Grier's Guide to Folkestone Invicta
The match: Folkestone Invicta v Kingstonian, Isthmian Premier. Saturday 1 April, 3pm.
The club: Founded in 1936 they became the town's main club when Folkestone FC folded in 1990. They've been Isthmian League members since the big restructure in 2004. They won Division 1 South in 2016 after suffering agony in playoff finals in the two previous seasons, including a defeat to Hayden Bird's Merstham.
The town: Channel port that has seen decline as a ferry terminal since the opening of the nearby Channel Tunnel. Famous residents have included the late June Brown (Dot Cotton), Michael Howard (former Tory leader) and members of the band Morcheeba (who in 2004 had their song What's Your Name spectacularly parodied by Ks fans in honour of goalkeeper Barry Marchena).
The ground: BuildKent Stadium, Cheriton Road, Folkestone, CT19 5JU. An old-school non-league ground with good-sized terraces at both ends. It's great but unfortunately they don't make 'em like that any more.
Tickets: £12 adults; £9 students/concessions; £3 5-18 year olds; U5s free
Directions: Planned rail strikes have just, at time of writing, been suspended - hopefully in enough time to allow a normal timetable to run. The nearest station is Folkestone West, just 53 minutes from St Pancras on the high speed line, or you can get the cheaper but much slower route from Waterloo East. By car, follow the M20 more or less all the way until you eventually get to the coast - it should be about an hour and a half from Kingston as long as the motorway is OK. You can park at the ground.
Our record there: Generally pretty bad - a 5-1 hammering last season continued a long tradition of poor results at Folkestone.
Players to watch: They've recently sold their free-scoring talisman Adam Yusuff to Hornchurch as The Urchins chase the league title. Midfielder Ian Gayle had two spells at Ks late in Alan Dowson's era.
Recent form: 11th in the league, although defeats in their last two mean they're now quite a longshot for making the playoffs.
Crowd: Like a lot of sides from fairly big towns outside of London, their crowds have boomed since the Covid pandemic - their average this season is 724, way up on what it was when we used to visit. They've always been capable of making some noise and it won't be an easy atmosphere.
Drinking: The Chambers in the town centre is an underground den of good beer, cheap food and sometimes live music. It's just a few doors up the road from The Firkin Alehouse, a micropub of the style highly popular in Kent. They're nearer to Folkestone Central so you need to stay on the train one more stop. If you don't have time to head into town the closest pub to the ground is the Nailbox just the other side of Folkestone West station.
Food: Chambers is just round the corner from Papa's, a good chippie which is a short walk from nice views over the Channel. There's not much around the ground but Cheriton Road has a few fast food options about half a mile before you get there if coming by car.
