Benenden Village Hall is proud to have Staplehurst Monarchs Football Club Development Side playing their home matches on Sunday mornings during the football season on the football pitch / recreation field at the hall. Other teams from Staplehurst Monarchs Football Club also use the football pitch for occasional matches.
Thanks to a joint initiative by Benenden Village Trust, Benenden Village Hall, Staplehurst Monarchs Football Club, and grant support from the Football Foundation new goalposts were purchased and the pitch lines marked out.
The Staplehurst Monarchs Development Team, established to bridge the gap between youth and senior football, primarily consists of U18 players transitioning into the men’s game. Managed by Wayne Totterdell, the side competes in the SCEFL Development League, with additional U23 and Men’s Development teams participating in local leagues to support the club’s extensive youth-to-adult structure.
Staplehurst Monarchs have almost 30 youth and adult sides providing football for men, women, girls and boys of all abilities from across the Weald of Kent. Looking for a second base in the area to host matches, Wayne Totterdell, manager of their new Development side, has worked with BVT and Benenden Village Hall to source funding from the Football Foundation for the purchase of new state of the art box net goals for the recreation ground. The additional funding required was raised by Wayne, who organised a Staplehurst Monarchs U18’s fundraising match against a Bell & Jorrocks All Star side at Frittenden.
The removal of the old goals and installation of the new goals was kindly undertaken by Wayne and a team of volunteers from Monarchs, including local contractor Steve Fagg, who very kindly provided his services and equipment free of charge.
The goalposts will be kept in situ for use by all the community and for all the budding future football stars in the village. The goal nets and supports are removed after each game for safekeeping and to prevent injury to wildlife, etc. Benenden Village Hall should be contacted regarding hire / use of the goal nets and changing rooms. Hirers would need to provide their own corner flags as we do not currently have a set that can be hired.
The Football Pitch
Our football pitch is an 11-a-side pitch (approx. 95m x 54m) with full size goals. There are changing rooms with showers & toilets which can also be hired.
Benenden Village Hall does not have a groundskeeper to maintain the football pitch. Therefore, the pitch is unofficially sub-leased to Staplehurst Monarchs Football Club who maintain the pitch, markings, equipment, etc. Any other hirers would need to ensure the pitch was sufficiently marked or mark it out themselves.
The pitch is clay soil and as such drainage is fairly poor. Whilst it is hoped that a further grant can be secured for pitch improvements, it is not currently feasible for too many matches to take place on a regular basis. It is hoped that improvements to the pitch will allow more matches to take place and for other football teams to use our facilities.
