Senrab F.C. is a Sunday League football club, based at

Wanstead Flats Wanstead Flats is the southernmost portion of Epping Forest, in Leytonstone and Wanstead, London. The flats and by extension the forest ends at Forest Gate directly to the south. It now falls wholly within the boundaries of the London Boroughs ...

in the

Forest Gate Forest Gate is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England. It is located northeast of Charing Cross. The area's name relates to its position adjacent to Wanstead Flats, the southernmost part of Epping Forest. The town ...

district of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. It is noted for the high number of professional players who played for the club in their youth.

History

The club takes its name from Senrab Street in

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appli ...

; the club's players trained at Marion Richardson School on Senrab Street (which is close to Barnes Street, and is 'Barnes' spelt backwards). The club was founded in 1961 by then 15-year-old Jimmy Tindall (later a youth development officer for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

), playing eight-a-side at first before progressing to 11-a-side within two years. Tindall's son,

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He ...

was a 1990s product of Senrab, playing in midfield with

Lee Bowyer Lee David Bowyer (; born 3 January 1977) is an English football manager and former professional player. As a player, he was a midfielder who featured for Charlton Athletic, Leeds United, West Ham United (two spells), Newcastle United, Birming ...

before later moving to AFC Bournemouth. The club had three 11-a-side teams to begin with, all playing in the Regent's Park League. Tindall's recruitment policy was to pick up only the best young players, stipulating that to play for Senrab, a player must have previously played for his district or county. In the early 1970s, so many Senrab players signed for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

that former player

Ray Lewington Raymond Lewington (born 7 September 1956) is an English retired footballer. He was most recently assistant manager of Watford. Born in London, he started his playing career in the city at Chelsea. He went on to play for Vancouver Whitecaps, W ...

nicknamed Senrab "Chelsea Juniors". In 2014 Senrab were shortlisted for the Daily Mirror Pride of Sport Awards in the Local Team of the Year Category.

Operation

Senrab operates 15 teams for age groups ranging from 5 to 17 years old. The club has produced a great number of players who have gone on to have successful professional careers, including

Sol Campbell Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Southend United. He previously managed Macclesfield Town from November 2018 to August ...

Jermain Defoe Jermain Colin Defoe (born 7 October 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He also played for the England national team. Defoe began his career with Charlton Athletic, joining their youth team aged 14, be ...

Ledley King Ledley Brenton King (born 12 October 1980) is a former player who was a one-club man, spending his entire career at Tottenham Hotspur and playing 323 competitive matches for the club from 1999 to 2012. He is currently a club ambassador for Tot ...

and

John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the a ...

. A number of professional coaches have also started out at Senrab, most notably

Dario Gradi Dario Gradi, MBE (born 8 July 1941) is an Italian-English former amateur football player, coach and manager. He was associated for more than 36 years with Crewe Alexandra, where he was variously manager, director of football and director of t ...

, who, until June 2007, was the longest-serving football manager in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

. In April 2011, former Senrab player John Terry donated an undisclosed sum to the club to keep it running.

Former players

The following players and coaches have all gone on to play for or coach a professional football club after leaving Senrab FC.

Players

Ade Akinbiyi Adeola Oluwatoyin Akinbiyi (born 10 October 1974) is a football coach and former professional footballer. As a player he was a forward who notably played in the Premier League for Norwich City, Leicester City and Sheffield United, as well as ...

Adebayo Akinfenwa Saheed Adebayo Akinfenwa (born 10 May 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Akinfenwa's professional breakthrough came at Doncaster Rovers, having spent time up until then in the lower leagues of English f ...

* Cliff Akurang *

* Scott Canham * Gary Chivers *

Alan Curbishley Llewellyn Charles "Alan" Curbishley (born 8 November 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a midfielder for West Ham United, Birmingham City, Aston Villa, Charlton Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion and has worke ...

Ugo Ehiogu Ugochuku Ehiogu (; 3 November 1972 – 21 April 2017) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre back from 1989 to 2009. He was the coach of the Tottenham Hotspur U23 team until his death in April 2017. He played in the Prem ...

* Simon Ford * Jonathan Fortune *

Leo Fortune-West Leopold Paul Osborne Fortune-West (born Leopold Paul Osborne West, 9 April 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played in the Football League for Gillingham, Leyton Orient, Lincoln City, Rotherham Un ...

* Fitz Hall * Vince Hilaire *

Terry Hurlock Terence Alan Hurlock (born 22 September 1958) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. Over the course of a 15-year career in the Football League, he had notable spells with Brentford and Millwall. He wo ...

* Kemal Izzet *

Muzzy Izzet Mustafa Kemal "Muzzy" Izzet (; tr, İzzet; born 31 October 1974) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Chelsea, Leicester City, Birmingham City. Born in England, he represented the Turkey national team internationa ...

* Jodi Jones * David Kerslake *

Leon Knight Leon Leroy Knight (born 16 September 1982) is an English Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. A journeyman player, he has played for fifteen different clubs spanning five countries; Eng ...

Paul Konchesky Paul Martyn Konchesky (born 15 May 1981) is an English Association football, football coach and former professional player who currently manages West Ham United W.F.C., West Ham United Women of the FA WSL. During a 21-year playing career, Konch ...

* Ezri Konsa *

Tommy Langley Thomas William Langley (born 8 February 1958) is an English retired footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s as a striker. He is currently one of the hosts of ''Matchnight Live'' on Chelsea TV. Club career Chelsea Langley began his career ...

* Teddy Maybank *

Kevin Nicholls Kevin John Richard Nicholls (born 2 January 1979) is an English former footballer who played in midfield. He most recently played for Luton Town, a club where he spent eight years at in two separate spells. At the beginning of his second stint ...

Darren Purse Darren John Purse (born 14 February 1977) is an English former professional footballer who now coaches the Cardiff City U23s. A centre-back, he began his career at Leyton Orient, before winning a £100,000 move to Oxford United in July 1996. ...

* Jlloyd Samuel *

Terry Skiverton Terence John Skiverton (born 26 June 1975) is an English former footballer who enjoyed a long playing career at Yeovil Town for 11 years, appearing 382 times in all competitions, before becoming their manager and subsequently, assistant manage ...

* John Sparrow *

* Jason Tindall * Sanchez Watt *

Ray Wilkins Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

* Bobby Zamora

Coaches

* Tony Carr *

References

Sources

* * *{{cite news , first=Nick , last=Szcezepanik , title=Doors still open at fame academy; The battle for survival at the Senrab Boys Club in East London , url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article806633.ece , work=The Times , publisher=Times Newspapers , date=30 December 2002 , accessdate=14 August 2009 Youth football clubs in England Football clubs in London Association football clubs established in 1961 1961 establishments in England Football clubs in England