Canvey Island Football Club is a football club based in

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics. ( ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, England. They are currently members of the and play at

Park Lane Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from ...

History

The club was established in 1926 and initially played in the Southend & District League. They later joined the Thurrock Combination, winning the League Cup in 1952–53 and the league and League Cup double in 1955–56.Club Honours
Canvey Island F.C. In 1957 the club joined the

Parthenon League The Parthenon League was a football league covering Greater London and the surrounding area. History The league was formed in 1951 with 11 clubs, nine of which had come from the Middlesex Senior League.Parthenon League 1951–1966
Non-League Matters The following season saw them finish sixth and win the League Cup, and in 1959–60 they were league runners-up. In 1963 they switched to the London League, joining the reformed Division One. In 1964 the league merged with the

Aetolian League The Aetolian (or Aitolian) League ( grc-gre, Κοινὸν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν) was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered in Aetolia in central Greece. It was probably established during the early Hellen ...

to form the Greater London League, with the club placed in the A division. In 1967–68 they were Division One champions and won the League Cup, retaining both titles the following season. In 1971 the Greater London League merged with the

Metropolitan League The Metropolitan League was a football league in the south-east of England between 1949 and 1971.Metropolitan–London League The Metropolitan–London League was a short-lived football league for clubs in and around London. It was formed in 1971 by a merger of the Greater London League and the Metropolitan League (which had lost several clubs to the Southern League). ...

, with Canvey Island placed in Division One. When the league merged with the

Spartan League The Spartan League was a football league in England covering London and adjacent counties. Established in 1907, it merged with the South Midlands League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midlands League. History The Spartan League was establish ...

in 1975 they joined the Essex Senior League. They were runners-up in 1978–79 and won the League Cup the following season. They won the league for the first time in 1986–87. After winning the league and League Cup again under Jeff King in 1992–93, a season which also saw the club reach the semi-finals of the FA Vase, they moved up to Division Three of the Isthmian League in 1994. Their first season in Division Three saw them finish as runners-up, earning promotion to Division Two. The club went on to win Division Two the following season, resulting in promotion to Division One. They also reached the first round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

for the first time, eventually losing 4–1 to Brighton in a replay. Although Canvey Island were relegated back to Division Two at the end of the 1996–97 season, they were Division Two champions in 1997–98 and Division One champions in 1998–99 as successive promotions saw them reach the league's Premier Division. In 2000–01 they finished as league runners-up, and also reached the second round of the

; the first round saw them beat

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

2–1 in a replay at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

after a 4–4 draw at Park Lane. In the second round the club were drawn at home to near-neighbours Third Division

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

; in a game switched to Southend's

Roots Hall A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

, they lost 2–1. However, the club's biggest success came in the FA Trophy, where they reached the final at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...

after beating three teams from the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

.Trophy finalists out to confound critics
BBC Sport, 10 May 2001 In the final the club beat favourites

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

1–0, becoming the first team from the Isthmian League to win the competition for 20 years. The following season saw them finish as Premier Division runners-up again, as well as reaching the third round of the

. After winning 1–0 against Football League clubs

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

and

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

in both the first and second round, they lost 4–1 at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

in the third round. In 2002–03 Canvey Island finished as Premier Division runners-up for a third consecutive season, but the following year saw them win the division to earn promotion to the Conference National. The season had also seen them reach the FA Cup first round for a third time; again drawn to face Southend, they lost 3–2 in a replay at Park Lane after a 1–1 draw at Roots Hall and the FA Trophy final, where they lost 3–2 to Hednesford Town. Another first round appearance in 2004–05 ended in a 4–0 defeat to

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

. After two seasons at the fifth level, King decided the poor attendances did not justify continued investment in the club and they took voluntary demotion to Division One North of the Isthmian League. In 2007–08 they finished fifth in the division, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. After defeating AFC Sudbury 3–2 in the semi-finals, they beat Redbridge 5–4 on penalties in the final after the match had ended 1–1 and were promoted back to the Premier Division. Canvey Island were relegated back to the (renamed) North Division at the end of the 2016–17 season after finishing third-from-bottom of the Premier Division. The following season saw them finish sixth in the North Division, qualifying for the play-offs. After beating Bowers & Pitsea 2–0 in the semi-finals, they lost 3–1 to Haringey Borough in the final. In 2020–21 the club reached the first round of the FA Cup again, winning 2–1 at

Banbury United Banbury United Football Club is a football club based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Spencer Stadium. History The club was established in 1931 as Spencer Sports Club, a works team of the Sp ...

Ground

Upon formation, the club played at The Paddocks on Long Road on the island, before moving to Furtherwick School. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Canvey Island returned to The Paddocks. In 1955, the club moved a short distance to Poplar Road. Whilst in the Parthenon League, the club moved to Park Lane. It currently has a capacity of 4,100, of which 500 is seated and 827 covered. In the summer of 2018, it was announced that the club would also be hosting the home matches of Benfleet.

Honours

*FA Trophy **Winners 2000–01 *Isthmian League **Premier Division champions 2003–04 **Division One champions 1998–99 **Division Two champions 1995–96, 1997–98 *Greater London League **Division One champions 1967–68, 1968–69 **League Cup winners 1967–68, 1968–69 *Parthenon League **League Cup winners 1958–59 *Essex Senior League **Champions 1986–87, 1992–93 **League Cup winners 1979–80, 1992–93 **Harry Fisher Memorial Trophy winners 1993–94 *Thurrock Combination **Champions 1955–56 **League Cup winners 1952–53, 1955–56 *

Essex Senior Cup The Essex Senior Cup is a knock-out system football competition that has been running since 1884, and is the most prestigious cup competition in the county of Essex. The competition is run mainly for non-League clubs in the region, although lea ...

**Winners 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2011–12

Records

*Best

performance: Third round, 2001–02 *Best FA Trophy performance: Winners, 2000–01 *Best FA Vase performance: Semi-finals,

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

*Record attendance: 3,553 vs

, Isthmian League, 2002–03 *Most appearances: Steve Ward *Most goals: Andy Jones *Record transfer fee received: £4,500 from

Farnborough Town Farnborough Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Founded in 1967 as Farnborough Town, they are currently members of the , the sixth tier of English football and play at Cherrywood Road. H ...

for Brian Horne *Record transfer fee paid: £5,000 to Northwich Victoria for Chris Duffy

References

External links