The Eighties began with plenty of optimism as Fleet sat proudly in the national Alliance Premier League with a talented and entertaining squad of players.

A new set of floodlights were opened with a friendly against full-strength European champions Nottingham Forest that saw Stonebridge Road’s biggest crowd since the FA Cup tie against Sunderland in 1963, a total of 6,000 witnessing a memorable evening. 

But things began to sour and when manager Tony Sitford departed in December 1980, the downturn began. There was a Kent Senior Cup triumph in 1981 but the Fleet were relegated on the final day of the 1981/82 season after three years in the top division.

The first of a series of financial crises saw chairman Roger Easterby and several key players depart in late 1982, with the Fleet £80,000 in debt. The club stabilised for a while but in 1986 amidst more boardroom turmoil, the Fleet were relegated to their lowest ever level, sinking into the seventh-tier Southern League Southern Division.

It took the Fleet three more years to regain a Premier Division place and that came only after the club’s nearest brush with closure after mounting debts once again threatened the existence. Chairman Lionel Ball together with a Board made up of volunteers from the fanbase, masterminded promotion in 1988/89 as manager Dennis Moore and the Fleet finished runners-up behind Chelmsford City.

That campaign also saw the only real cup success of the decade as Fleet beat Conference leading lights Barnet and Kettering Town in a memorable FA Trophy run that was ended at Macclesfield Town in the club’s 11th tie of the competition that season.