FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round - Hadley FC v Dartford - Sat 4 Oct 2025

[Sleightly Deceptive]

Let’s keep our comments accurate folks. Air our views about onfield performance, that is of paramount concern. Other stuff about off-field affairs in my humble opinion are way off the mark!

As for defeat to lower level teams in this season’s cup competitions Bracknell Town operate at the same level as we do (though we still should have beaten them).

Of course it is the responsibility of the Board to address matters on the pitch and, as I said after last Tuesdays game, October would be crucial to that decision. Yesterdays debacle may have to accelerate the process.

“Accuracy” here might be subjective. The forum is about the Football Club not just performances. We have a right old mix of fans and opinions and (healthy) debate are important whatever the aspect of the club. The bar, bogs, food, ground, Board, manager, team and individuals are fair game. As long as it’s not insulting. Though Dowson did come in for some Devil’s own abuse. (And from me. )

Personally, I don’t like to see the Board criticised after what they have achieved. But can they move us forward in this ever growing cash frenzy of non-league football? I think they can but it’s gonna need investment. I think.

Is Ady actually the real problem? He did well last season. Ish. He IS a lovely bloke but opinions change quickly in football. If Ady has a toxic dressing room (my opinion) then, I guess, the buck stops with him and he has to act. And quickly.

Rapid change has to be witnessed and soon. We can’t go ‘on and on’ with the problem like we did with Dowson.

It’s only the Cups. Personally, I don’t give one fig that we’re out of them. (Though I still dream of a third round tie at the Emirates ) We have to concentrate on getting out of this tin-pot pub league. And we are on an unbeaten run!

[Tony H]

Let’s talk BUDGET shall we - it cost me yesterday £20 travel, £10 admission, £13 round at the bar and £10 for food (total of £53 for that !!!!!)

Sorry to state the obvious, but next weeks game at Brentwood is crucial and we haven’t won away since we beat Whitehawk in April.

[Paulcanary]

Tin pot league sums it up exactly

We need changes ……I’ll be DFC forever but it’s turned into a joke …….we will die if we won’t change it soon or some will be content to going to be in an even lower level….,

Some of us (still on here) followed Darts across England in 2012-15. It’s all Too painful now.

[Tony H]

Not sure why people call this a tinpot league, but hey-ho! We have got to earn the right to promotion back to the NLS, we have no given right to it.

[Colspaz]

Can’t comment on yesterday’s game as I was not there. On what is wrong with the club I personally feel that the way the club is set up is now holding us back. The board of directors are all nice people and want the best for the club as far as I’m aware none of them have vast amounts of money they can put into the club and why should they when they have no way of owning anymore of the club than anyone else. I think it’s now time for the board to come to shareholders and ask to look at changing the way the club is run. Allowing one person to own more of the club but not total control.

[Sleightly Deceptive]

Not sure why people call this a tinpot league, but hey-ho! We have got to earn the right to promotion back to the NLS, we have no given right to it.

It’s merely an exaggeration of where we have slide to Tone. One can’t forget its where we came from. Well, en route.

[Lars Resort]

It's hardly a tin pot league. The top 5 or 6 are putting money into the clubs which we are not keeping up with.
But we have a team that finished 3rd last season and were 90 minutes from promotion.
When most of that squad put pen to paper in the summer that told me they wanted to carry on with the same intention and do the job properly.
We were all ecstatic with that and had high hopes.
So, the manager for me is not the problem. To some extent nor are the players. Having said that Denzelle is not the same player I and others were raving about back in April. He in my opinion, is a shadow of himself who has not had a good game so far.
Questionably Henly hasn't had a great start, the back four is not a settled area and when Tennet came in, after two games, suddenly doesn't seem to be the answer.
Discipline has gone out of the window, Callum isn't putting the goals away and Carruthers isn't exactly making the impact when he starts or comes on.
Too many things are mis-firing all at once, not to mention injuries, or budget.
Will Ade be given time to sort it?
But to call it a tin pot league is a mistake, for me we will be lucky to make the top six this season but relegation material is not going to be a matter.

[DartfordHero]

It's hardly a tin pot league. The top 5 or 6 are putting money into the clubs which we are not keeping up with.
But we have a team that finished 3rd last season and were 90 minutes from promotion.
When most of that squad put pen to paper in the summer that told me they wanted to carry on with the same intention and do the job properly.
We were all ecstatic with that and had high hopes.
So, the manager for me is not the problem. To some extent nor are the players. Having said that Denzelle is not the same player I and others were raving about back in April. He in my opinion, is a shadow of himself who has not had a good game so far.
Questionably Henly hasn't had a great start, the back four is not a settled area and when Tennet came in, after two games, suddenly doesn't seem to be the answer.
Discipline has gone out of the window, Callum isn't putting the goals away and Carruthers isn't exactly making the impact when he starts or comes on.
Too many things are mis-firing all at once, not to mention injuries, or budget.
Will Ade be given time to sort it?
But to call it a tin pot league is a mistake, for me we will be lucky to make the top six this season but relegation material is not going to be a matter.

This is absolutely a tinpot league and if our club was actually managed properly we would never be in here. This is the problem that some supporters and I assume the board have is that they are just happy to keep going with the decline because its not big enough to be concerned about. Well I would think for most of us, seeing us now stuck in this tinpot league, losing cup games against lower teams and just overall having a poor and unfit squad is a real concern and something that is quickly making us an embarrassment. There is no game we play at the moment where I consider us favourites or think we will win because the players just dont have the right attitude or willingness to actually try at times. The squad is filled with injuries and then put on top of that suspensions we were already down to the bare bones. Seemingly we arent getting anyone coming in on loan, is that because Ady has no contacts or we've dropped so far down the leagues that no league teams see it as a benefit to loan players out to us now. I think we are sleepwalking at board level right into another relegation and even if we dont and we finish midtable, that is shocking in itself

[Tony H]

It's hardly a tin pot league. The top 5 or 6 are putting money into the clubs which we are not keeping up with.
But we have a team that finished 3rd last season and were 90 minutes from promotion.
When most of that squad put pen to paper in the summer that told me they wanted to carry on with the same intention and do the job properly.
We were all ecstatic with that and had high hopes.
So, the manager for me is not the problem. To some extent nor are the players. Having said that Denzelle is not the same player I and others were raving about back in April. He in my opinion, is a shadow of himself who has not had a good game so far.
Questionably Henly hasn't had a great start, the back four is not a settled area and when Tennet came in, after two games, suddenly doesn't seem to be the answer.
Discipline has gone out of the window, Callum isn't putting the goals away and Carruthers isn't exactly making the impact when he starts or comes on.
Too many things are mis-firing all at once, not to mention injuries, or budget.
Will Ade be given time to sort it?
But to call it a tin pot league is a mistake, for me we will be lucky to make the top six this season but relegation material is not going to be a matter.

This is absolutely a tinpot league and if our club was actually managed properly we would never be in here. This is the problem that some supporters and I assume the board have is that they are just happy to keep going with the decline because its not big enough to be concerned about. Well I would think for most of us, seeing us now stuck in this tinpot league, losing cup games against lower teams and just overall having a poor and unfit squad is a real concern and something that is quickly making us an embarrassment. There is no game we play at the moment where I consider us favourites or think we will win because the players just dont have the right attitude or willingness to actually try at times. The squad is filled with injuries and then put on top of that suspensions we were already down to the bare bones. Seemingly we arent getting anyone coming in on loan, is that because Ady has no contacts or we've dropped so far down the leagues that no league teams see it as a benefit to loan players out to us now. I think we are sleepwalking at board level right into another relegation and even if we dont and we finish midtable, that is shocking in itself

My friend, I have to disagree with you. Please define “tinpot league”. I’m not saying we should be here, and I would say there are some tinpot clubs in the league, but this, at present, is our level and to improve we have to do something about it. I will repeat - we have no god-given right to be at a level above this. Stadiums don’t win promotions, players on the pitch do and, from what I’m seeing, we’re not good enough.

Lars - you are absolutely spot on. One or two players are going through the motions, one in particular that you named.

Let’s see what happens shall we. Saturdays game at Brentwood is crucial for me!

[Lars Resort]

I would also like to point out that I am not happy with the decline of the club.

[KentC]

It's hardly a tin pot league. The top 5 or 6 are putting money into the clubs which we are not keeping up with.
But we have a team that finished 3rd last season and were 90 minutes from promotion.
When most of that squad put pen to paper in the summer that told me they wanted to carry on with the same intention and do the job properly.
We were all ecstatic with that and had high hopes.
So, the manager for me is not the problem. To some extent nor are the players. Having said that Denzelle is not the same player I and others were raving about back in April. He in my opinion, is a shadow of himself who has not had a good game so far.
Questionably Henly hasn't had a great start, the back four is not a settled area and when Tennet came in, after two games, suddenly doesn't seem to be the answer.
Discipline has gone out of the window, Callum isn't putting the goals away and Carruthers isn't exactly making the impact when he starts or comes on.
Too many things are mis-firing all at once, not to mention injuries, or budget.
Will Ade be given time to sort it?
But to call it a tin pot league is a mistake, for me we will be lucky to make the top six this season but relegation material is not going to be a matter.

This is absolutely a tinpot league and if our club was actually managed properly we would never be in here. This is the problem that some supporters and I assume the board have is that they are just happy to keep going with the decline because its not big enough to be concerned about. Well I would think for most of us, seeing us now stuck in this tinpot league, losing cup games against lower teams and just overall having a poor and unfit squad is a real concern and something that is quickly making us an embarrassment. There is no game we play at the moment where I consider us favourites or think we will win because the players just dont have the right attitude or willingness to actually try at times. The squad is filled with injuries and then put on top of that suspensions we were already down to the bare bones. Seemingly we arent getting anyone coming in on loan, is that because Ady has no contacts or we've dropped so far down the leagues that no league teams see it as a benefit to loan players out to us now. I think we are sleepwalking at board level right into another relegation and even if we dont and we finish midtable, that is shocking in itself

My friend, I have to disagree with you. Please define “tinpot league”. I’m not saying we should be here, and I would say there are some tinpot clubs in the league, but this, at present, is our level and to improve we have to do something about it. I will repeat - we have no god-given right to be at a level above this. Stadiums don’t win promotions, players on the pitch do and, from what I’m seeing, we’re not good enough.

Lars - you are absolutely spot on. One or two players are going through the motions, one in particular that you named.

Let’s see what happens shall we. Saturdays game at Brentwood is crucial for me!

Just because we’re in it and not doing well doesn’t mean it’s not Tinpot in the sense it’s meant. Looking at our supposed 5 year plans before, where we were and where we are now then I would agree it is very much a tinpot league in the flip off commented way it’s meant.
This does not mean we don’t deserve to be where we are because we do. We also have no divine right obviously. Everyone accepts where we are. That doesn’t make it a good league/division.
In the scheme of things with our recent history and ambitions, this to us is a tinpot pot league.
But, we deserve to be here no question.

[DartfordHero]

It's hardly a tin pot league. The top 5 or 6 are putting money into the clubs which we are not keeping up with.
But we have a team that finished 3rd last season and were 90 minutes from promotion.
When most of that squad put pen to paper in the summer that told me they wanted to carry on with the same intention and do the job properly.
We were all ecstatic with that and had high hopes.
So, the manager for me is not the problem. To some extent nor are the players. Having said that Denzelle is not the same player I and others were raving about back in April. He in my opinion, is a shadow of himself who has not had a good game so far.
Questionably Henly hasn't had a great start, the back four is not a settled area and when Tennet came in, after two games, suddenly doesn't seem to be the answer.
Discipline has gone out of the window, Callum isn't putting the goals away and Carruthers isn't exactly making the impact when he starts or comes on.
Too many things are mis-firing all at once, not to mention injuries, or budget.
Will Ade be given time to sort it?
But to call it a tin pot league is a mistake, for me we will be lucky to make the top six this season but relegation material is not going to be a matter.

This is absolutely a tinpot league and if our club was actually managed properly we would never be in here. This is the problem that some supporters and I assume the board have is that they are just happy to keep going with the decline because its not big enough to be concerned about. Well I would think for most of us, seeing us now stuck in this tinpot league, losing cup games against lower teams and just overall having a poor and unfit squad is a real concern and something that is quickly making us an embarrassment. There is no game we play at the moment where I consider us favourites or think we will win because the players just dont have the right attitude or willingness to actually try at times. The squad is filled with injuries and then put on top of that suspensions we were already down to the bare bones. Seemingly we arent getting anyone coming in on loan, is that because Ady has no contacts or we've dropped so far down the leagues that no league teams see it as a benefit to loan players out to us now. I think we are sleepwalking at board level right into another relegation and even if we dont and we finish midtable, that is shocking in itself

My friend, I have to disagree with you. Please define “tinpot league”. I’m not saying we should be here, and I would say there are some tinpot clubs in the league, but this, at present, is our level and to improve we have to do something about it. I will repeat - we have no god-given right to be at a level above this. Stadiums don’t win promotions, players on the pitch do and, from what I’m seeing, we’re not good enough.

Lars - you are absolutely spot on. One or two players are going through the motions, one in particular that you named.

Let’s see what happens shall we. Saturdays game at Brentwood is crucial for me!

If you don’t think this is a tinpot league then I am delighted for you and I hope you enjoy the football at PP for years to come because that’s what we will get used too

[Sleightly Deceptive]

Perhaps tinpot should be in inverted commas for literary clarity? It certainly is a ‘tinpot’ league in the sense that many on here are trying to relate to and the sense of where this club should sit in the pyramid. We were once regarded, and respected, as somewhat a powerhouse in the non-league pyramid. It wasn’t long ago that, Gillingham aside, we were the top Kent club. Look at all those that have overtaken us. We are rapidly falling behind and we’re in a ‘tinpot’ league and at a huge risk of becoming a ‘tinpot’ club - to others. That simply cannot happen. Can you imagine a further relegation? Someone on here said that’s not a worry, but we said that not so long ago didn’t we? Yes, this is DARTFORD FC, not, as Babylon, by a similar token to ‘tinpot,’ alluded to as the ‘Dog & Duck.’

Brentwood could be regarded as a ‘given’ and I’ll be amazed if we get anything more than a corner there. But the Whitehawk and Potters Bar (remember them?) games are absolutely massive and will pretty much define us in my humble opinion. Then Cray away (is it?) where a certain centre half will be itching to rub our noses in it. And I’m shaking like a shitting dog at the very thought!

[danson7park]

Somehow we went on a 21 Game unbeaten run last season, how I will never know because we weren't playing brilliant Football not blowing Teams away but scraping through games but the run did get us up into the playoffs, perhaps it bred some confidence. Well that sort of run won't be helping us this season that is for sure.

[Park Life]

Ady is a decent guy and I'm sure everyone wants him to succeed but recent performances have not been good enough and unfortunately the buck usually stops with the manager. He is also responsible for recruitment but 10 of yesterdays squad were here last season so you'd think we'd be performing better?
Which leads me to the players, who imo are getting off lightly and need to take their fair share of accountability as i don't see enough desire/commitment/enthusiasm from them. I also don't think they're as fit as last season either.
Whilst you can argue that's also down to the management team personal pride should kick in but yesterday a few of them looked like they were just running around going through the motions and didn't seem that bothered, the body language was really concerning at times as well.

I hope I'm proved wrong and the players come back firing on all cylinders but i believe Ady needs to make some drastic changes NOW, or he will probably pay the ultimate price.

[Tony H]

“Tinpot” is a much overrused term imho, and I can be just as guilty as the rest (though I use it more to describe Clubs, not Leagues). Dartfordhero, I do get what you’re saying, believe me (though there was no need to be so aggressive towards me!)

Truth is, as hard as it may be to take, we are where we are for a reason. We are currently so far off the pace and nowhere near good enough to be considered promotion contenders. I AM NOT satisfied with that because I believe we have far more to offer as a club both on and off the pitch. Change needs to be made to adjust our fortunes or we could very well be confined to another season at this level.

[DartfordHero]

“Tinpot” is a much overrused term imho, and I can be just as guilty as the rest (though I use it more to describe Clubs, not Leagues). Dartfordhero, I do get what you’re saying, believe me (though there was no need to be so aggressive towards me!)

Truth is, as hard as it may be to take, we are where we are for a reason. We are currently so far off the pace and nowhere near good enough to be considered promotion contenders. I AM NOT satisfied with that because I believe we have far more to offer as a club both on and off the pitch. Change needs to be made to adjust our fortunes or we could very well be confined to another season at this level.

Yes we are in this league for a reason, that being the board not acting quickly enough to get rid of Dowse and give us a chance of staying in the league. It appears the lessons haven’t been learnt. Also to say I was being aggressive is laughable, please don’t let the truth of you seemingly being quite content to be this league hurt your feelings when others consider and want us to be better than that

[Tony H]

“Tinpot” is a much overrused term imho, and I can be just as guilty as the rest (though I use it more to describe Clubs, not Leagues). Dartfordhero, I do get what you’re saying, believe me (though there was no need to be so aggressive towards me!)

Truth is, as hard as it may be to take, we are where we are for a reason. We are currently so far off the pace and nowhere near good enough to be considered promotion contenders. I AM NOT satisfied with that because I believe we have far more to offer as a club both on and off the pitch. Change needs to be made to adjust our fortunes or we could very well be confined to another season at this level.

Yes we are in this league for a reason, that being the board not acting quickly enough to get rid of Dowse and give us a chance of staying in the league. It appears the lessons haven’t been learnt. Also to say I was being aggressive is laughable, please don’t let the truth of you seemingly being quite content to be this league hurt your feelings when others consider and want us to be better than that

Absolutely ridiculous comments mate. Take note of what I’m saying not what you think I’m saying. I look forward to having a pint with you at the next game. Cheers!

[Colspaz]

See the women’s team won on penalties today to put them in the first round of the FA cup well deserved.

[Paulcanary]

See the women’s team won on penalties today to put them in the first round of the FA cup well deserved.

Went mate. Fantastic win. Players were full of energy and celebrated in style well done Dartford ladies