The success of the late 1950s would not last as Lionel Smith’s ageing side gradually retired and the manager himself stood down after five years in 1960. With the Southern League introducing a new lower division, the spectre of relegation haunted the Fleet for the first time and although the club escaped it for three seasons, they dropped out of the Premier Division at the end of 1962/63.

Once again, financial concerns meant that the Sixties were a torrid time for Fleet fans. In six of seven seasons from 1963 to 1969, the Fleet finished in the bottom three and crowds dwindled to three figures.

In 1967 the entire Board resigned en masse, leaving the club with nothing but a ground and considerable debts and in one 12-month period from 1967-68 there were four managers, former player Jackie Bridge lasting only two matches in charge before resigning.

Former Dartford boss Alf Ackerman took the reins in 1968 which saw a gradual upturn in the club’s fortunes as the Seventies dawned.

Poor as the Sixties were, it was during this period that the club enjoyed our best ever FA Cup run when the Fleet reached a Fourth Round replay at Sunderland, at the time setting a record of more than five months as the longest cup run of any team in the long history of the competition. A 1-1 draw with the Black Cats at Stonebridge Road produced the ground’s record attendance of more than 12,000 to earn the Roker Park replay that was in turn watched by 29,000+.

Ironically given their league form, the Fleet enjoyed much more FA Cup success in the Sixties than in the decade before, with Round Two and two successive Round One appearances immediately following the great 1962/63 cup run.