Tunbridge Wells P-P Faversham Town - We're going through a tough time, the problems we're having with the floodlights, pitch and everything else has been very traumatic, says very frustrated Tunbridge Wells chairman Scott Bartlett

Tunbridge Wells – Faversham Town
Location	Culverden Stadium, Culverden Down, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 9SG
Kickoff	04/03/2025 19:45

TUNBRIDGE WELLS  P-P  FAVERSHAM TOWN
Presence & Co Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division
Tuesday 4 March 2025
Stephen McCartney reports from Culverden Stadium

TUNBRIDGE WELLS chairman Scott Bartlett says the club are going through a tough time after suffering their twelth postponement of quite a very traumatic season.

The chairman confirmed at 10:49 this morning that no pitch inspection was required for tonight’s Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division fixture against title-chasing Faversham Town.

Saturday’s League fixture against Fisher was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch following a pitch inspection at 10 o’clock in the morning – whilst the town was covered in fog - but that lifted and it was the only fixture from this level up to be postponed as games in Kent were played in welcomed spring sunshine.

Upon arrival just before six o’clock this evening, things didn’t seem right as a working party were putting up the second set of portable diesal operated floodlight towers – each having five bright bulbs – and each was positioned in each half of the pitch on the side of the school.

The cherry picker that was used was still positioned within the pitch perimeter fencing and wasn’t removed which would have caused serious injury had a player collided with it during the match.

Upon arrival, the stadium was relying on natural light and when the floodlights did come on, only the four towers on the stand side of Culverden Stadium were lit.

The temporary towers went out on more than one occasion and as darkness fell in Tunbridge Wells, both channels at both ends of the pitch were in total darkness and it was evident that this game would not/could not start.

Referee Thomas Amber decided not to call the game off when it was clear that the playing conditions were not suitable or safe for players in the ninth tier of English football.

For a start the two temporary floodlight towers were too low and too bright – they would have blinded the players when they looked into them – and there would be player safety concerns within the pitch dark areas within the channels at both ends of the pitch on the school side, which incidentally the school’s artificial pitch had their floodlights working but playing the game there is impossible as it doesn’t meet ground grading criteria for a League game at this level.

With the stand side bank of floodlighting switched on – and the two temporary floodlights working – the four towers on the school side were not lit.

The referee was going to leave it until 19:45. If the lights were not working then the game was going to be called off at that point. If they were to come on, then he would have started the game at eight o’clock.

The Tunbridge Wells manager and Faversham Town secretary handed in their team-sheets to the match referee. You got the impression that Mr Amber was preparing for the game to kick-off.

FIRST TEAM FIXTURES POSTPONED AT CULVERDEN STADIUM THIS SEASON:

1) Saturday 19 October 2024 - FA Vase - Pagham - Waterlogged pitch
2) Saturday 23 November - League - Faversham Town - Abandoned after 62 minutes - Waterlogged pitch
3) Saturday 7 December - FA Vase - Crawley Down Gatwick - Waterlogged pitch
4) Saturday 14 December - FA Vase - Crawley Down Gatwick - Waterlogged pitch - Tie switched to Crawley Down Gatwick FC the following weekend
5) Saturday 28 December - League - Sutton Athletic - Floodlights
6) Saturday 11 January 2025 - League - Corinthian - Frozen pitch
7) Saturday 25 January - League - Hollands & Blair - Floodlights and Waterlogged pitch
8) Tuesday 18 February - League - Erith & Belvedere - Floodlights
9) Saturday 22 February - League - Kennington - Waterlogged pitch
10) Tuesday 25 February - League - Punjab United - Waterlogged pitch
11) Saturday 1 March - League - Fisher - Waterlogged pitch
12) Tuesday 4 March - League - Faversham Town - Floodlights

Faversham Town’s players took to the soft playing surface to warm-up and Tunbridge Wells appeared reluctant.  The ball was bouncing all over the place and the pitch would have cut up during the game.

The four school side floodlight towers came on but it lasted for less than 30 seconds before the stadium was then plunged into darkness at 19:05, with just the two portable floodlight towers still working.

It was clear at this point in the evening that Faversham Town had made their second wasted journey to Culverden Stadium as their League game on Saturday 23 November was abandoned after 62 minutes due to a waterlogged pitch, which is a year-by-year issue at this stadium.

At 19:56 all four stand side floodlight towers came back on (seven of the eight floodlight bulbs were lit) and the two temporary towers were still lit.

The referee made the correct decision to call the game off at exactly eight o’clock, without the match starting.

Tunbridge Wells have been having issues with their floodlights since December, when the visit of Sutton Athletic a couple of days after Boxing Day was called off.

The floodlights were working last night (Monday), as the home club had to send video evidence of the floodlights working, to the Southern Counties East Football League to ensure tonight’s fixture could have a chance of going ahead.

“Our floodlights have been working. Last night we had them running for two and a half hours.  We’ve had them running today, this morning they were running, probably been on for between three or four hours today,” said a very frustrated Mr Bartlett.

“They came on tonight and the bottom one (school side, bottom end of the stadium) wasn’t working. There’s issues with it.  We tried to sort that one out and it tripped everything out and UK Power Network helped us out, came out very promptly.

“Faversham did agree to play with the lights as they are now. It was agreed if we got this side on (stand side), so we got the stand side back on and the referee and Faversham, the referee suggested that he’ll be (OK) with this and those lights over there (four stand and two portable).

“When it actually came to it, when we got them on as quickly as we did, I didn’t think we’d get them on as quickly as that.

“UK Power Network were very prompt coming out and we was already for eight o’clock, as we said we would be and then Faversham went to see the referee again and said they weren’t happy, so the referee called it, on a bit of pressure to be honest.”

Tunbridge Wells have played only two home games since the start of November.  On 9 November they hosted Hassocks in The FA Vase and on Saturday 18 January Lordswood’s players filmed themselves getting changed in the dark and having to use their torches from their mobile phones as the away team dressing room electrics failed to work.  That game kicked off at 13:30 due to these on-going floodlighting issues.

“I’ll be honest, our last proper pay day was probably Whitstable in October when we actually took some proper money,” revealed Mr Bartlett.

“It’s a business at the end of the day and I don’t know any businesses that cannot take any money for a few months, as long as that and be happy.

“We’re still here, we’re still going. Yes, we need some games on, definitely. We 100 per cent need some games and we need some supporters to come along and spend some money with us and put some money back in the coffers, not in the coffers, just to keep us going really.

“We’re still here and we’re still surviving at the moment but it’s not easy.”

When asked whether the club is in financial trouble, the Tunbridge Wells chairman replied: “No.  Look, we’ve not got loads of money in the bank and I’ll be lying if I said we had but I don’t think anyone in the world expects to have any with the run we’ve had not having home games.

“What we have is a very committed board and committee that are very supportive of the club between all of us and we’ve got a good bunch of supporters that hopefully will support us as well.

“But we’ve been around a long time and hopefully we’ll be around a lot longer.”

When asked whether he had a message of apology to Faversham Town’s players, management, committee and supporters that have made their second wasted journey to his club, Mr Bartlett replied: “We can only apologise. The best laid plans, we were very, very confident tonight that this would all go ahead. We wouldn’t have let it to this stage if we wasn’t.

“The (portable) lights over there, we actually had those for the cark park because since the (clubhouse) fire we’ve had no lights in the car park and people have been moaning, not moaning, our car park is very dark, so we’ve hired those to light up the car park.

“We put them down there as a contingency to be honest. That’s the only reason they’re there.  We moved them round there earlier this morning out of the car park.

“We also said to the referee it’s a back up if those lights over there (school side) failed, we’ve got those (temporary) as well.  We were going to run them all together anyway, that was the plan but yes best laid plans and all that. It didn’t actually quite work out.

“We’re desperate to play some home games here. We just need to play home games end off.”

The chairman was asked about the lease negotiations with Tunbridge Wells Borough Council.

“We have an offer from the Council to extend our lease. It’s not the length of lease that we want at the moment but we are in talks with them to extend it to the level that we need them to.

“We want a minimum 15 years but ideal 30 years but at the moment it’s not that offer on the table.  It’s less but we will be here for the next, we’re here for the foreseeable.

“The Council are all supportive of us. They are working with us and we have a good relationship with the Council.”

Tunbridge Wells must play their remaining 16 league games within the next eight weeks – the League season must end on Saturday 26 April – and the club may have to groundshare to complete their fixtures.

“We will have another crack at our lights and see what the problem is and we will endeavour to get them sorted for next week,” said Mr Bartlett.

“We’ll endeavour to play all our games here but I’m not sure if that’s going to be possible. If we can’t, then we’ll look to groundshare but that’s not really a decision tonight. We’ll have a little sleep on it and cold light of day.

“Obviously we have issues with our lights because they’ve gone again tonight so after the amount of money that we’ve spent, we’d hope they would’ve been working.  I’m not going to say any figures – it’s a lot – and we’ve replaced so much stuff already. 

“Apart from replacing the whole floodlights, which would cost an absolute fortune - we do want to replace the floodlights at some stage – but these aren’t particularly old floodlights.  The heads and ballast were put in in 2014 so they’re not exactly old lights but we have issues with them.

“It’s been a frustrating season this year definitely, I think we’ve gone through quite a traumatic season so far. Hopefully it’s a bit more peaceful for the remainder.”

Mr Bartlett has this message for the club’s fanbase.

“I think they all know we’re all trying our hardest and we’ve got a great bunch of helpers that, especially in the last few weeks, they’ve put a serious level of commitment in trying to help.  Like today, we had people up here all day trying to make sure the game was on.

“We haven’t hosted a game for a while, so we were making sure the stadium was in good nick, sweeping the stands and terrace, anything to make sure it was all happening.”

The Football Association have threatened club’s with relegation should they fail ground grading criteria by the 31 March deadline.

Mr Bartlett said: “We’ve also been doing all the work because there’s a stadium accreditation programme going on and we’ve had to improve some bits to get our certificate for next season, so we’ve been busy going on with that as well. We’ll have that finished in the next week or two in time for our inspection by the end of March.

“We’ve spoken to the League. They’re all very aware of our situation and we’ve kept them informed the best we can.  The League were here tonight and they want us to be playing home games and it’s certainly not through lack of effort that we’re not.

“I’m sure I’ll be talking to them again tomorrow to be honest. I can’t say much more than that.

“All we ask is people to support us and we will generally try and do the right things and still want to be here and we want to survive.

“We’re going through a tough time, it’s fair to say. Looking from the outside in, we’ll say we’re going through a tough time.  I think the problems we’re having with the floodlights and everything else has been very traumatic. We’ve had our issues with our pitch this season.

“Pretty much anything that could go wrong for us has seemed to have gone wrong but we’re still going, we’re still battling and we’ll come back stronger from it and we’ve got a very loyal bunch of helpers and supporters.”

Both managers were asked their thoughts on tonight’s events.

Tunbridge Wells boss Steve Ives said: “Just massively disappointing, it’s not for the want of trying for the people who are trying to work. You’ve seen the effort that has gone in but from our point of view, it’s another game, day game gone and another one I guess that’s got to be squeezed in, depending what the decision is.

“It must be incredibly frustrating for them. I guess it’s for the clubs to communicate at board level. I’ve got a good relationship with Tommy. I’ve spoken to Tommy. Yes, I mean it’s frustrating for all of us. I’ve come from Eastbourne, it’s probably not far off Faversham.

“I think Faversham were very adamant they didn’t want the kick-off delayed past eight o’clock, which didn’t really give much time from the second the lights came on.

“I think the secondary concern that people had were whether the lights on the far (school) side were A bright enough and B high enough.

“He (the referee) said that Faversham were uncomfortable and asked me my opinion and to be honest I just said it’s the club’s (Tunbridge Wells) decision really. I don’t want to be making decision that put the club in a difficult situation.”

When asked whether he felt the referee had made the correct decision to call the game off when he did, Ives replied: “For who?  I would’ve personally liked to have given it a little bit more time to see if they could get all of the lights on but again that decision is above my head. It’s for other people to consider.

“We’ve got a new board of people that have come in and try to help the club and actually seen some positive steps in the last week or so, so you’re trying to sort of bump start a situation that’s been deteriorating for months.

“What I do know, it’s not for the want of trying. All I can control is the playing staff and on the whole everyone’s trying to keep their spirits up. We’re still training.

“Yes, it is hard though. I don’t know if there’s any dates left in the calendar to put that one back in.  It happened last season though, we played a few three-game weeks last season.”

Ives takes his side to bottom-of-the-table Lydd Town on Saturday, a side that have picked up five wins and five draws from their 28 games and are five points adrift of safety.

The last time that Tunbridge Wells played was on 15 February when they suffered a 4-0 defeat away to Faversham Town.

Ives said: “We’ve got an extended squad of probably 20. We’ve got the under 23s, we’ve got the Mid-Sussex Reserve side, obviously they’re in a similar situation, they’re still trying to get their games squeezed in as well but what do you do?

“You either keep trying to address the next game or you throw the towel in. There’s no choice is there really?

“Lydd will be on, probably, so that’s one positive. Lydd have been better form haven’t they, up until (losing 4-0 at Lordswood) on Saturday and they actually drew with Faversham the other day, so what’s a difficult game? What’s an easy game?

“It will be nice to play a game to be honest, so on the bright side, we won’t have any injury worries after tonight will we?”

For Faversham Town boss Tommy Warrilow, he revealed that he was feeling ‘angry’ about tonight’s events and didn’t really want to speak too much about it.

“I’ve got nothing to say on it, I’ve got nothing to say on it. I think everyone from the outside in, it’s just ridiculous but it is what it is, so I’ve got nothing to say.  I don’t want to say too much. Obviously I’m angry but it is what it is.”

When asked what the referee said to him, Warrilow replied: “First of all, it was if the lights are on at a quarter-to-eight, then we’ll call it and then if it’s an eight o’clock kick-off, then there was an electrician coming and then, listen, it’s just one thing after the other, so that’s it isn’t it. It’s done.

“It’s hard to do an interview mate because I’m not going to stand shouting and hollering or whatever.

“I’m sure they want the game on. They want the lights to work but they’re not working so they haven’t played since (18 January) so I’m sure they want their games on.

“It’s the right decision tonight – but it’s a decision that could’ve been made yesterday.

“Of course it’s (the right decision).  People wanted this on. You can’t see the corners, of course it’s the correct decision. I don’t understand why it’s taken so long but he’s made a decision, it’s done, so we’ve just got to come back here again. Hopefully it might be a Saturday free because at the moment night games seem to be an issue.”

Leaders VCD Athletic suffered a 2-0 home defeat to now seventh-placed Whitstable Town at Oakwood tonight – a game that referee Matthew Pollington sent off a couple of players in each side.

VCD Athletic have picked up 66 points (20 wins, six draws and three defeats) from their 29 games, while Faversham Town (19 wins, eight draws and two defeats) are just a point behind them on the same number of games.

Fisher (53 points from 30 of 38 games), Punjab United (51 points from 30 games) and Rusthall (47 points from 27 games) are in the play-off zone tonight and this website will be covering VCD Athletic’s trip to Fisher on Saturday.

Tunbridge Wells are in fourteenth-place in the table, having picked up 31 points (nine wins, four draws and nine defeats).

Fisher came away from Glebe with a 4-1 win; Erith & Belvedere and Corinthian played out a 2-2 draw at Park View Road, while Bearstead moved six points clear of the relegation zone with a 2-0 home win over Snodland Town.

Snodland Town remain in the bottom three with 25 points from 30 games, while the relegation zone still contains Lordswood (23 points from 27 games) and Lydd Town (20 points from 28 games).

When asked about the title race – before the VCD Athletic result was known – Warrilow, who takes his side to Stansfeld on Saturday, said: “Listen, it’s going to be exciting.  It’s not in our hands now is it?  So we’ve just got to carry on trying to win as many games as we can and hope it’s enough.

“There’s loads of football to play. There’s loads of points to play for so I’m sure there will be a load of twists and turns and we’ve just got to concentrate on ourselves.

“Stansfeld is another tough game, again similar pitches to what we’ve been playing on in the last few weeks, so we’re in training on Thursday and we’ll just prepare for that, hoping to get the same result like we did last Saturday (beating Punjab United 2-0 at home) and then start chalking the games off.”

Tunbridge Wells: George Bentley, Kazzeem Richards, Muiz Alaka, Harry Hudson, James White, Ryan Hine, Regan Corke, Rory  Ward, Jacob Feasey, Jack Gallagher, Festos Kamara.
Subs: Brendan Austin, Lewis Unwin, Rhys Bartlett, Max Lambert, Joshua Macarthur Nolan

Faversham Town: Jacob Russell, Tariq Ossai, Bradley Simms, Zak Bryon, Callum Davies, Ben Gorham, Nathan Wood, Danny Parish, Johan Caney-Bryan, Matthew Newman, Kieron Campbell.
Subs: Frannie Collin, Samuel Hasler, Rolando Uno, Jack Parter, Lewis Briggs

Referee: Mr Thomas Amber
Assistants: Mr Jeffrey Davis & Mr Thomas Marshall