Thanet derby

The Thanet derby is the name given to football matches between Margate (known as Thanet United between 1981 and 1989) and Ramsgate (known as Ramsgate Athletic until 1972), the two senior non-league teams located on the Isle of Thanet.cite web
url=http://www.kentnews.co.uk/kent-news/Westview-cup-draw-throws-up-derbies-newsinkent1301.aspx
title=Westview cup draw throws up derbies
publisher=kentnews.co.uk
date=2006-08-08
accessdate=2007-12-01] cite web
url=http://www.whitstabletownfc.co.uk/content/view/558/2/
title=Mark Wyver with all the Kent Football goals
publisher=Whitstable Town Football Club
accessdate=2007-12-01] The two clubs played each other regularly between 1946 and 1972 but did not then meet in league competition until 2006, when considerable local interest saw both clubs record their highest attendances of the season for the derby match.

History

Margate F.C. was formed in 1896 and played fixtures for many years against such Ramsgate teams as Ramsgate St George's and Ramsgate Town, but the modern Ramsgate club was not formed until 1945. Both clubs joined the Kent League for the 1946–47 season,cite web
url=http://www.fchd.info/MARGATE.HTM
title=Margate
publisher=The Football Club History Database
accessdate=2007-12-01] cite web
url=http://www.fchd.info/RAMSGATA.HTM
title=Ramsgate
publisher=The Football Club History Database
accessdate=2007-12-01] and faced each other for the first time on Christmas Day 1946, with Margate winning 6–3 in front of a crowd of 2,500, the club's highest league gate of the season.

The Thanet derby took place every season until 1962–63, switching to the Southern League when both clubs joined that league after the collapse of the Kent League in 1959. In 1963 Margate gained promotion to the Southern League Premier Division, and the two clubs did not meet again until the 1966–67 season, when Margate returned to the Southern League Division One after being relegated. Margate were promoted back to the Premier Division at the first attempt and the clubs remained in different divisions until the 1972–73 season, when Ramsgate joined their rivals in the Premier Division after gaining promotion. The "Rams" were relegated after just one season in the Premier Division, however, and the two clubs then remained in different leagues for over thirty years and thus did not meet in league competition, although they were drawn to play each other twice in the FA Cup, with Margate winning both matches. In the late 1980s and early 1990s a one-off challenge match between the two clubs, sponsored by a local newspaper and thus named the Isle of Thanet Gazette Cup, was played on five occasions, with each team winning on two occasions and the trophy being shared after a draw in the third match.cite web
url=http://www.margatefchistory.co.uk/honours.htm
title=Honours
publisher=margatefchistory.co.uk
accessdate=2007-12-01]

In the 2006–07 season, after Ramsgate secured two promotions in consecutive seasons, the two clubs met once again in the Isthmian League Premier Division. Local interest was high, and each club registered its highest attendance of the season for the Thanet derby match. The match at Margate's Hartsdown Park stadium drew a crowd of 1,676, one of only two crowds over 800 at Margate that season. Similarly, the match at Ramsgate's Southwood ground was watched by 1,762 fans, nearly triple Ramsgate's second highest attendance of the season. [cite web
url=http://www.tonykempster.co.uk/archive06-07/ilpatt.htm
title=Attendances: Isthmian League Premier Division
publisher=tonykempster.co.uk
accessdate=2007-12-01]

Results

The home team's score is given first in each case.

League matches

References