A tug of war involving 500 children from the Tonbridge Juniors Football Club has just been certified as an official Guinness world record.
Three Tonbridge primary school students named Owen Calvert, Freddie Smith and Otis Sampson had the idea for the event which happened in Tonbridge in June last year.
The large area of playing fields in the centre of Tonbridge was the perfect venue for the attempt on the world record for the longest distance game of tug of war.
The new world record for the biggest tug of war was set at 558.15 metres or 1,831.20 ft.
The event took place because Owen, Freddie and Otis (pictured above) wanted to help raise money for charity in support of children less fortunate than themselves. With the help and support of the wider community they were able to raise donations for the charity War Child and break a world record.
The rope was specially made by the master ropemakers at Chatham Historic Dockyard.
Nick Themistocleous of the Tonbridge Juniors Football Club explained how the record attempt came about in this clip from an extended interview on the West Kent Radio drivetime programme on Tuesday afternoon between 4 and 7pm.
Nick also spoke at length about the team building skills that children learn while with the Tonbridge Juniors Football Club. Here is Nick's full interview with Zac Daunt-Jones.
Nick began coaching at Tonbridge Juniors when his children joined 25 years ago. He is now the club's Vice Chairman and also coaches the Under 5s and 6s.
He explained why he now spends so much time at the club after retiring from work, telling Zac: "I wanted to start giving back. People have been good to my kids over the years... and I thought it's about time that I started helping out other people's kids."
Nick said that the number of players at the club has grown in the last decade from 250 children to around a thousand children. Girls now make up about 20% of the children.
Nick said: "What we do now see is that sometimes players are coming back with their kids. It's rewarding but it does make you feel very old."
He explained the club ranges from under 5s to under 18s. He said: "We are very lucky and have a lot of green space. We have 20 acres of grass pitches in the centre of town, managed by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council."
The world record tug of war attempt was achieved on 30th June 2024 and was confirmed on 8th December 2025 by Guinness World Records.
Full details of the Tonbridge Juniors at:
https://www.tjfc.co.uk/
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