CLUB INFO Cliff Edwards became the club's first Player Manager but he was unable to turn matters around finishing 18th in 1950/51 and a miserable 21st in 1951/52 requiring a successful plea for re-election. The financial position continued to be serious and a return to the Kent League was seriously considered. Fortunately the doubts were swept away and for 1952/53 many of the signings were full time players under the club's fourth Manager Dick Roche. He resigned during the season because of his teaching commitments and was replaced by Bill Moss.
The club were having a fine season with the league championship a real possibility until a freak accident finished the career of lethal sharpshooter George Brewster whose 33 goals in 34 games had proved so important - a defenders clearance in a game against Lovells left him with a detached retina at a time when ophthalmic skills were much less sophisticated than today. (A similar accident was to affect the career of the club's greatest ever goalscorer some 40 years later.) The confidence seemed to drain out of the club and they slid down the table as a 20 game unbeaten run turned into a nightmare series of results with just 3 wins from the last 16 league games and a strong title bid turned into an eventual 9th position. Success was however sustain on one front - the Kent Senior Cup and the coveted trophy was lifted for a second time with a 2-1 over old rivals Dartford at Gillingham in front of 8,874 spectators
The 1953/54 season saw the club making a major innovation as the first club in Kent - and one of the first in the country to install floodlighting and a whole host of friendlies against both Football League and foreign opposition attracted huge crowds. The official opening saw First Division Charlton thrill a 7,000 crowd with an exciting exhibition of football in a 4-1 victory on 23rd September 1953. That apart, highlights were few and a disappointing 15th position meant an exit for Bill Moss and the return of former Northfleet United Bill Whatley as manager for the 1954/55 season
The experiment of full-time players was ended after two seasons with a simple terse comment from the Chairman "It has not come up to expectations" - nor sadly did most of the newcomers as a nightmare season began, not until the 20th league game of the season did the Fleet collect a victory, 2-1 over Bedford, followed by the major signing of Jimmy Logie after a glorious career at Arsenal, despite strong opposition for his signature from Football League clubs, proved to be the signing point for the club. Form improved but the Fleet were unable to get off the bottom of the league due to such an appalling start to the season but clearly progress was being made. The introduction of Lionel Smith as Manager gave the club a continued strong Arsenal connection and a gradual rise up the table in 1955/56 to 12th and 5th in 1956/57 paving the way for the best season yet in 1957/58
In those days of the maximum wage structure in the Football League, Smith was able to sign players direct from the top clubs and in doing so based his team on experience with the forward line particularly lethal - as opponents soon found out. The inside trio Jimmy Logie, Eric Day and Bob Thomas combined with the goal grabbing ability of lively wingers Jimmy Scarth and Jimmy Robertson made them one of the best attacks ever to grace the Southern League as the 135 goals registered in league and cup games indicated. Only Cheltenham prevented a glorious double as they took the League Cup with a 4-1 aggregate victory in the final
The 1958/59 season was another good one for the Fleet, finishing second to Bedford in the South Eastern Section in a season of expansion for the Southern League to produce a Premier and First Division with promotion and relegation for 1959/60. Hopes were high that the Fleet would be among the challengers and the signing of experienced Northampton pair Barry Hawkings and Kevin Barron along with teenage goalkeeping protégé Norman Coe from Arsenal on loan for the season mixed with the already successful side appeared an exciting cocktail and for a while it was. Then, in December Jimmy Logie decided it was time to go, and after summoning up one last effort to help to destroy Wisbech 7-1 in his last game, he was off and the Fleet's season of promise suddenly went pear-shaped. Barron and Hawkings were released from their lucrative contracts on free transfers as finances again became tight, and, from a solid position in the Autumn, the club only narrowly avoided relegation. It really was the end of an era as Manager Lionel Smith resigned and most of the championship side had gone too...
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