League appearances: 178+15. Goals: 9. Sittingbourne debut: Oct 2003; Final game: April 2008.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Other clubs: Tonbridge, Whitstable<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Strong and reliable centre-half, powerful in the air, and a good team player. He was a regular choice for five seasons, picked for virtually every game in that time by a succession of different managers \u2013 Mark Beeney, Steve Nolan, Steve Lovell and Gary Abbott. Sittingbourne\u2019s player-of-the-year for the 2006-07 season, Ainsworth didn\u2019t score many goals but his first two were special. They came in the first half of an away match at Corby in December 2003, one a powerful shot, the other a towering header. Sittingbourne went on to win that match 4-0, Corby playing with nine men after two first half red cards.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Hicham Akhazzan<\/strong><\/p>\r\n League games: 298+108. Goals: 75. Sittingbourne debut: Nov 2006. Final game: Mar 2017.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Other clubs: Chatham, Sheppey, Rochester United<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n A popular fans\u2019 favourite who scored 100 goals in all competitions in almost 11 years with the club. The number of games he played was easily a club record for the 21st<\/sup>\u00a0century and a great testament to his loyalty. It\u2019s probably an all-time record for Sittingbourne as well, but detailed records of all the appearances of the club\u2019s former players don\u2019t go back to the 1880s. Just one of his\u00a0100 goals was in the 2010 Kent Senior Cup final, which was Sittingbourne\u2019s first win in the competition for 52 years. Sittingbourne chairman Maurice Dunk said: \u2018Hich was my hero, his loyalty record will never be broken. We had more seven-day notices in for him than anyone and he turned them all down.\u2019\u00a0At the end of his stay, Akhazzan, a PE teacher by day, said: \u2018It\u2019s unheard of these days to stay at one club for 11 years. It never crossed my mind to leave. The fans are the best. They were always singing and it was a privilege to have so many songs about myself!\u2019<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Lex Allan<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n League appearances: 86+22. Goals: 2. Sittingbourne debut: Aug 2017; Final game: Mar 2025<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Other clubs: Sheppey United, Hythe<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Spotted playing local football, 6ft 7in centre-half Allan got his break with Sittingbourne as a teenager. He soon attracted the attention of bigger clubs and had trials at Crystal Palace, Millwall and Norwich. Allan said afterwards: \u2018I loved going on trial, it was the best time of my life. It looked like something might happen but in the end it didn\u2019t work out.\u2019He returned to Sittingbourne a couple of times, but at the end of the 2024-25 season he only played once for the club before getting injured in training.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Leroy Ambrose<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n League appearances: 32+8. Goals: 9. Sittingbourne debut: Sep 1992; Final game: May 1994.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Other clubs: Charlton, Hvidovre, Esbjerg FB, Kolding IF (all in Denmark), Fisher, Dover<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Lively and much-loved winger. Ambrose made 33 Football League appearances for Charlton and played for Fisher in the Conference in the late 1980s under the management of the legendary Malcolm Allison. He also appeared in the European Cup Winners\u2019 Cup while playing for Hvidovre. When he joined Sittingbourne, a highlight of his time was the final match of the 1992-93 season at Poole when Sittingbourne clinched the Beazer Homes League Southern Division title for the first time. Described by top Sittingbourne fan Paul Gambell: \u2018Lovely bloke and great player. Would always greet you with a fist bump!\u2019<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Dave Arter<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Joined Sittingbourne in 1991-92 and stayed until March 1994.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Other clubs:\u00a0<\/em>Ashford, Hythe, Tonbridge, Dover<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Goalscoring legend, a hard-working old-fashioned Number 9. He was Sittingbourne\u2019s top scorer in the 1992-93 Beazer Homes League Southern Division championship season with 30 goals and manager John Ryan praised him as being one of the most improved players in his squad. A highlight of Arter\u2019s Sittingbourne career was scoring a hat-trick in five minutes during a 4-2 win over Chertsey in the FA Vase \u2013 and he\u2019d only gone on as a substitute for the final 12 minutes! He went on to become Ashford Town\u2019s record scorer with 197 goals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Toby Ashmore<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n League appearances: 75+49. Sittingbourne debut: Oct 2003; Final game: Feb 2008.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Other clubs: Dover, Ramsgate, Herne Bay, Sheppey United, Ashford, Whitstable<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Took a long time to secure a place in the Sittingbourne team \u2013 the reliable and determined Ashmore had to wait more than a year to make his full debut after first winning a spot on the subs\u2019 bench. Once he finally got in the team he was more or less a fixture at right-back, playing virtually every game in the 2006-07 season before moving on, with some success, to a succession of other Kent clubs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Ron Austin<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n League appearances: 124. Sittingbourne debut: 1950; Final game: 1960.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Other clubs: Margate, Whitstable.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Worked as an RAF bomb disposal expert in the Second World War, returning home afterwards to his old job at Bowater Lloyd paper mill. Following his time as a Sittingbourne winger, his son Maurice recalled: \u2018If we were walking into town everyone wanted to stop and talk to him \u2013 it would take about 80 minutes to do a 20-minue walk.\u2019 He\u00a0died peacefully in 2014\u00a0at the age of 94.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Ron is far left in the above photo taken in the 1951-52 season. I wonder who the young lad in the front is?![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sittingbournefc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/akhazzan-hicham.jpg\")
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below is a colourised version of the photo:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sittingbournefc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Sittingbourne-1951-52.jpg\")
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