Former Ramsgate manager Jim Ward reflects on 2008 League Cup success as Lee Martin’s class of 2026 prepare to meet Wingate & Finchley in this season’s final

Former Ramsgate manager Jim Ward says it will be a great year for his old club if they win the League Cup.

Rams meet Isthmian Premier rivals Wingate & Finchley at Aveley on Wednesday night (7.45pm).

It’s the club’s first appearance in the final since Ward led them to a penalty shoot-out success against AFC Sudbury in the 2008 showpiece at Princes Park.

And having held their own back at Step 3, following last season’s Isthmian South East title success, silverware would make it a campaign to remember.

Ward is set to be in the crowd at Aveley, alongside brother Danny and former vice-chairman Paul Jefcoate, to see if Lee Martin’s men can emulate the side of 18 years ago.

Ramsgate will be well-backed, just as they were against AFC Sudbury, with seven supporters’ coaches making the trip.

“I’d imagine James Lawson (chairman) wants to emulate what his father (ex-Rams chairman Richard Lawson) and me did,” said Ward.

“We came ninth in our first year in the Ryman Premier and won the League Cup and made the play-offs the year after.

“He’ll be happy to be around ninth (they’re currently 10th) and rightly so, and then next year push for the play-offs. That’s what I think they’ll be doing.

“They’ve got the cup final this year and if they can win that, it’ll be a great year.

“Consolidating in the league and even getting to the cup final, it’s still a good year. To win it, it would be a great year.”

Ward and his collection of local lads, plucked from Sunday League football, enjoyed phenomenal success at Ramsgate.

The self-styled “Pub Team from Thanet” won the Kent League double in 2005 and the Ryman Division 1 championship a year later.

A solid first season in the Ryman Premier, in which they flirted with the play-offs, set them up for