Aylesbury United and the old Folkestone  club – Folkestone FC/Folkestone Town – met a few times when both were together in the old Southern League, back in what we can now consider almost days of yore!

The Buckinghamshire club was originally formed way back in 1897 from three local junior teams, Night School FC, The Printing Works and Aylesbury Town, going on to play successfully at amateur level for many years.

In 1951 they became the first – and only ever – side from the now long defunct Delphian League to reach the First Round Proper of the FA Cup where they lost to Watford, then a Third Division club from the Football League.

The Ducks opted to turn semi-professional in 1976 heralding what was arguably the club’s most successful period in the Southern League.

Seven years later they brought in Trevor Gould as manager, joined the following season by local lad Cliff Hercules with both destined to become Aylesbury legends in their own times.

They won the Southern League championship in 1987/88 and promotion to the original GM Vauxhall Conference, but their stay was to last only that one year.

But between 1985 and 1992, The Ducks could boast the best FA Cup record of any non-league club, reaching at least the First Round Proper in each of those seven seasons – highlights including beating then Division Four leaders Southend United and a narrow extra-time replay defeat against Northampton Town.

It was during that time in the late 1980s that Invicta director Cliff Egan recalls an unhappy visit to  Buckingham Road.

Cliff, then as many of you know a goalkeeper, with Folkestone Town, played in what, from memory, he believes was a cup tie of some kind, in which his team-mate, left back (David) ‘Stan’ Gardiner suffered a very seriously broken leg.

He said: “I think we lost 2-0 and Stan went in for a challenge just outside the box.  I heard the crack from the other end.

“I think he was taken to Addenbrookes Hospital (Cambridge) if I remember. It was certainly not a good day.”

Cliff added: “When I finished playing I took over running the reserves from the late John Tredwell and was joined by Stan – then still recovering from his broken leg at Aylesbury where we brought through a number of good youngsters who were to play a few games for the first team in their time.”

Folkestone Town was finally wound up by ‘benefactor’ Sid de Haan with debts of more than £200,000 ahead of the 1989/90 season with the local intermediate level Kent County League club, Folkestone Invicta taking over the tenancy of the Cheriton Road Ground two years later, graduating through the reserve division of the Kent League to earn both promotion to the Kent League Premier Division and senior status by season 1992/93.

The rest, as they say, is history though ‘Stan’ Gardiner and his wife Kim, followed Dennis Hunt, Timmy Todd, Mick Dix, his late wife Heather and others in becoming stalwarts of the Invicta youth section, which thanks to them and latterly current head youth coach Paul Stanton, has produced a host of excellent young players, who have contributed so much to Folkestone Invicta Football Club.

While Cliff ‘s – and clearly Stan’s – memories of playing at Aylesbury United were not, obviously that enjoyable those of our manager, many supporters – and indeed our own club legend Micheal Everitt -are far more cheerful – please see separate article which follows.