The formation of Invicta AC in 1969

In January 1969 Canterbury AC and Thanet AC amalgamated to form a new club called Invicta Athletic Club and the kit was red vest AND red shorts. Invicta (meaning 'undefeated') is the motto of the county of Kent and dates back to the invasion of England by William I.

The new club had no formal headquarters and admin meetings were held either at Dennis Townsend’s home or in the Royal Dragoon pub in Military Road : the membership, of less than 50, comprised mainly middle and long-distance (male) runners. However, what the club lacked in numbers was more than made up by quality : the 1970s saw many outstanding distance track, road and cross-country performances at county, national and even international level, both by men's teams and by individual Senior Men.

The formation of IEK in 1984

There followed a boom period in British Athletics in the late 70s and early 80s, feeding off the successes of Coe, Ovett, Cram, Foster, Wells, Sanderson, Whitbread at the Olympics in Montreal, Moscow and Los Angeles. This brought increased participation in all forms of athletics and Invicta’s membership rose to over 200, bringing a demand for a wider range of competition, accentuated by the appearance of big city marathons.
Local interest was particularly stimulated by Archbishop schoolmaster Mike Gratton’s splendid bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games marathon in Brisbane (1982) followed by his superb marathon victory in London in 1983.
The club found itself unable to satisfy the new demands within the existing setup of mainly distance runners: the decision was therefore taken in 1984 to amalgamate with East Kent AC which was predominantly track and field, and which was already based at a cinder track on the University of Kent campus, overlooking the City.
East Kent AC wore a rather snazzy blue vest with gold sash and gold shorts : the new amalgamated club went for red vest + red shorts (Invicta) and East Kent AC's contribution was the gold lettering of the new club's name on the vest.
A decade of outstanding success followed in all aspects of athletics, during which time we had to move HQ twice in the University grounds.

From hut at the University to brick-built HQ over the road

First, it was clear the rather run-down set of changing rooms of the East Kent days were increasingly inadequate for the growing membership and it was decided to raise £25,000 to build our own wood-hut HQ, which was completed in 1987.
However, within 3 years, the rapidly growing university population meant the land on which the track and Clubhouse were located, was reclaimed by the University for student accommodation.
In compensation, the Club was given the opportunity to base its HQ in a new sports pavilion over the road, overlooking a new cinder track. Although the adjoining sports fields and woods provided superb training facilities and good cross-country terrain, the new red shale track was oversized, and.... it sloped. At the clubhouse end, it was one metre ABOVE the infield, at the other end, it was one metre BELOW the infield...!! More... since the curb was exactly 400m it meant the minimum running distance was actually 402 metres - great for training, totally useless for official competition.
Somewhere between the wooden hut and the brick clubhouse, East Kent's gold lettering on the vest was replaced by white lettering, and most people now call the club Invicta, unaware of the major contribution made by East Kent AC to our undoubted track and field heritage.

The move to Canterbury High School track in 2000

For much of the 80s and 90s there was talk of Canterbury building a modern synthetic athletic track. Various proposals and locations were considered, but it was the government’s PFI initiative which finally brought together the required £3 million lottery funding and a location, The Canterbury High School.
In 2000 a new facility comprising a 6-lane all-weather track, an indoor sports hall and a gym was completed : as the principal athletics club in the area, IEK AC was involved from the outset, raising £45,000 to relocate to a new Clubroom within the new complex.
Since moving to the new complex, we've had regular access to good indoor facilities and also to a regulation size track as a home for official competitions as well as for training : membership (across all age groups, from juniors age 7 up to veterans over-65) has grown to just over 380, covering all track & field areas involving running, jumping, throwing and hurdling.
There are about 20 coaches across all athletic disciplines, each contributing to the club’s ethos of developing potential at all levels. The pursuit of excellence enables both those capable of achieving county and national honours to flourish, as well as providing a professional base for those wishing to get the best out of themselves, even though their limit might be just short of getting into one of our league teams.
Membership, and access to good coaches, is not restricted just to those with known pedigree, or even to those with long-term potential – ALL Invicta members and ALL newcomers have equal access to good athletic training and practice

We are proud to live up to the motto of “Sport for all”