Kentish Football 
Our landlord is the only person holding Crockenhill back, says chairman Steve Cullen
The Wested Meadow outfit were subject to a malicious internet fans’ forum postings claiming that the club were to pull out of the league at the end of the season to re-join the Kent County League.
But Mr Cullen insists the club will be staying put, despite a traumatic season that saw chairman/manager Keith Jarvis step down and assistant manager Darrell Queeley joining Kent League basement side Sevenoaks Town and taking numerous players with him to Greatness Park.
“It’s been pretty difficult over the last few weeks from February when the manager come chairman resigned,” said Mr Cullen.
“I spoke to Del who was the assistant manager at the time and was more than willing to carry on.
“An article was put on the forum against our better judgement because we knew nothing about it, saying we was going down and other bits and pieces. The guy put it on there without knowledge at all.
“We’ve got no reason to go down. We’ve brought in (former Fisher assistant manager) Gary Davies, who is steadying the ship quite well and we’re just going to see the season out. We’ll bring some new players in, just make improvements as we go along.”
When asked whether the club will be playing Kent Invicta League football next season, the Crocks chairman insisted, “Very much so yes. Our ambition is to play at the highest level we can.
“We’ve got new sponsors coming in. Keith (Jarvis) was our main sponsor last year but we’ve got new sponsors coming in.
“It’s an old club, plenty of interest in the club so we’re looking forward to the new year, seeing the season out. We’re including lots of young guys up from the reserves and a couple from Fisher Academy and things like that.”
Crockenhill are a club steeped in history and plenty of visitors attend games at Wested Meadow.
Mr Cullen said: “It’s a great little club. Lots of people come here. We had groundhoppers here on Friday taking photos of the stands and things like that. It’s a lovely little club. It’s a real club out in the middle of nowhere. A lot of people come up there and tend to stay. They really enjoy the club.”
The chairman revealed that a sponsor are willing to splash out £22,000 on floodlights, which has been a stumbling block for a number of years.
The club lost their Kent League status back in 1999 due to the fact that they could not erect floodlights at the ground.
Mr Cullen said: “The floodlights have been commissioned because we’ve had training lights up here, but the lease we’ve got at the moment, that we’re negotiating isn’t strong enough because we’ve got a year rolling lease.
“We’re never going to get kicked off but we’ve been here since 1908 playing football in the village but we just need to sit down with the landlords still and improve the lease.
“He’ll give us the lease but he wants 800% increase on our rent which is a ridiculous figure. He thinks we’re Man United but we’re not!
“The rent we have up here is about four thousand pounds a year. I think he wants eighteen thousand!
“He’s not into football really. He’s a farmer whose father was the local landowner of this area and when he died his son took over he sold all the lands. It’s the only property he’s got now in Crockenhill. He’s not into football. He hasn’t got a clue about football and he’s the only person that’s holding the club back, which is a shame.
“Obviously we need floodlights within the next couple of years to be in the Invicta League and progress is going on there. We’ve got various schemes that we’re working on at the moment. The new sponsor coming in is willing to buy the lights for us, which is good. The ones that we’re looking at are about £22,000.
Crockenhill’s claim to fame is that former Gillingham, Millwall and Republic of Ireland striker Tony Cascarino started his career at the club during season 1981-82.
“We haven’t seen Tony since 2004, that was the last time he was up here,” said a disappointed Mr Cullen.
“He was doing an article for The Tines, who promised us a little cut of money, but that never seemed to arrive. Tony did a story on us and never seemed to live up to their promises really.”
Meanwhile, the club’s longest serving player, Matt Parker, 23, appreciates the hard work that his chairman and his family put in.
“Steve Cullen puts his heart and soul into it, it’s his pride,” said Parker, who has been at the club since the age of sixteen, but cannot play due to a groin injury at present.
“Everyone’s heard of Crockenhill. The facilities aren’t the greatest. It’s got a lot of history and in the clubhouse itself you can see the history.”
Visit Crockenhill’s website: www.crockenhillfc.co.uk
Red Dragon I.T. Ltd