Kentish Football 
We'll be staying in the Kent County League unless I win the lottery, says Bexlians boss Danny Hill
The Eltham-based outfit finished in third-place in the Haart of Kent County League Division One, finishing seven points adrift of Dartford-based champions Fleetdown United.
They must wait until the Kent County League’s Annual General Meeting on 13 June to see if they will continue their swift progress since their formation only ten years ago.
The club spent three seasons in the third division of the South London Alliance in their infancy, settling for seventh, eighth and second-place.
They finished runners-up in Division Two in 2006-7 and were Division One champions a year later before finishing in fourth-place in the South London Alliance Premier in 2008-09.
The club then took the step to move into the Kent County League football in 2009-10, finishing fourth, then sixth in Division Two West, before clinching the title in 2011-12 and they hope to play Premier Division football for the first time next season.
“When we won Division Two last year it was a good season,” said Hill, 37.
“Our aspirations to go into Division One was to hold our own and not really let ourselves down, which I don’t think we did, but there were ten games that we lost and we let ourselves down somewhere along the line.
“I’m over the moon with finishing third. I think we’ve done fantastically well. I took over three years’ ago and the previous manger done a hell of a job. I was still playing when we formed the club in 2003 and had to pack up through injury.
“It’s been a great 10 years so far and really I can’t believe we can potentially be playing in the Kent County Premier if we gain promotion at the AGM.”
Hill cut his mangers teeth with two seasons running the reserve side at Belvedere prior to joining Bexlians and believes the club will clinch promotion.
He said: “It’s always difficult when they introduce new leagues and certain rules and regulations so I think the County League will be looking to put sixteen back in the Premier because they had a couple of teams drop out, so it might be the right time and third will be good enough.
“Our ground (at Footscray Sports Club) has passed for County Premier. Obviously we don’t have floodlights or have the ability to put railings all the way round the pitch. We’ve got dug-outs down one side with a pitch railing, which is as far as we can go at this moment in time.
“We’d love to be playing higher if we could, but at this moment our facilities don’t allow that but I’d like us to pit our wits against what the County Premier has to offer and see how far we can go.”
Hill, however, ruled out the possibility of applying to play in the Kent Invicta League in the near future.
“We’re miles away, absolutely miles away!” Hill said honestly.
“We’re a self-funded club. We get a bit of sponsorship from a local company. Training facilities swallow that money up very quickly so we don’t particularly have the financial foundations to be able to compete.
“The players that play for Bexlians pay an annual subscription of £50 (which includes training kit) and pay subs of £10 per week into the club so we’re miles off.
“The basis of the club was founded around friends and friends of friends and that’s how we’re going to continue. We lose a couple of players each year and we gain a couple of players each year through a little bit of advertising we do.
“We’re absolutely miles off being able to apply for the Kent Invicta League, but on the pitch, anyone who’s played us or have been involved with the club the structure is almost there and we give a team a competitive game of football.
“I’m pretty confident if we do get into the Premier we’ll be able to hold our own.”
Bexlians have come a long way in such a short space of time and Hill reflects on the club’s South London Alliance days.
“With all due respect to the South London Alliance, every game was a dog-fight, the football isn’t pretty,” he recalled.
“I think it’s a battle of wills as to who wants to win the game the most. We certainly noticed the standard is better in the County League from the South London Alliance and the facilities get a lot better the higher you go up the chain.
“Instead of walking a million miles to the pitch and the referee says we have to tie the nets down and pick up all the dog poo before we kick a football, the facilities are much, much better.”
The club celebrates their tenth anniversary in June 2013.
Hill said: “We’re celebrating our ten year anniversary this year. I think the club has moved forward progressively in the last three or four years and playing a higher standard of football does allow us to attract a better calibre of person, although they need to fit in the Bexlians way.
“We’ve had some people come in the door who have been good players but have had bad attitudes and we wouldn’t like to upset the club for one player. We’ll move forward by attracting the right people to fit in for the long-term.
Hill explained the “Bexlians way.”
He said: “The style of football we like to play, keep the ball on the floor and keep the ball moving.
“It’s difficult to explain, but you have to be a certain type of person. We don’t suffer fools gladly and the Bexlians way is to give 100% whether we’re training or whether we’re playing a match on a Saturday afternoon.
“I demand 100% commitment from my players. In the ten games that we did lose last year there were times there when people weren’t fully committed and to be successful you need to have that commitment. Stop going on holidays when the football season is on, which is what you get at this level. I’m going away with my girlfriend this weekend. When you’re paying players they probably think twice about it but when people are paying subs into the club they will come and go when they want really.”
Hill revealed that it costs around £10,000 to run the first team and reserve team every season – which is roughly the same as a weekly wage bill for a Conference South club.
He said: “To run our two sides over the last two or three seasons our turnover has been around £10,000 and that’s for the first team and reserves.
“Referee’s expenses, pitches, training facilities, training kit, match balls, training balls, that’s funded by sponsors and players paying their weekly subs and their signing on fee.
“It’s difficult. When you’re attracting players who comes in who isn’t working or is a student. We want them to play because we’re trying to do things in the community and create a community club as such, but there’s only so much you can discount.
“It costs a lot of money. It’s a big financial burden and if we get into the Premier next season we’ll be having three officials each week instead of just one, but I’d take that! I’d rather have three officials than a club linesman!
“We’ve had to put up with that for a long, long time. I put a little bit of money into it the same as the players on a monthly basis and I think the players would pay an extra pound to have three officials every week to stop all the arguments.
“It’s good fun running the club and our goals and aspirations is to go as high as we can, our facilities will allow us to.
“I did contact a few clubs, Holmesdale and Beckenham to talk to them about a groundshare. One did get back to me and I had decent conversations with them but others didn’t call me back. The sort of money that people are asking for, we just don’t have it.
“We’ve also got to think about our reserve team as well. We run the club as a club. Our teams aren’t separate. Everyone trains together and we run the club as a club, not as two separate teams.
“I wouldn’t want to do it any other way to be honest. We are where we are. Unless the Euro Millions come up for me tonight we’ll be staying in the Kent County League, but who knows what the future might hold for everybody.
“We’re happy where we are. It’s important to be competitive on the pitch rather than go into these higher leagues and not to be competitive because I think for my point of view that’s not the way things should be done really.”
Meanwhile, the club begins the search for a new reserve team manager after losing Neil Proctor, who Hill revealed has taken over the first team manager’s job at Kent Invicta League club Eltham Palace.
Bexlians’ reserves will be playing in the newly-formed Division Three of the Haart of Kent County League next season.
Applicants must hold a minimum level 1 coaching badge or have actually played to a reasonable standard and must be able to make training nights on a Wednesday and be available on Saturday’s.
If you are interested and would like to have a chat about the club please call Danny Hill on 07713 113 279 or email bexliansfc@hotmail.co.uk.
Visit Bexlians’ website: www.bexliansfc.co.uk
Red Dragon I.T. Ltd