Folkestone Invicta under-13 boys youth team complete double after unbeaten 2023/24 East Kent Youth League Division 1 season with Merv Willis Cup win

Unbeaten Folkestone Invicta under-13 boys’ youth team have been celebrating after a near-perfect season.

The side, led by coaches John Ross and Greg Newman, completed a double during their 2023/24 campaign.

Having won 14 and drawn one of their East Kent Youth League Division 1 fixtures, they were crowned Merv Willis Cup winners last Saturday.

It was a second successive league triumph for the team, which replicated Arsenal’s 2003/04 Premier League “Invincibles” season in their own way. Their last loss was a 2-0 away defeat to Whitstable in November 2022.

Newman said: “We won Division 2 last year. We had been in Division 2 for three or four years and had never managed to get out of it.

“But, last season, we won it. Then, we have gone up to Division 1 - and we have won it without losing a match!

“It’s been a fairytale season with getting through to the Cup Final and winning that, as well.

“We would have won every single game - but for one draw in the league.

“But it’s still an ‘Invincible’ season in the way that Arsenal did it.”

Folkestone Invicta Youth were some way clear of the league runners-up - who, ironically, were Folkestone Invicta Youth Juniors.

“We were 15 points clear in a 15-game season,” Newman noted.

“The next team finished with five defeats, so it was quite a substantial win.”

Folkestone Invicta Youth won 8-3 against Snowdown & Aylesham in their Merv Willis Cup showdown.

Hat-trick hero Flynn Topley - their leading scorer - Jack Smith (2), Oli Houghton, Henry Worthy and Mason Clayton netted before captain Hayden Skinner lifted the trophy.

Newman stated: “That really flattered us.

“The other team folded a little bit in the second half. In the first half, we scored, they equalised -Snowdown & Aylesham kept