Tag Archives: Essex Senior League

The Return To Something Big

19 Monday May 2025

Posted by in T

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 23rd March 2025 ko 19:45

Essex Senior League

TAKELEY 2 (Westcott 63 Miles 90+5)

SAFFRON WALDEN TOWN 0

Att 586

Non-League Day “Passport” £30

Entry £8

Programme £2

It has to be said there was a lot more time available to get from Little Oakley to Takeley than there had from Benfleet to Little Oakley earlier in the day. So much so there was enough time to visit a nearby chippy and listen to the planes roaring over our heads, taking off and landing at Stansted airport. Once we arrived at Station Road it was obvious we were, like at Benfleet, visiting something big.

Continue reading →

The One In The Middle

16 Friday May 2025

Posted by in L

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 23rd March 2025 ko 15:30

Essex Senior League

LITTLE OAKLEY 1 (Harris 37og)

Papple sent off (violent conduct) 90+1

STANWAY ROVERS 2 (Okoye 41 Maycock 45+1)

Chatting sent off (violent conduct) 90+1

Att 111

Non-League Day “Passport” £30

Entry £6

Programme FREE

After the Benfleet game it seemed that the hordes scattered to the four winds. There were no end of options for the middle game of the three on the Essex Senior League’s Non League Day event, albeit those of us with the passports were limited to clubs within the league. For me I had two options that would represent a new ground, Little Oakley or Athletic Newham and it was fairly obvious which one I favoured.

Continue reading →

Our Friends in the East

14 Wednesday May 2025

Posted by in B

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 22nd March 2025 ko 12:00

Essex Senior League

BENFLEET 4 (Purdy 28 Saunders 34 Shave 37 Hartman 89)

FC CLACTON 2 (Miller 4 Bright 40)

Att 702

Non-League Day “Passport” £30

Entry £7

Programme sold out

Event brochure £1

After two organised hops in March on one level the last thing I wanted was another. But then there’s always something to learn from other folks’ events, and I was the only part of the GroundhopUK team available! There was also more to it than just a set of staggered kick-offs too, with it being the league’s “Non League Day” attraction, and a fundraiser for the “Prostate Cancer UK” charity too. But what really interested me was the advance ticketing…

Continue reading →

Snakes On A Lane

15 Wednesday Sep 2021

Posted by in W

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Tuesday 1st September 2021 ko 19.45

Essex Senior League

WOODFORD TOWN 4 (Burgin 18 Brissett 44 75 Asamoah 82)

SPORTING BENGAL UNITED 1 (Mici 36)

Att 224 at Ashton Playing Fields, Woodford Green

Entry £7

Programme £2

Now there are plenty of examples of a club returning home but the case of Woodford Town is an unusual one. The original club was formed in 1937 and played in the Delphian, Spartan and Essex Senior Leagues. They played at Snakes Lane, Woodford Green on the edge of London’s eastern suburbs- just a short walk from Woodford Tube Station on the Central Line. They lost their home in 1993, which proved to be the beginning of the end for the club. Continue reading →

The Forge

26 Monday Jul 2021

Posted by in C, L

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday 20th July 2021 ko 19.45

Pre-season Friendly

CATHOLIC UNITED 1 (Trialist 39)

WHITE ENSIGN 6 (Woodward 1 13 45 Locke 6 Reynolds-Blanche 28 71)

Att c60 at Len Forge Centre, Southend-on-Sea

Free Entry

There are some grounds that ought to be on every groundhopper’s bucket list, there are some that you’d barely count as a tick, and there are one or two that for little or no reason contrive to intrigue you. For me, Southend’s Len Forge Centre definitely fell into the latter. Continue reading →

The Home Ground

07 Wednesday Jul 2021

Posted by in B

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 3rd July 2021 ko 11:00

Pre-Season Friendly

BENFLEET 2 (37 57p)

REDBRIDGE 3 (Trialist 24 34 38)

Att 22 at Woodside, Manor Road

The count may have switched over to the 2021/22 season but in truth my close season was from December to April, so a pre-season friendly didn’t feel like, well, pre-season even if both of the clubs hadn’t played a game this year. Then there was the strand of the hobby that doesn’t like friendlies to consider. I’d normally prefer a competitive game, but the friendly does throw up a opportunity, and I don’t just mean the chance to visit Britain’s first mini roundabout, opened in 1970…. Continue reading →

The Jam Factory

29 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by in T

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Tuesday 17th April 2007 ko 19.45

Eastern Counties League Division One

TIPTREE UNITED 5 (Hill 11 31 Robinson 43 Bryan 45 Defoe 55)

Emery sent off 45 (violent conduct)

CORNARD UNITED 0

Att 52

Entry £5

Programme £1

This is a curious tale in so many ways, but I really couldn’t have predicted just how bizarre it was going to be when I drove to the Essex town 13 years ago. The village is to the south-west of Colchester and is unquestionably most famous for jam, the Wilkin & Sons factory is here, and the labels on the jars still have Tiptree on them. In fact there’s even a Tiptree Jam Museum. I’ll claim it was closed when I visited!

Continue reading →

Nomenclature

26 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by in W

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Tuesday 23rd October 2018 ko 19.45

Eastern Senior League Division One South Cup 1st Round

WHITE ENSIGN 0

BENFLEET 2 (Delieu 51 G Unwin 52)

Att 33 at Basildon Sporting Village

For this season the FA has taken steps to iron out one of the quirks of the footballing pyramid, in that until now there hasn’t been a league to link the Step 5 Essex Senior League and the Step 7 Essex Olympian League. They had a blueprint; the Kent Invicta League was formed in 2011 to bridge the gap between the Kent League and the Kent County League. The Invicta League eventually was swallowed up by the Kent League and the result is now the two divisions of the Southern Counties East.  Continue reading →

Dengie Fever

22 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by in B

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday 21st February 2018 ko 19.55

Essex Senior League

BURNHAM RAMBLERS 1 (Hughes 10)

SAWBRIDGEWORTH TOWN 2 (Mays 52 Thomas 90)

Att 16

Entry £6

Programme £1

“Huh, because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth”

Pharrell Williams “Happy” 2013

My car came to rest in the Leslie Field’s car park. It was a cold, dank evening; even the operatives in the “Hand Car Wash” operating here had gone home. But Pharrell Williams’ hit could be heard from within the football ground, and all felt well with the world, sadly the song served only to mask the club’s problems.  Continue reading →

The Anticompletionist

25 Thursday Jan 2018

Posted by in S

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Tuesday 16th January 2017 ko 19.45

Essex Senior League

SAWBRIDGEWORTH TOWN 5 (Mays 35 Cleaver 46 67 Wickenden 62 Monk 80)

HULLBRIDGE SPORTS 0

Att 38

Entry £7

Programme £1

When I started clocking up the grounds the aim was never completion in any league or region. Years later I still like the idea that I can pick up the Football Traveller and still have plenty of options across the levels of the game particularly midweek. But for better or for worse, and for what little it’s worth, this game saw me complete the Essex Senior League. It is after all an achievement notable only to me, and there is a tinge of regret as I do have a lot of time for the league. So for now my journey through the ESL has reached its terminus, but it did end rather oddly. Continue reading →