Hullbridge Sports Football Club is a football club based in

Hullbridge Hullbridge is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Rochford district of Essex in east England. Bordered to the north by the River Crouch, and semi-isolated from the nearby towns of Hockley and Rayleigh, Hullbridge has a populat ...

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 Lower Road. The club runs over thirty teams from under-6 through to men's senior football.

History

The club was established in 1945 as Hullbridge United by a group headed by A.W. Moss, the owner of the Anchor Inn.Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2016) ''Non-League Club Directory 2017'', Tony Williams Publications, p415 HSFC History
Hullbridge Sports F.C. Playing in green and gold quarters, the colours of the Anchor Inn's flag, the club initially played in the Mid-Essex League. In 1947 they joined the Southend & District League and in 1951–52 won Division Two and the league's French Cup, earning promotion to Division One. In 1953 the club was renamed Hullbridge Sports. Two relegations saw the club playing in Division Three by the mid-1950s, but they were Division Three champions in 1956–57, also winning the Shaw Cup. However, they were relegated back to Division Three two seasons later. The 1962–63 season saw Hullbridge finish as runners-up in the (renamed) Division Two, earning promotion back to Division One. In 1965–66 they won the Division One title and were promoted to the Premier Division. Although they were relegated back to Division One after finishing bottom of the Premier Division in 1968–69, they returned to the league's top division as Division One runners-up in 1971–72. After another relegation, they were promoted back to the Premier Division after finishing as Division One runners-up in 1978–79. In 1982 Hullbridge were founder members of the Southend & District Alliance, before moving up to Division Two of 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 1984. The club were promoted to Division One in their first season after finishing third in Division Two. They narrowly avoided relegation in their first season in Division One, finishing thirteenth out of fifteen clubs, but finished bottom the following season and were relegated back to Division Two. They won the League Cup in 1987–88. In 1990 Hullbridge moved up to the Essex Senior League. They won the Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy in 2013–14, and were league champions in 2018–19 season, earning promotion to North Division of the Isthmian League.Hullbridge Sports claim Essex Senior League title with win over Stanway Rovers
Basildon Echo, 27 April 2019

Ground

The club originally played on a pitch on land owned by A.W. Moss on the junction of Pooles Lane and Long Lane. In the late 1970s the club obtained 16.5 acres of land on Lower Road from Rochford District Council, with the new ground opening in 1980. A clubhouse was officially opened in 1983 and further improvements were made to the ground in 1989 to allow the club to move up to the Essex Senior League, including the installation of floodlights and the construction of a small stand.Jon Weaver (2005) ''The Football Grounds of Rural Essex'', p34 The stand was later rebuilt and twelve seats were added, with 21 additional seats installed on open steps of terracing behind one goal and 21 on another side of the pitch, enough to fulfil the Essex Senior League's requirements.

Honours

*Essex Senior League **Champions 2018–19 *Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy winners 2013–14 *Essex Olympian League **League Cup winners 1987–88 *Southend & District League **Division One champions 1965–66 **Division Two champions 1951–52 **Division Three champions 1956–57 **French Cup winners 1951–52 **Shaw Cup winners 1956–57 *Southend Charity Competition **Section B winners 1979–80 **Section C winners 1950–51, 1965–66

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: Second qualifying round, 2015–16 *Best FA Vase performance: Fourth round, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18 *Record attendance: 800 vs

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, FA Youth Cup, 1999–2000

References

External links

Official website
{{coord, 51, 36, 56.46, N, 0, 37, 09.55, E, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Football clubs in England Football clubs in Essex Association football clubs established in 1945 1945 establishments in England Rochford District Mid-Essex Football League Essex Olympian Football League Essex Senior Football League Isthmian League