Aveley Football Club are a football club based in

Aveley Aveley is a town and former civil parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock in Essex, England, and forms one of the traditional Church of England parishes. Aveley is 16 miles (26.2 km) east of Charing Cross. In the 2021 United Kingdom c ...

, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Parkside.

History

The club was established in 1927 and played in local leagues until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In 1946 they joined the Thurrock Combination League, and went on to win the Essex Junior Cup in 1948 and 1949.History
Aveley FC In 1949 the club joined Division Two of the London League. They finished fourth in their first season, and were promoted to Division One. The following season they won Division One, but were not promoted to the Premier Division. However, despite finishing ninth in 1952–53, they were promoted. After finishing seventh, then third in their first two seasons in the Premier Division, they won the division in 1954–55. In 1957 the club switched to 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.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 finishing second in 1968–69, the club was promoted to Division One. They won the Division One title in 1970–71, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 1973 Aveley joined Division Two of the Isthmian League, which became Division One in 1977. They won the Essex Thameside Trophy in 1979–80 and the Hornchurch Charity Cup in 1982–83. In 1985–86 they finished bottom of the division, and were relegated to Division Two North. After finishing second in 1989–90, a season in which they also became the first club from the bottom division to win the League Cup, the club was promoted back to Division One. Although they finished fourth in their first season back in Division One, the club finished bottom of the division the following season, but were not relegated. However, in

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

they finished bottom again and were relegated to Division Two. In 1994–95 the club were relegated to Division Three, where they remained until 2002, when league reorganisation saw them placed in Division One North. Aveley were transferred to Division One East of the Southern League in 2004, before returning to Division One North of the Isthmian League in 2006. They won the division in 2008–09, and were promoted to the Premier Division. After finishing third in Isthmian League under manager Rod Stringer, the club lost in the promotion play-off semi-finals to eventual winners

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 ...

. In 2011–12 the club were relegated back to Division One North after finishing third-from-bottom. In their first season in Division One they finished fifth and qualified for the promotion play-offs. They lost 3–1 to Maldon & Tiptree in the semi-finals. In the 2021–22 season, Aveley gained promotion to the Isthmian Premier Division as Champions.

Ground

The club played at Lodge Meadow until moving to Mill Field in 1952, at which point they gained the nickname ''the Millers''. The new ground was built by supporters on land they had purchased, and a stand was bought from Grays Athletic for £100, subsequently becoming known as the Pepper Stand.Jon Weaver (2006) ''The Football Grounds of Essex Metropolitan'', pp4–6 The ground was opened with a local derby match against Grays.Aveley
Pyramid Passion Terracing was installed on the other side of the ground, on which a 400-seat wooden stand was erected in 1958 at a cost of £2,600, together with additional terracing. Floodlights were installed in 1967, with Grays again the visitors for the first match played under them. At the time of its closure, the ground had a capacity of 4,000, of which 400 was seated and covered.Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) ''Non-League Club Directory 2013'', p579 During the 2010s the club bought the site of a former

gravel pit A gravel pit is an open-pit mine for the extraction of gravel. Gravel pits often lie in river valleys where the water table is high, so they may naturally fill with water to form ponds or lakes. Old, abandoned gravel pits are normally used either ...

from

Thurrock Council Thurrock Borough Council, usually known as simply Thurrock Council, is the local authority for the borough of Thurrock in Essex, England. Since 1997, Thurrock has been a unitary authority, combining the functions of a non-metropolitan county wit ...

using money raised from selling Mill Field to developers. The 2016–17 season was the club's last at Mill Field, as they moved to Parkside for the start of the 2017–18 season. The new ground featured two seated stands on either side of the pitch, one of which was built into the clubhouse, with the clubhouse roof overhang providing cover. Two covered terraces were erected behind each goal, either side of the goalmouth, whilst an

artificial pitch Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commerc ...

was installed. In 2018, Parkside hosted a number of games in the

CONIFA World Cup The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) is the international governing body for association football teams that are not affiliated with FIFA. Competitions Women's football All members of CONIFA are encouraged to in ...

.Why the CONIFA World Football Cup matters to Matabeleland
Sky Sports, 31 May 2018

Honours

*Isthmian League **Division One North champions 2008–09, 2021–22 **League Cup winners 1989–90 *Athenian League **Champions 1970–71 *London League **Premier Division champions 1954–55 **Division One champions 1950–51 *Essex Thames-Side Challenge Trophy **Winners 1979–80, 2004–05, 2006–07

Records

*Best FA Cup performance: First round, 1970–71 *Best FA Trophy performance: Quarter-finals, 2019–20 *Best FA Vase performance: Fourth round, 1995–96 *Biggest win: 11–1 vs

Histon Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road which runs east–west. In ...

, 24 August 1963 *Heaviest defeat: 8–0 vs Orient, Essex Thames-Side Trophy *Record attendance: 3,741 vs

Slough Town Slough Town Football Club is a semi-professional English football club based in Slough, Berkshire. Nicknamed "The Rebels", the team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football, following promotion from the Sou ...

, 27 February 1971 *Most appearances: Ken Riley, 422 *Record goalscorer: Jotty Wilks, 214

References

External links