 | |||
| Full name | Thurrock Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Fleet | ||
| Founded | 1984 (as Essex Sports) | ||
| Dissolved | 2018 | ||
| Ground | Ship Lane, Thurrock | ||
| Capacity | 3,500 (524 seated) | ||
| Isthmian League Premier Division, 15th of 24 | ||
Thurrock Football Club was an English football club based in Purfleet, Thurrock, Essex. Known as Purfleet until 2003, the club played at Ship Lane.
Originally being founded as Essex Sports in 1984, [1] the club was renamed to Purfleet in April 1985, in order to play senior football, and entered the Reserve Division of the Essex Senior League in 1985 and spent one season in that division before joining the first-team league. After finishing third and winning the league cup in their first season, they won the league and cup double in 1987–88, earning promotion to Division Two North of the Isthmian League. They finished as runners-up in their first season and were promoted to Division One. However, the following season they were relegated back to Division Two North after finishing second from bottom.
In 1991–92 the club won the division, and were promoted to Division One. Two seasons later they finished second, and were promoted to the Premier Division. In 2003 the club changed its name to Thurrock, and after finishing third in the league at the end of the 2003–04 season, in which they also won the league cup and the Essex Senior Cup, became founder members of the Conference South.
In the club's first season in the new league, they qualified for the promotion play-offs but were knocked out by Eastbourne Borough. However, they did win the Essex Senior Cup for a second successive season. In 2008–09 the club finished in the relegation zone, but were reprieved after Team Bath resigned from the league. In 2010–11 the club again finished in the relegation zone, but were reprieved after Rushden & Diamonds were expelled from the Conference National league hence Southport were not relegated from the Conference National.
Thurrock announced manager Robbie Garvey resigned following the club's defeat against fellow Conference strugglers Staines Town on 5 December 2011. Lee Goodwin and Grant Gordon took charge of the team on a match by match basis until a new manager was appointed. [2] Thurrock were relegated at the end of the season, finishing bottom of the Conference South. In 2012–13, they initially finished 19th in the Isthmian Premier, two spots above relegation, but then had three points controversially deducted for fielding an ineligible player, dropping them to last place and thus relegating them to Division One North of the Isthmian League. The three points were deducted after the season ended despite the offence taking place in August leading to a protracted legal dispute.
2013–14 saw Thurrock fall short of the play-offs on the final game of the season. A 2–1 defeat to Tilbury combined with Needham Market beating Chatham Town 7–1 saw Needham Market take the last play-off place on goal difference. Thurrock went one better in 2014–15 finishing in fifth place. They went on to beat Harlow Town 4–3 after extra time in the play-off semi final but were beaten 5–0 by Brentwood Town in the final. In 2015-2016 Thurrock once more made the play-offs taking league runners-up position but were beaten 2–0 by AFC Hornchurch in the play-off semi final. 2016-2017 saw Thurrock make it three play-offs in a row as they finished 3rd gaining promotion to the Isthmian League Premier division by beating both AFC Hornchurch and Maldon & Tiptree 1–0.
On 27 August 2017, [3] chairman Tommy South announced that due to health reasons he would be selling Thurrock and stepping down at the end of the 2017/18 season. With no buyer forthcoming Thurrock formally resigned from the Isthmian League on 31 March 2018. [4] Thurrock won their last home game at Ship Lane on 21 April 2018 against Kingstonian [5] and lost their final competitive fixture away to Staines Town on 28 April 2018. [6] They finished 15th in the 2017–18 Isthmian League.
The club played at Ship Lane since their establishment in April 1985 until the end in 2018. At first the ground was a part of the Thurrock Hotel complex, and initially consisted of two pitches and dressing rooms in the main hotel building. Due to this set-up the club could only compete at Junior level. The playing area was turned around 90° to make one full pitch and dressing rooms were built so the club could become a separate entity.
Floodlights were erected in January 1988 after planning permission was accepted from Thurrock Council to add these features as well as a grandstand.
Canvey Island Football Club is a football club based in Canvey Island, Essex, England. They are currently members of the Isthmian League Premier Division and play at Park Lane.
The Essex Senior Football League is an English men's football league. It contains clubs from the Essex FA, Hertfordshire FA, London FA, Middlesex FA and the Amateur Football Alliance. It is a feeder league to Division One North of the Isthmian League and has a single division which sits at Step 5 of the National League System.
Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of the Isthmian League Premier Division, the seventh tier of English football, and play at Champion Hill.
Hornchurch Football Club is a football club based in Upminster, England. They are currently members of the Isthmian League Premier Division and play at the Hornchurch Stadium.
East Thurrock United Football Club was a football club based in Corringham, Essex, England. They last competed in the Isthmian League North Division, the eighth tier of English football, and played at Rookery Hill. The club was placed into liquidation by owner Alfie Best on 1 September 2023. The club stated this was due to historic debts from the previous owners.
Aveley Football Club are a semi–professional football club based in Aveley, Essex, England. They are currently members of the National League South and play at Parkside.
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The 2006–07 season was the 92nd season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England. Also, it was the first season for newly created divisions One North and One South.
The 2007–08 season was the 93rd season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England.
The 2008–09 season was the 94th season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England.
The 2009–10 season was the 95th season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England.
The 2011–12 season was the 97th season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England. The league allocations were released on 20 May 2011.
The 2012–13 season was the 98th season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England.
The 2003–04 season was the 89th season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England.
The 2002–03 season was the 88th season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England.
The 2013–14 season was the 99th season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England. The season saw all three divisions increase from 22 to 24 clubs. The regular season started on 10 August 2013 and finished on 26 April 2014 with the play-off semi-finals scheduled for the week beginning 28 April 2014 and the three finals scheduled for 3–5 May 2014. The fixture list was released during the week beginning 15 July 2013.
The 2014–15 season was the 100th season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England.
The 2015–16 season is the 101st season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England. Also, it is the tenth season for the current incarnations of the Division One North and Division One South.
The 2016–17 season was the 102nd season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England. Also, it was the eleventh season for the current incarnations of Division One North and Division One South. The league constitution was announced on 12 May 2016 and concluded on 1 May 2017.
The 2017–18 season was the 103rd season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England. It was also the twelfth season for the current incarnations of the Premier, North and South Divisions, the last to have two regional divisions, and the first as the Bostik League following a sponsorship deal with Bostik.
