Formed in 1916 by workers employed at the Vickers armaments factory in Crayford, VCD (Vickers, Crayford and Dartford) Athletic is one of only a handful of teams to have originated during the time of the Great War. Vickers spent its formative years playing in various Junior Leagues around the County until the 1996/97 season which saw the club win the Kent County Premier Division title for the first time in their history by a record 15 points. Senior status was awarded to the club that same year and a successful application to join the Kent League followed. After 12 seasons they won the Kent League title in 2008/09 but spent just one season in the Isthmian League Division One North.
An 8th place finish made this first season a success, but the Isthmian League stunned the club when they deemed ground issues warranted demotion and they were demoted back to the Kent League. Three seasons later, in 2012/13 they finished runners-up to Erith & Belvedere and this enabled the club to gain promotion to the Isthmian League. The Isthmian North was won at the first attempt and promotion to the Premier took the club to its highest ever level on the pyramid in their 98-year history. Immediate relegation loomed until Vickers won their last six games of the 2014/15 season to move themselves five points clear of the drop zone, but one season later the inevitable happened finishing bottom of the table and relegated back to the Isthmian North for 2016/17 where they ended in 15th place. They were moved to the South for 2017/18.
Herne Bay’s record in the Kent League against VCD between 1996/97 and 2011/12 was played 28, won 9, drew 7, lost 12, goals scored 42, goals conceded 44. The last time the two sides met was in August 2012 in the Kent League Challenge Shield when Vickers came out on top 3-2 with an own goal and Calum McGeehan scoring for Bay. This will be the first meeting in the Isthmian League.
VCD started this league campaign with an 5-0 opening day thumping at the hands of Faversham Town and followed that by shipping a further three goals without scoring at Whyteleafe. An improvement followed, beating Ashford United 5-2 and Thamesmead Town 3-1, before inflicting the first defeat on top of the table Walton Casuals 3-2 in mid-week. VCD sit 7th in the table, 8 places and 3 points above Herne Bay, but they have played one game more. They tasted FA Cup Preliminary Round defeat 3-2 at East Grinstead Town.
Gambian striker Kemo Darboe has netted five league goals. He was previously with Peckham United, Lewisham Borough, Woking, Billericay Town, Sittingbourne, Dulwich Hamlet and AC Oulu in Finland and also represented Norwich City Under 21s whilst on trial at Carrow Road.