Enfield Football Club is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club that is currently a member of the . The club plays its home matches at Woodside Park in

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

, Hertfordshire, which it shares with owners Bishop's Stortford F.C. Traditionally based in

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

, Greater London, the club was, between the 1960s and 1980s, one of the most successful

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

clubs in England, winning the

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footba ...

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

and

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 ...

twice. The club, however, did not manage to gain

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. Following financial struggles and the sale of their

Southbury Road Southbury Road is a road in Enfield, north London, that runs from Enfield Town in the west to Nags Head Road in the east. It is part of the A110 road. Buildings The grade II listed former Ripaults Factory The Ripaults Factory is a grade II ...

stadium, the club declined, eventually folding and reforming in 2007 as ''Enfield 1893 F.C.'', later dropping the 1893 suffix in 2019.

History

Early years

John Bruce Skinner founded Enfield Football Club in August 1893 as Enfield Spartans, and the club spent its initial season playing friendlies. The start of the 1894–95 season saw the club play league football for the first time when it joined the Tottenham & District Junior Alliance League. The club made the move to the larger Tucker's Field and joined the North Middlesex League in 1896. In 1900 the club dropped the Spartans from the end of its name – this name is now used by a local Youth Football Club – and also made the move to Cherry Orchard Lane. This picked things up at the club and in the 1901–02 and 1902–03 seasons it won back-to-back league titles and so attained ‘senior’ status. The 1903 saw the club join the London League Division Two. It won the title in 1911 and so gained promotion to the Premier Division. Most of the next 50 years, the club played in the

Athenian League The Athenian League was an English amateur football league for clubs in and around London. The league was originally to be called the Corinthian League,Athenian Football League minutes 1912-1921 (National Football Museum, Preston). but this nam ...

. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Enfield disbanded. Members of Grange Park F.C., which had been a local junior club before the war, held a meeting at the Bell Inn, Baker Street,

in May 1919 with a view to stepping up to senior football and taking on the mantle of Enfield. The decision to become the "new" Enfield was taken the next month.

Isthmian League years

They enjoyed little success until the arrival of Thomas Lawrence in the early 1960s. Lawrence was a charismatic centre forward who attracted much stronger players to the club. His career as a player was cut short when he fractured his skull playing for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in an Olympic Games qualifier. Successful as a manager, he did even better later in business. Lawrence's arrival was the origin of the success of Enfield, that lasted 30 years. It was not until 1961–62 that the club won the

title for the first time, and a second successive title in 1962–63 won them entry to the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

. They won seven further league titles, and were one of the first two Isthmian League clubs to join the Alliance Premier League in 1981. During their period in the Isthmian league they made their first appearance in the

Final. After taking an early lead their goalkeeper, Malcolm Mitchell broke his arm, and Roy Thomas, a winger, went into goal. No substitutes were allowed and

Crook Town Crook Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Crook, County Durham, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Sir Tom Cowie Millfield. The club won the FA Amateur Cup five times. History Crook Town Footba ...

won 2–1.

Alliance/Conference years

During the early 1980s, Enfield was among the strongest Conference sides, winning the title in 1982–83 and 1985–86, and the

in 1981–82 and 1987–88. Their form slipped and they were relegated to the Isthmian League in 1990. Despite a run of seven consecutive top-three finishes they remained in that league, being denied promotion after winning the title in 1995 because the

were not satisfied with the club's financial credentials. They won their most recent conference title in the final season of the re-election system, in which the

members had to vote on whether or not to replace one of the bottom four teams in the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

with the champions of the highest non-league division. However, in the ballot which followed Enfield received just 7.5 votes, while the four league sides applying to retain membership received between 61 and 64 votes.

After Southbury Road

In 1999, the club sold its Southbury Road stadium, and began ground sharing with several nearby clubs. Eventually, the board decided on a long term ground share with

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

, 10 miles away. Fearing that the club would never return to its home borough and the team would continue to struggle near the foot of the league, a group of fans set up a supporters' trust. The trust hoped to become involved in the running of Enfield F.C. and to bring about the club's return to play in the Borough of Enfield. For months, their attempts to help were rebuffed by chairman

Tony Lazarou Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

. In February 2001 a deal to transfer control of the club to the Trust was proposed, but Lazarou stalled on the deal for several months and by the beginning of June nothing had happened. When the club sold Southbury Road, £750,000 from the sale had been placed into an

escrow An escrow is a contractual arrangement in which a third party (the stakeholder or escrow agent) receives and disburses money or property for the primary transacting parties, with the disbursement dependent on conditions agreed to by the transacti ...

account, for the use of the club in building a new ground. In 2001, chairman Lazarou asked Enfield Council to hand the money over to him even though he had not identified a site for a new ground; after Lazarou threatened legal action, the Council handed over the money. After this, a group of supporters formed their own club,

Enfield Town F.C. Enfield Town Football Club is a football club based in Enfield, Greater London, England. Established in 2001 as a fan-led breakaway from Enfield, the club are currently members of the and play at the Queen Elizabeth II Stadium. The club b ...

, based in

Brimsdown Brimsdown is a neighbourhood of eastern Enfield in the London Borough of Enfield, north London, on the west side of the mid-to-lower Lea Valley. Geography The east of Brimsdown, that is, east of the eastern Lea Valley line is one of the borough ...

, "to keep football alive in the borough of Enfield". After these events, Enfield F.C. struggled in the Isthmian League Premier Division, and was relegated in 2003. The 2003–04 season was even worse, finishing bottom of

Division One North. In 2004–05 Enfield F.C had moved to Wodson Park, Ware and came second in the

Isthmian League Second Division The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

, winning promotion to the Southern League Division One East. Lazarou owed Enfield Football Club a vast amount of money from the sale of the ground at Southbury Road. A

Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

hearing stated he should repay to the club a sum believed to be in the region of £200,000. During the close season at the end of the 2006–07 season, Enfield had no choice but to liquidate due to the debts owed to the inland revenue by former chairman Lazarou, forcing the club to resign from the

Division One North.

approached Enfield F.C. proposing a merger, but the Enfield F.C. officials opted to remain a separate club, and reformed as Enfield 1893.

Reformed club

The reformed club joined the

Essex Senior League 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 Isthm ...

and were runners-up in their first season. After finishing as runners-up again in 2008–09, they were league champions in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. However, they were not promoted as their ground failed the grading criteria. The club dropped the 1893 suffix from their name in 2019, reverting to the original club's name.

Ground

The reformed club groundshared with Broxbourne Borough V&E from the start of the 2009–10 season, at Goffs Lane, This groundshare lasted for one year, with the club finally moving back to the borough of Enfield in 2010, after merging with Brimsdown Rovers and moving into their Goldsdown Road stadium, which they shared with

Enfield Town Enfield is a large town in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It had a population of 156,858 in 2018. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay Hill, Crews Hill, Enfield Highway ...

for the 2010–11 season, prior to Town moving out at the end of the season. A new groundshare was entered with

Harlow Town Harlow Town Football Club is an English association football, football club based in Harlow, Essex. The club is a former member of the and plays at The Harlow Arena. The club is best known for its exploits in the 1979–80 FA Cup, in which it ...

in 2014, before moving to share with

in 2019.

Club staff

Honours

*FA Amateur Cup **Winners 1966–67, 1969–70 *European Amateur Cup Winners Cup **Winners 1970–71 *FA Trophy **Winners 1981–82, 1987–88 *

**Champions 1982–83, 1985–86 *Isthmian League **Champions 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1979–80, 1994–95 *Athenian League **Champions 1961–62, 1962–63 *Essex Senior League **Champions 2010–11 *London Senior Cup **Winners 1934–35, 1960–61, 1966–67, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1975–76 *Middlesex Senior Cup **Winners 1913–14, 1946–47, 1961–62, 1965–66, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1997–98 *Middlesex Charity Cup **Winners 1958–59, 1960–61, 1961–62 (shared)

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 51, 52, 21.381, N, 0, 11, 31.2498, E, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Enfield, London Football clubs in England Football clubs in London Sport in the London Borough of Enfield Association football clubs established in 1893 1893 establishments in England Athenian League Isthmian League National League (English football) clubs Southern Football League clubs Essex Senior Football League