Inside Whitstable Town's heroic FA Cup run: A headbutted physio, a 103-year-old hero and a Pitbull rave on the Kent coast
Published 29/09/2025 at 20:06 GMT+1
A three-time World Cup winner, a 103-year-old guest of honour and nine minutes of stoppage time after a physio was accidentally headbutted. Oh, and a post-match party to Pitbull. The FA Cup served up a cracker on the Kent coast as Whitstable Town, one of three dreamers from the ninth-tier, faced Hungerford Town. We joined The Oysters for the latest chapter in their fairytale run.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
"They are nowhere near it."
Not exactly the rallying cry you want to hear half an hour before the biggest match in your club’s history. But that’s the brutal assessment as players bicker, passes go astray and Whitstable Town’s assistant manager quietly summons his boss for an emergency huddle.
Two hours earlier, I had touched down on the Kent coast for the latest chapter as TNT Sports chronicles the lowest-ranked remaining team in the Emirates FA Cup. Only three sides from the ninth-tier remained: Chadderton, Woodford Town and Whitstable. Their opponents? Hungerford Town, two divisions higher.
At first glance, I thought I had arrived at the wrong ground. The pitch was pristine – a world away from Mile End, where we tracked SOUL Tower Hamlets’ heroic run in earlier rounds. Here, you could actually see the penalty spot.
A 3G carpet. An electronic screen. I was relieved when chair Steve Clayton diverted my attention to the pre-war clubhouse and rickety changing rooms. That’s the non-league we know and love.
"The changing rooms are still the same, only the communal bath is gone," confirmed club photographer Les Biggs, who played here in 1957.
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Manager Jamie Coyle, though, has added a bit of glamour. Last season, he steered Whitstable to Wembley glory in the FA Vase as player-manager, then jetted off to Thailand to claim a third consecutive Seniors World Cup crown with the England Vets.
"It’s one of the facts I’m quite proud of, especially when you speak to people and are asked for an interesting fact about yourself," he quips.
The changing room is a sweet shop as much as a football HQ, with Tupperwares of pick-and-mix lined up underneath tactical instructions. One simply reads: "Be a pest." Another: "Go, abuse, go again."
Star striker Javaun Splatt is another unlikely tale – a British Virgin Islands international juggling non-league with trips to the Caribbean. He recently faced off against a Jamaica side containing former Premier League stars Leon Bailey and Demarai Gray.
"You can see the difference in quality, it’s proper good, an experience," he says.
"I’ve not scored yet," he adds, before I cheekily ask if he has missed a big chance. "One. But I don’t want to think about it."
Too late.
He leaves me for the physio department – a tiny room at the back of the changing rooms – for an alarming amount of leg strapping. But soon there’s a bigger issue for everyone: the warm-up.
Coyle joins assistant Matt Longhurst for a hushed conversation, one I can’t decipher despite being only two metres away in a damning blow to my espionage dreams. My "special exemption" to enter the pitch if Whitstable win feels destined to go unused.
Too late to panic now. Back into the dressing room, a few final instructions, and then the players march onto the pitch, pausing for a minute’s silence for Billy Vigar, the former Arsenal academy striker who died last week.
The Oyster Boys behind the goal are rowdy. I’m sober, so I quickly relocate. And suddenly, the warm-up is forgotten.
Whitstable are electric, suffocating their supposedly superior opponents. Bradley Schafer, wearing No. 10, runs the show. His sighter from distance crashes off the post. But their relentless start would garner an advantage. In the 32nd minute, Schafer dispatched Mikey Dalton's inch-perfect cross - 1-0. The upset is on.
The buoyant mood is somewhat tempered, though, when the tape holding Splatt together fails, and he is withdrawn.
Half-time brings a new star: George Dunn, the club’s oldest living former player, who turned 103 this week. He joined Whitstable in 1947 after flying Halifax and Mosquito bombers in the Second World War.
Given we’re tracing back eight decades, he can’t recall his debut. But he lights up when remembering his two goals against Folkestone that sealed promotion in 1950. Although his work later took him away, he still found ways to keep his Whitstable dream alive.
"Whenever I was on leave, I would ring the secretary – ‘If you’re short, give me a ring.’ And I nearly always got a game," he says.
He was at Wembley last summer for the FA Vase triumph and is dreaming of another huge tie.
"I hope this is not the last time I come," he smiles. "We’re two wins from the first round…"
I pipe up: "And just four from Arsenal or Manchester United." George laughs. "Ahh, that would be great."
I bid George farewell as the second half gets underway. It’s not long before news filters through that Chadderton and Woodford are losing. If Whitstable can hold on, they will be the only survivors from the ninth tier. Then Joe Healy lashes home for 2-0.
But in truth, I’m distracted. I’ve spent the past 10 minutes eavesdropping on the couple next to me, trying to work out who they support. Eventually, I ask: "Err, who are we supporting?" the husband says, turning to his wife. Uh oh. What have I exposed?
After an awkward pause, it transpires they are the parents of the referee. They have followed him around the country, once watching him officiate for two hours in driving rain while he was roundly abused by spectators claiming he was only there for the cash. "He got £45," his mum shrugs.
The fourth official signals nine minutes of added time. "Seems a lot," I mutter. "Plenty of stoppages," dad shoots back. And to be fair, there had been a lengthy one – after the Hungerford physio was accidentally headbutted and needed treatment from their opposite number.
It only delays the inevitable. Whitstable see out a 2-0 win, allowing me to cash in my pitch access, before celebrations spill into the dressing room. Pitbull’s Green Light is blasting. That warm-up feels a long time ago.
"The fact he’s had to call me over to watch the warm-up, it was a concern. But the first 45-50 minutes, we were absolutely electric," manager Coyle tells me afterwards.
His assistant, Longhurst, adds: "I was calling them out on purpose, saying I didn’t think they could do it – a bit of reverse psychology. Fair play to the lads."
Next up is their biggest challenge yet, a trip to National League side Wealdstone, four divisions higher. And yes, TNT Sports will be there as we continue to follow the lowest ranked club all the way to Wembley.
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