Woodford Town F.C. was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 based in

Woodford Woodford may refer to: Places Australia *Woodford, New South Wales *Woodford, Queensland, a town in the Moreton Bay Region *Woodford, Victoria Canada * Woodford, Ontario England *Woodford, Cornwall * Woodford, Gloucestershire *Woodford, Greate ...

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

History

The club was established in 1937, and were founder members of the

Delphian League The Delphian League was an English amateur football league covering Greater London and the surrounding area. The league was formed in 1951 with 14 clubs and was effectively a level below the Corinthian League.Metropolitan League The Metropolitan League was a football league in the south-east of England between 1949 and 1971.Greater London League The Greater London League was a football league for clubs in and around London. It was formed in 1964 by a merger of the London League and the Aetolian League, after the two leagues had run a joint league cup the previous season due to both stru ...

in 1967. They left the Greater London League at the end of the 1968–69 season, and rejoined the Metropolitan League in 1970. At the end of the 1970–71 season they joined Division One South of the Southern League, but left after a single season in which they finished bottom of the table. They 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 ...

in 1976, before switching to 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 ...

in 1979. They rejoined the Southern Division of Southern League in 1982, and played in the

Anglo-Italian Cup The Anglo-Italian Cup ( it, Coppa Anglo-Italiana, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) is a defunct European football c ...

in 1986 losing 4–0 to

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

in the semi-final and then 3–2 to

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

in the 3rd Place play-off.Anglo-Italian Cup 1986
RSSSF Despite finishing third in 1986–87 and reaching 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, they dropped back into the Essex Senior League at the end of the season. In 1993 the club lost its Snakes Lane ground, and transferred to Division One 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 ...

, which merged into the

Spartan South Midlands League The Spartan South Midlands Football League is an English football league covering Hertfordshire, northwest Greater London, central Buckinghamshire and southern Bedfordshire. It is a feeder to the Southern Football League or the Isthmian League, ...

in 1997, with Woodford placed in the Premier Division South. However, they left the league in 1998 and dropped into the London Intermediate League, before returning to the Essex Senior League in 1999. They remained in the league until being voted out in 2003 after finishing bottom of the league for three seasons in a row. A re-formed club – formerly Bush Hill Rangers – began playing in 2015 at the Goldsdown Stadium 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 ...

. This reformed club only lasted one season, with a third club, Woodford Town 2017 arising in the

after Haringey & Waltham changed their name.

Ground

The club played at Snakes Lane until being evicted in 1993. They then played at various non-League grounds in

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

. Their final season was spent groundsharing at Clapton's Old Spotted Dog Ground.

Notable players

Johnny Haynes John Norman Haynes (17 October 1934 – 18 October 2005) was an English association footballer who played as an inside forward. He made 56 appearances for his country including 22 as captain. He was selected for three World Cup finals squads ...

played for the club as a boy, whilst

Jimmy Greaves James Peter Greaves (20 February 1940 – 19 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Greaves is regarded as one of England’s best ever players. He is England's fifth-highest international goalscorer ...

played for the club before retiring altogether (for some years his father was club president).

Records

*Best

performance: First round, 1986–87 *Best

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

performance: Fourth round: 1986–87

References

{{reflist Sport in the London Borough of Redbridge Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in London Association football clubs established in 1937 Delphian League Metropolitan League Greater London League Southern Football League clubs Athenian League Essex Senior Football League Spartan League Spartan South Midlands Football League Association football clubs disestablished in 2003 1937 establishments in England 2003 disestablishments in England