Kentish Football 
We want everyone to come and enjoy themselves, says Dartford co-chairman Dave Skinner
Tickets for the BIGGEST EVER KENT DERBY were snapped up by three o’clock yesterday afternoon and Princes Park will house 4,000 passionate supporters as both Kent clubs do battle for a return to the top flight of non-league football.
Mr Skinner paid tribute to the club’s staff, who sold 3,000 tickets to eager Dartford supporters as play-off fever gripped both Kent clubs. Welling United have sold their allocation of 1,000 tickets.
He said: “I think we thought it might be an outside chance of selling out – it’s been quite incredible. It’s been absolutely manic. Nicola (Collett) and Clare (Weeks) were pulling their hair out!”
Dartford last played in the Conference in 1986 and the club’s faithful have suffered many lows since then and Mr Skinner, who was one of the “magnificent seven” that brought the club back off the floor back in 1992 would love to see Tony Burman and his players cross over the finishing line as heroes.
The Darts finished their campaign on 88 points as runners-up to Woking (97), who clinched the automatic promotion spot.
“It’s right down to a Cup Final. Whoever does well on the day will win it and that’s it. We’ll just take it as it comes,” said Mr Skinner
“Obviously we’ve had discussions and ideas about what we have to do (if we go up). There’s no point making detailed plans until we actually know.
“It’s been a fantastic season. It doesn’t matter what happens on Sunday now. We’ve had a great season. We’ve far exceeded our expectations. It will be a disappointment but I wouldn’t like it to ruin the whole season if we lose on Sunday.
The Darts met the Wings over Christmas, with Dartford picking up four points against Jamie Day’s side.
But all that goes out of the window in Sunday’s winner-takes-all showdown.
“Two tough games over Christmas so we know what to expect, so we’ll give it a go and see what happens,” added Mr Skinner.
It’s been an upward spiral since the club moved into Princes Park in November 2006.
Mr Skinner said: “As you say when we moved in we had that capacity crowd for the first day and we thought it would take a few years’ before it ever comes again and lol and behold here it is!”
Dartford’s co-chairman hopes both sets of supporters will do their club’s justice and make it a party atmosphere – win or lose!
Mr Skinner said: “Welling fans are segregated off in the car park end. The only real thing is to say please get there relatively early to avoid the last minute crush and when you get to the stadium please move down into the terracing areas, don’t hang around the steps as that is a problem we do have getting everyone down into the areas so they can see the game properly.”
Mr Skinner revealed the club had to purchase tickets two days prior to their second leg against Basingstoke Town, which saw the Darts win 2-1 on home soil, and it’s been manic since as the club prepare for its biggest and most important at Princes Park Stadium.
“If we had more time we would have had different colour tickets for Welling and all the rest of it. It was done in short notice. We had to order the tickets last Friday, which was a bit of a gamble but that was what the League ordered us to do so we had ordered the tickets and hopefully we went through!”
Sunday’s game will prove that Kent has the best football supporters around, with passionate support coming from all sides of the stadium in what will be a game of high quality.
Mr Skinner said: “If people are sensible than there won’t be a problem. We had 2,500 there on New Years’ Day with all the fans’ mixing quite happily, so from our point of view there shouldn’t be a problem.
“Obvious the Police take a different view and for safety sake they decided to segregate. We’ll go along with that. We’ll do it. If everyone acts peacefully and normally then it won’t be a problem.
“We want everyone to come and enjoy themselves. Win or lose you applaud the winners and commiserate the losers and then we all go home safely and happily.”
Visit Dartford’s websites: www.dartfordfconline.com & www.dartfordfootballclub.com
Dartford v Welling United
Blue Square Bet South Play-Off Final
Sunday 13th May 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Princes Park Stadium, Grassbanks, Darenth Road, Dartford, Kent DA1 1RT
Red Dragon I.T. Ltd