 years to get used to the name change there’s no excuse for ending up in Tunbridge Wells by mistake!
Local Amenities: No idea, never been to Tonbridge. Kent market towns are usually around 25 years behind the times… which an improvement on Somerset’s which are 40.
Other Points Of Interest: England World Cup winner George Cohen managed Tonbridge for one season, 1974-75; and former England manager Roy Hodgson played for them from 1966-1969.
[No responsibility is taken for any inaccuracies. This page is entirely the product of bias and prejudice. ]