Now known as the Kent Senior Cup it was originally named, until the 1897–98 season, as the Kent Cup with the first competition played during the 1888–89 season. The cup itself, engraved as the "Kent County Football Association Challenge Cup", cost £33 and is made of 62 ounces of silver and surmounted by the rampant horse of Kent. (2018 Photograph). The Kent Cup competition was preceded as the KCFA's County knock-out tournament by the Kent County Badge: this was first competed for in 1886 and won for each of its three seasons by
Chatham – who were also the first winners of the Kent Cup. Following the founding of the
Kent League in 1894 for the three seasons from 1894–95 until 1896–97 the Kent Cup was awarded to the champions of the League. The knock-out competition for the cup resumed from the 1897–98 season when it was renamed the Kent Senior Cup, with
Gravesend United the winners. For the 1919–1920 season only a trophy presented as a gift to the KCFA named as the Victory Cup replaced the Kent Senior Cup trophy. The competition was suspended for four seasons between 1914 and 1918 owing to the
World War I and there have been two other seasons in which the Kent Senior Cup has not been competed for: in 1940–1941 owing to
World War II; and 2020–2021 owing to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Initially the final of the competition was played at a venue pre-selected by the KCFA: for the first six seasons this was at Chatham, then after taking place at New Brompton, Ashford, Tunbridge Wells and returning to Chatham for one season the final was held at Faversham for the next six years. For a long spell between 1908 until 1950 the venue for the final was the
Athletic Ground, Maidstone (except 1942 at Belvedere). Thereafter the final was held mostly at the
Priestfield Stadium, Gillingham until 1965 after which for the next eight seasons it was contested (as it had been in the 1961–62 season) over
two legs held at each of the finalists ground with the aggregate score determining the winner. The venue for the final then reverted to Maidstone then to Gillingham for fourteen seasons. Then following playing the final at
Sittingbourne and for the first time outside Kent at
Millwall, since 1998 (with several exceptions) the winner of a
coin toss between the final protagonists decided which would have the choice to host the final match. The semi–finals were played on neutral grounds until the mid-1950s. From 1902 until 1961 the final took place on
Easter Monday and into the 1950s would attract in excess of ten thousand spectators – 13,119 were at the 1951–1952 final between
Kent League club
Dover and
Southern League club
Dartford. Between 1983 until 2002 the final was held on the early May
bank holiday however since then the final has struggled for a set date owing to end of season
promotion and relegation play-off matches and in the 2007–2008 season was even deferred until the 2008–2009 pre–season. The 2013–14 Kent Senior Cup competition marked the 125th anniversary since its inception in the 1888–89 season; to celebrate the landmark the final took place at
Priestfield Stadium, home of Gillingham FC. The match was won by
Ebbsfleet United who beat
Dover Athletic 4–0 – the winning club being a descendant of
Northfleet United who in the 1920s achieved an enduring record of five consecutive season Kent Senior Cup wins. Past winners of the Kent Senior Cup include
Royal Arsenal (now Arsenal) in
1889–90, and
Gillingham in
1945–46 and
1947–48; the two sides went on to become members of the
Premier League and
Football League respectively. Both
Charlton Athletic and
Maidstone United won the cup whilst members of the Football league and Gillingham have continued to compete. The Football League clubs field a development team rather than their full league side in the competition.
Sponsorship For the following periods the Kent Senior Cup has been sponsored by: • 1980 to 1986: the Chatham Reliance Building Society • 1986 to 1997:
Facit, the Rochester based Swedish office business machine company • 2001?: Bose • 2003 to 2007: John Ullman, named after the Kent football patron • 2010 to 2014: portablefoodlights.com • 2014–2018:
Kent Reliance Building society who revived their sponsorship from thirty years previously • 2022 to 2025:
DFDS, the ferry operator (who sponsored all the Kent County Cups) • 2025 onwards:
GoCardless, the payment platform provider (who sponsored all the Kent County Cups) ==Cup Final Matches==