No.29 - Mon 2nd January 2012; Isthmian League Division 1 North;                               3pm at Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, Donkey Lane, Enfield, Middlesex; EN1 3PL.

 

Matchday images (75) https://picasaweb.google.com/footballgroundsinfocus/EnfieldTownFC02

Enfield Town (1) 3  Redbridge (0) 0

It's great to be back...

PRE-RAMBLE

Like many fellow travellers out there my serious interest in groundhopping began after embarking on the traditional pilgimage to complete the '92'. The enjoyment and challenge of visiting every football league ground was a real thrill and soon reached new heights with trips to take in the thirty-eight Scottish League clubs as well as some in the English non-League pyramid. This initially involved a few clubs playing in the Football Conference (or GM Vauxhall Conference as it was known back then in the late 1980's) followed by those smaller clubs playing in more local competitions such as the Eastern Counties, United Counties and Essex Senior Leagues. A lifetime obsession had been born!

 

At this early embryonic hopping stage the standard of grounds varied greatly. Many were, in truth, a million miles away from those more higher status Football League stadia with which I had become accustomed to and whet my hopping appetite on over previous years. However there were to be several clubs whose grounds I would visit and which I can still remember with great fondness to this very day. 

 

Indeed some still rank on my favourite all-time hopping top 10 grounds list. Take Southbury Road, former ground of Enfield Football Club for example. It was here on Saturday 30th January 1988 that I made a trip from racing HQ to attend a Vauxhall Conference fixture for the visit of Macclesfield Town. The match ended in a 2-1 away victory to the team from Cheshire. It was only the fourth time I had travelled to watch a non-League game and I was definitely hooked.

 

A BIT OF HISTORY 

 

Founded back in August 1893 as Enfield Spartans, the club became Enfield FC in 1900. In 1936 the club moved to a the new stadium in Southbury Road. With development this terrific stadium with its magnificent grandstand and capacity of 20000 was to become home to one of the most successful non-League clubs in history, winning the league title for the second time in 1986. A decade or so later it was sold for housing and retail development in 1999 raising £3.75m. The failure of the club to relocate to Enfield led to the formation of Enfield Town on 23 June 2001 by the Enfield Supporters' Trust after members considered that the regime in charge of Enfield FC no longer had the interests of the club at heart and lacked sufficient will to bring about the return of the club to its home town. Enfield FC itself went on to set up base temporarily at Boreham Wood and then Ware Football Clubs under former chairman Tony Lazarou. 

 

Enfield Town FC originally played at Brimsdown Rovers' Goldsdown Road ground and were admitted to the Essex Senior League for the 2001–02 season, three divisions below the Isthmian League Premier Division where Enfield continued to play. The club's first season saw them finish second in the league and win the League Cup, the Capital Counties Feeder Leagues Trophy, and the Middlesex Senior Charity Cup. The following season they won the league, but were not promoted due to insufficient facilities at Goldsdown Road. Despite only finishing fourth in the 2003–04 season, in May 2004 the Isthmian League invited the club to join Division Two, but later rescinded the offer. They won the Essex Senior League for a second time in 2004–05, and were promoted to Division One East of the Southern League, which Enfield were also members of. They finished third in their first season in the Southern League, qualifying for the play-offs, where they were beaten 3–1 after extra time by Wivenhoe Town.

 

In the summer of 2006 the club was transferred to Division One North of the Isthmian League. They again finished third, but lost 4–2 to AFC Sudbury in the play-off semi-finals. At the end of the season Enfield FC were liquidated owing huge tax debts in excess of £200,000 to the Inland Revenue. It was Enfield Town chairman Paul Millington who released a statement suggesting that the two clubs should merge and "return the name of Enfield to the top of the non-league world". However, the Enfield players, officials and supporters rejected the offer and reformed the club in June 2007 as Enfield 1983, moving to Broxbourne Borough instead.

 

In October 2008, Enfield Council announced a deal with the club allowing the club to relocate to the Queen Elizabeth Stadium, close to Enfield's old Southbury Road ground. At the end of the 2009–10 season the club was awarded a grant of £81,504 by the Football Stadium Improvement Fund towards the first phase of works on the new ground. After spending the first few months of the 2011–12 stadium groundsharing at the Cheshunt Stadium in Cheshunt, they moved into the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in November 2011, with the first match being a vicory against Harefield United in the Middlesex Senior Cup, a game attended by super hopper and Senior FGIF correspondent, Leon Gladwell (click here for more).

 

RAMBLE

 

It's great to see this famous club playing back in the borough at their new permanent home. For many travellers the thought of visiting the QES athletics stadium for a football match may be rather off-putting. However unlike other similar venues the site in Donkey Lane, a stone's throw off J25 of the M25 and very close to the main A10 approach road is far more football-user friendly than you would first imagine.

 

To save a lengthy ground description I will direct the reader to the matchday photos uploaded in the new FGIF  album gallery. Before continuing I would like to say that I was really impressed with the facilities which are far superior to other football stadia of this type. There is plenty of standing cover on all sides (inside the track at each end!) and with ample seating on the far side and in the balcony on the near/entrance side. Pride of place goes to the terrific art-deco building which houses the cafe and has a cracking view of the action below. In addition the playing surface looked in superb condition and contributed to some good pasing and control.     

   

For our first hopping excursion of 2012 the Townies welcomed local rivals Redbridge to the QES. The game played in mainly overcast and very cold conditions attracted a whopping 498 spectators (huge compared to my usual experience) including a fair number of travellers. In truth it wasn't a classic game of football being punctuated by too many stoppages in play for petty fouls. The hosts who looked the far better side throughout comfortably won this Division 1 encounter by a 3-0 scoreline, the last goal coming in the dying minutes. This win consolidates their second place position in the league and a step nearer possible promotion come May.

 

A smart, newsy 32-page programme priced £2 was issued for the game. Complete with glossy colour cover this contains plenty of reading material including club news, stats and league round up. Further information about the club can be found on the excellent Enfield Town website (see address below). A range of hot food and drinks was available in the cafe and from an outside mobile catering van positioned in the top left hand corner of the ground.

 

Travellers yet to attend the QES for a match will be pleasantly surprised by what they find. A great tick. It certainly is an exciting time for this most ambitious club. No doubt we all wish them every success for the future now they are back home again after such a nomadic existence. Come On You Townies...

 

FGIF Match Stats

Scorers: (H) J Moore (4); N Johnson (56); L Hope (89) and (A) N/A  

Attendance: 498; Admission: £8; Programme: £2; Match rating: 3/5; Ground rating: 4/5.

Links

http://www.etfc.co.uk/

http://rymanleague.goalrun.com/

edited on 03/01/12