Overview
Margate Football Club is an association football club, based in Margate, Kent. Founded 127 years ago in 1896, the team currently compete in the Isthmian League Premier Division, the 7th tier of English football.
They play their home matches at Hartsdown Park, and are nicknamed "The Gate".
History
Margate Football Club was founded in 1896 and originally called Margate Town.
The club has played in a number of amateur leagues before joining the Kent League in 1923.
After the Second World War, the Gate won two Kent League championships under manager Charlie Walker, before moving to the Southern League in 1959-60.
The club achieved success under manager Almer Hall and reached the third round proper of the FA Cup for the first time in 1935-36.
In 1997-98 Margate reached the first round proper of the FA Cup, and in 2002-03 they defeated Leyton Orient to reach the second round.
In 2000-01 Margate won the Southern League Premier Division championship and were promoted to the Football Conference.
After a number of years of financial difficulty, Margate returned to Hartsdown Park in 2005 and achieved promotion to the National League South in 2015-16.
In 2018, The Libertines became shirt sponsors for Margate and Steve Watt was appointed Manager.
After a tough Christmas, Jay Saunders was appointed as Manager until the end of the season and guided Margate to a 12th place finish.
Saunders was then appointed permanent Manager ahead of the 2019-20 season.