Epping Town Football Club is a football club based in

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

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, currently playing in the .

History

First incarnation

The original Epping Town were formed in 1888, winning the Woodford & District League in 1913 and 1920. The club joined Division Two East of 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 1936. They moved into the Premier Division of the London League in 1955, and were Premier Division champions in 1963–64, the league's last season. They then became founder members of the Greater London League, and were placed in the "A" section. A seventh-place finish in 1964–65 was enough to earn a place in the Premier Division the following season. In 1966–67 they won the league, before joining 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). ...

, which Epping won at the first attempt. The following season they were runners-up, before winning a second title in 1973–74. They then joined Division Two of 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 ...

, which they won in 1975–76 to earn promotion to Division One. After finishing sixth in Division One the following season, they moved up to Division Two of the Isthmian League. The club resigned from the league at the end of the 1984–85 season due to financial problems and their record was expunged.Epping FC (1) 1 v Letchworth Garden City Eagles (0) 2
Football Grounds in Focus Epping Town played their final game on 2 May 1985, losing 7–0 at home to Leyton-Wingate.

Second incarnation

Whilst the original Epping Town were in the Athenian League in the 1970s, Coopersale, formed in 1948, competed in the

Essex Olympian League The Essex Olympian Football League is a football competition based in England, founded in the 1966–67 season. It has a total of six senior divisions and one under 21 division. The Premier Division sits at step 7 (or level 11) of the National ...

. In 1992, seven years after the demise of Epping Town, the club changed their name to Eppingsale. In 1999, the club again changed name, this time to Epping. In 2018, the club renamed themselves to Epping Town, signifying the first time in 33 years the name Epping Town had been used in Non-League football. In 2021, Epping Town were promoted from Division Two to Division One of the Essex Olympian League.

Ground

The original Epping Town club played at Stonards Hill in

. The second incarnation of Epping Town also used Stonards Hill as their ground until 2020, before Epping Town Council refused to renew the license for the club to play at the site, forcing Epping Town to groundshare with Epping Upper Clapton Rugby Football Club at Upland Road in Thornwood.

Honours

*London League **Premier Division champions 1963–64 *Greater London League **Premier Division champions 1966–67 *Athenian League **Division Two champions 1975–76 *Metropolitan League **Champions 1970–71 *Metropolitan–London League **Division One champions 1971–72, 1973–74

Records

*Best

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 ...

performance: Fourth qualifying round, 1973–74 *Best FA Vase performance: Fifth round replay, 1976–77

References

{{reflist Football clubs in England Football clubs in Essex Spartan League London League (football) Greater London League Metropolitan League Metropolitan–London League Athenian League Isthmian League Essex Olympian Football League Epping, Essex Association football clubs established in 1888 Association football clubs established in 1948 Association football clubs established in 2018 1888 establishments in England 1948 establishments in England 2018 establishments in England Association football clubs disestablished in 1985 1985 disestablishments in England