The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, Suffolk,

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 ...

, eastern

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

, eastern Hertfordshire, southern

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, and north and east

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 ...

. The league is a feeder to Division One North of the Isthmian League.

History

Formation

During the early part of the 20th century there were several leagues covering East Anglia, including the

Norfolk & Suffolk League The Norfolk & Suffolk League was a football league covering the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk in England. History The league was established in 1897, starting with six clubs, Beccles Caxton, Great Yarmouth Town, Kirkley, Lowestoft Town, Lynn ...

, the

East Anglian League The East Anglian League was a football league in the East Anglia region of England. History The league was established in 1903 as the South East Anglian League. The founder member clubs were Chelmsford City, Colchester Crown, Colchester Town, ...

, the Essex & Suffolk Border League and the Ipswich & District League, whilst some of the larger clubs (including

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

and Cambridge Town) played in the

Southern Amateur League The Southern Amateur League (SAL) is an association football league in England affiliated to the Amateur Football Alliance (AFA). It is based in and around Greater London and caters for 11–a–side men's adult teams. A feature of the league i ...

. Suggestions of forming a league to cover the whole region had been made since the early 1900s, but intensified after

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

were promoted to Division Two of the Football League in 1934 and saw a significant rise in attendances.Blakeman, M (2010) ''The official history of the Eastern Counties Football League 1935–2010 Volume I'' During the 1934–35 season there was a strong movement in Harwich and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

for the formation of such a league and after canvassing, a 'Meeting of Representatives of East Anglian Football Clubs' was held at the Picture House in Ipswich on 17 February 1935. The ten clubs in attendance were Cambridge Town, Harwich & Parkeston and Ipswich Town from the SAL, Colchester Town and Crittall Athletic from 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 ...

, and

Gorleston Gorleston-on-Sea (), known colloquially as Gorleston, is a town in the Borough of Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, England, to the south of Great Yarmouth. Situated at the mouth of the River Yare it was a port town at the time of the Domesday Bo ...

, Great Yarmouth Town, King's Lynn, Lowestoft Town and Norwich CEYMS from the Norfolk & Suffolk League. Although Cambridge Town and Norwich CEYMS later decided against joining, a further four clubs were recruited: Bury Town and Thetford Town from the Norfolk & Suffolk League,

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members of ...

from the London League and Clacton Town from the Ipswich & District League.

Early years

The first season commenced on 31 August 1935 and ended with Harwich and Lowestoft level at the top of the league with 26 points each. Although Lowestoft had a better goal average, the championship was decided by a play-off match held at

Layer Road Layer Road was a Football League stadium in Colchester, England. It was only used for football matches and was the home ground of Colchester United before being replaced by the Colchester Community Stadium. The stadium held spectators and was ...

on 29 August 1936. The match ended in a 3–3 draw and the two were declared joint champions and allowed to hold the trophy for six months each. At the end of the first season Ipswich left to join the Southern League and were replaced by their reserve team. At the end of the 1936–37 season there were concerns about the league's viability. All five

clubs had left to join the newly established Essex County League, whilst Thetford had resigned after finishing bottom of the league, leaving only six remaining clubs. However, four new members ( Colchester United reserves,

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local government authorities are Nor ...

, Newmarket Town and Norwich CEYMS) were recruited. The following season the league expanded to 13 clubs as two of the Essex clubs rejoined (the Essex County League had been a failure with only five members completing the season and was not continued). The 1939–40 season started on 26 August, but was abandoned after the outbreak of

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 ...

. After the war ended in May 1945 a meeting was held in late June to see whether the league could be restarted. However, a further meeting on 28 July decided that too few clubs were ready to resume footballing activities as many were unable to sign players and some grounds remained under the control of the armed forces. The league finally resumed for the 1946–47 season with ten clubs.

Later development

Prior to the start of the 1948–49 season the league was expanded to 16 clubs, largely through the addition of the 'A' teams of four London clubs, Arsenal,

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 ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

and

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 ...

. The following season Gillingham reserves joined, becoming the only Kent-based club to ever play in the league ( Dartford also applied to join at the same time, but were rejected). In 1951 the league gained its first

club with the admission of

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

, and by 1955–56 the league was up to 20 clubs, of which five were reserve or 'A' teams. Although a succession of clubs leaving the league saw it reduced to fourteen clubs by 1964, it quickly regained numbers and was back up to 18 members two years later. In 1976 the league was renamed the Eastern League, but returned to its original name six years later. The league was among the first to be sponsored by an external company when, in the late 1970s, it was sponsored by local building societies Magnet and Planet, and Town and Country. More recently it has been sponsored by building supplies company

Jewson Jewson is one of the largest chains of British general builders' merchants, selling to small and medium building contractors. The chain comprises around 600 branches located all across Great Britain. Jewson is part of Denmark's STARK Group. H ...

, Ridgeons, and current sponsor Thurlow Nunn.

Expansion to two divisions

There had been occasional discussions about adding a second division to the league since its formation, but in 1983 it seemed about to become a reality. However, it was then delayed by

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

at the request of the Essex Senior League. The idea was resurrected during the 1987–88 season and a meeting was held to discuss it on 22 November 1987. The league contacted 21 clubs who were considered potential members, of which fifteen were interested in joining. A further four clubs were contacted and another ( Long Sutton Athletic) asked for details. Ultimately fourteen clubs applied to join the league; eight from the Peterborough & District League ( Downham Town, Huntingdon United, King's Lynn reserves, Ortonians, Somersham Town, Warboys Town and Yaxley – Parson Drove also applied later in the year, but were rejected), three from the Anglian Combination (

Diss Town Diss Town Football Club is a football club based in Diss, Norfolk, England. Affiliated to the Norfolk County FA they are currently members of the and play at Brewers Green Lane. History The club was established in 1888 following a suggestion ...

, Fakenham Town and

Wroxham Wroxham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The civil parish of Wroxham has an area of 6.21 square kilometres, and in 2001, had a population of 1,532 in 666 households. A reduced population of 1,502 in 653 households ...

) and three from the Essex & Suffolk Border League (Bury Town reserves, Hatfield Peverel and Little Oakley). All were accepted except Hatfield Peveral and Little Oakley, whose grounds were deemed inadequate, whilst Ortonians later withdrew after difficulties getting their reserve and 'A' teams into the Peterborough & District League. Mildenhall Town from the Cambridgeshire League and Ipswich Wanderers from the Ipswich Sunday League were later invited to join, whilst Halstead Town were persuaded to transfer from the Essex Senior League after Ortonian's late withdrawal, allowing the inaugural Division One season in 1988–89 to start with 14 clubs.

Addition of Division One South

On 3 October 2017, The Football Association ratified the creation of a new Step 6 (level 10) division in the league, Division One South, which started playing in the 2018–19 season. It covers the rest of Essex, as well as East

and parts of North London and east Hertfordshire and is intended to enable promotion to the Essex Senior League and relegation to 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 ...

Current members (2022–23)

Former teams

Ninety teams have previously played in the Eastern Counties League, including several reserve and 'A' teams. The league's geographical span has previously stretched from Gillingham in Kent in the south to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in Lincolnshire in the north and Eynesbury in Cambridgeshire in the west. In the 1940s and 1950s it contained up to four 'A' teams from London. * A.F.C. Sudbury (1999–2006) * Arsenal 'A' (1948–55) *

Biggleswade Town Biggleswade Town Football Club is a football club based in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Langford Road. History The club were established in 1874 as Biggleswade, later becoming known as ...

(1955–63) *

Boston Town Boston Town Football Club is a football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. It is currently a member of the and plays at Tattershall Road. History The club was established as Boston Football Club in 1963 by former officials of Bosto ...

(1966–68) * Braintree Town (four spells) * Braintree Town Reserves (2012–19) *

Brightlingsea Regent Brightlingsea Regent Football Club is an English football club based in Brightlingsea, Essex. Formed by a merger of Brightlingsea United and Regent Park Rangers in 2005, they are currently members of the and play at North Road. History Brightl ...

(2011–14) * Brightlingsea Regent Reserves (2018–20) * Brightlingsea United (1990–2002) *

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 ...

(2020–22) *

Buckhurst Hill Buckhurst Hill is an affluent suburban town in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and adjacent to the northern boundary of the London Borough of Redbridge. The area developed following the o ...

(2021–22) * Bungay Town (1963–64) * Bury Town (three spells) * Bury Town Reserves (1988–96) * Cambridge City Reserves (six spells) *

Cambridge Regional College Cambridge Regional College is a mixed further education college in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suff ...

(2006–14) *

(1951–58) * Cambridge United Reserves (1959–60, 1978–79) *

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

(2010–13) * Chatteris Town (1966–2001) *

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It ...

(1935–37) * Chelmsford City Reserves (1938–63) * Chelsea Reserves (1948–53) * Clacton Town/FC Clacton (four spells) * Coggeshall Town (2016–18) * Colchester Town (1935–37) * Colchester United Reserves (1937–59, 1976–88) *

(1937–39) * Dereham Town (1998–2013) * Dereham Town Reserves (2013–17) * Eynesbury Rovers (1952–63) * Felixstowe Port & Town (1976–2000) * Felixstowe & Walton United (2000–18) * Felixstowe & Walton United Reserves (2018–20) * Fire United (2018–20) * Fulbourn Institute (2005–06) * Gillingham Reserves (1949–54) * Godmanchester Rovers (2002–21) *

(three spells) * Gothic (1963–78) * Halstead Town (1988–2022) * Hashtag United (2018–19) * Hertford Town (1972–73) *

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 ...

(1965–2000, 2017–19) * Histon reserves (2000–11) * Holbeach United (1955–62) * Huntingdon United (1988–92) *

(1935–36) * Ipswich Town Reserves (1936–38) * Ipswich Town 'A' (1948–51) * King's Lynn (1935–39, 1948–54) * King's Lynn Reserves (four spells) * King's Lynn Town Reserves (2014–21) *

Leiston Leiston ( ) is an English town in the East Suffolk non-metropolitan district of Suffolk, near Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, about from the North Sea coast, north-east of Ipswich and north-east of London. The town had a population of 5,508 at th ...

(2001–11) * Leyton Athletic (2019–20) * Little Oakley (2017–21) * Long Sutton Athletic (1988–95) * Lopes Tavares/Athletic Newham (2018–21) * Lowestoft Town (1935–2009) * Maldon Town (1966–72, 1996–2004) * March Town United (1954–2022) *

Needham Market Needham Market is a town in Suffolk, England. The town of Needham, Massachusetts, was named after Needham Market. History It initially grew around the wool combing industry, until the onset of the plague, which swept the town from 1663 to 166 ...

(1996–2010) * Norwich CEYMS (1937–39) * Norwich City Reserves (1946–48) * Norwich City 'A' (1949–58, 1963–75) * Norwich United Reserves (2017–2018) * Peterborough North End Sports (2021–22) * Peterborough United Reserves (1954–60, 1972–73) * Romford Reserves (1959–63) * Saffron Walden Town (three spells) * Somersham Town (1988–2004) * Southend United 'A' (1961–62) * Spalding United (1955–60) * St Neots Town (1969–73) * Stanway Rovers (1992–2018, 2019–21) * Stowmarket/Stowmarket Town (1952–2021) * Sudbury Town (1955–90, 1997–99) * Sudbury Town Reserves (1990–97) * Sudbury Wanderers (1991–99) * Team Bury (2009–18) * Tiptree United (1979–2009) * Tottenham Hotspur 'A' (1948–63) *

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

(2021–22) * Warboys Town (1988–2004) * Watton United (1986–2000) * West Ham United 'A' (1948–56) *

White Ensign The White Ensign, at one time called the St George's Ensign due to the simultaneous existence of a cross-less version of the flag, is an ensign worn on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cross ...

(2018–21) * Wisbech St Mary (2016–22) * Wisbech Town (three spells) *

(1989–2012, 2017–22) * Yaxley (1988–92) Notes

Membership rejected

Between its inception in 1935 and the formalisation of promotion and relegation between the ECL and its feeder leagues in 1983, several clubs applied to join the Eastern Counties League but were rejected, or were approached by the league but turned the offer of admission down. These included: Applied to the league but were rejected * Chingford Town (1948) * Dagenham (1949) * Dagenham Town (1950) * Dartford (1949) *Exning Town (1959) * Hoddesdon Town (1974) *Hoffman Athletic (1938) *Letchworth (1953) *RAFFC (1937) * Rushden Town (1954) * Queens Park Rangers 'A' (1948) *

Sheringham Sheringham (; population 7,367) is an English seaside town within the county of Norfolk, United Kingdom.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 252 - Norfolk Coast East''. . The motto of the town, granted in 1953 to the Sheringham Urban Distr ...

(1937) * Stevenage Athletic (1974) *

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...

(1954) Approached by the league but declined * Brentford 'A' (1947, 1948) * Charlton Athletic 'A', (1948) * Fulham 'A' (1948) * Leyton Orient 'A' (1947)

Champions

The champions of the league have been as follows:England – Eastern Counties League
Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Records

Clubs

*Longest membership: Great Yarmouth Town – 1935 (founder members) to date *Highest attendance: 8,387 for King's Lynn vs Wisbech Town, 12 September 1951

Matches

*Fewest defeats in a season: Chelmsford City reserves – undefeated in 1946–47Blakeman, M (2010) ''The official history of the Eastern Counties Football League 1935–2010 Volume II'' *Most wins in a season **Wroxham – 34 in 44 matches in 1996–97 **Chelmsford City reserves – 16 in 18 matches in 1946–47 (89% victory rate) *Fewest wins in a season: None by Thetford Town (1936–37), Newmarket Town (1951–52), Eynesbury Rovers (1960–61), Chatteris Town (1989–90), Clacton Town (2005–06) *Most defeats in a season **Newmarket Town – lost all 34 matches in 1951–52 **Clacton Town – lost 41 of 42 matches in 2005–06 *Most draws in a season: Watton United – drew 19 of 40 matches in 1989–90 *Biggest win: Lowestoft Town 19–0 Thetford Town, 20 March 1937 *Biggest away win: Newmarket Town 0–12 Biggleswade Town, 2 December 1961 *Most consecutive wins: 19 by Lowestoft Town between 21 October 1967 and 13 April 1968 *Most wins from the start of a season: 18 by Bury Town in 1963–64 *Longest unbeaten run: 37 matches by Wisbech Town between 30 April 1983 and 20 April 1984 *Longest unbeaten start to a season: 34 matches by Wisbech Town in 1983–84 *Most consecutive defeats: 39 by Newmarket Town between 1951 and 1959 (they left the league in 1952 and returned in 1959) *Most matches without a win: 45 by Newmarket Town between 1951 and 1959

Goals

*Most goals in a season **Lowestoft Town scored 157 in 34 matches in 1966–67 (4.62 a game) **Chelmsford City reserves scored 95 in 18 matches in 1946–47 (5.28 a game) *Fewest goals conceded in a season: Norwich United – 19 in 36 matches (1990–91) *Fewest goals scored in a season **Thetford Town – 18 in 19 matches (1936–37), Haverhill Rovers – 18 in 36 matches (1975–76), March Town United – 18 in 32 matches (2000–01), Warboys Town – 18 in 36 matches (2002–03) **Clacton Town – 20 in 42 matches in 2005–06 *Most goals conceded: Chatteris Town – 208 in 40 matches in 1989–90 *Most goals in a season: 57 in 30 matches by Mick Tooley (Lowestoft Town) in 1965–66 *Most goals in a game: 9 by Ivan Thacker for Lowestoft Town in a 16–0 win over Bury Town on 28 December 1935 *Most consecutive matches scored in: 18 by Mick Tooley (Lowestoft Town) during 1965–66

References

External links

Official website
{{Football in England table cells 1935 establishments in England 9 Sports leagues established in 1935