Enfield (1893) F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Enfield (1893)


fullname = Enfield (1893) Football Club
nickname = The Es
founded = 1893 (re-formed 2007)
chairman = Steve Whittington
manager = Kevin Lucas
ground = Wodson Park, Ware
(Groundshare with Ware)
capacity = 3,800
league = Essex Senior League| season = 2007–08
position = Essex Senior League, 2nd
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=0000FF|socks1=FFFFFF| pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFF00|body2=FFFF00|rightarm2=FFFF00|shorts2=0000FF|socks2=FFFF00

Enfield (1893) F.C. (often known as Enfield 1893 and still just Enfield) is a football club, formed in June 2007 after Enfield F.C. went into administration.

Enfield F.C. was a football team, traditionally based in Enfield Town, in the London Borough of Enfield, London, England but more recently based at the ground of Ware in Ware, Hertfordshire. In June 2007, it went into administration and Enfield (1893), a new club, was formed.

Enfield was one of the most successful amateur clubs in England and at one point was seen as a potential Football League entrant due to its Football Conference exploits, but went into freefall due to the club's decision to relocate to Borehamwood, which resulted in the formation of Enfield Town (a situation that closely parallels the more publicised creation of AFC Wimbledon and one that is recorded in the book "The Capital Crimes"). [Clubs In Crisis: Volume Two. “The Capital Crimes”. Enfield/Enfield Town, Barnet and Wimbledon/AFC Wimbledon. Wayne Gumble, Mike Benjamin and Charlie Bell. 2003] Their traditional rivals were Barnet.

Badge

The club badge has an Enfield beast on the left and the Saxon crown and three seaxes of the Middlesex coat of arms on the right, all in white on a blue background. At the top is a shortened version of the name of the club in capital letters, 'ENFIELD FC'.

History

Early years

John Bruce Skinner founded Enfield Football Club in August 1893 as Enfield Spartans, and the club spent its initial season playing friendlies.

The start of the 1894-95 season saw the club play league football for the first time when it joined the Tottenham & District Junior Alliance League.

The club made the move to the larger Tucker’s Field and joined the North Middlesex League in 1896. In 1900 the club dropped the Spartans from the end of its name and also made the move to Cherry Orchard Lane. This picked things up at the club and in the 1901-02 and 1902-03 seasons it won back-to-back league titles and so attained ‘senior’ status.

The 1903 saw the club join the London League Division 2. It won the title in 1911 and so gained promotion to the Premier Division.

Most of the next 50 years, the club played in the Athenian League.

Isthmian League years

They enjoyed little success until the arrival of Thomas Lawrence in the early 1960s. Lawrence was a charismatic centre forward who attracted much stronger players to the club. His career as a player was cut short when he fractured his skull playing for Great Britain in an Olympic Games qualifier. Successful as a manager, he did even better later in business. Lawrence's arrival was the origin of the success of Enfield FC, that lasted 30 years. It was not until 1961-62 that the club won the league title for the first time, and a second successive title in 1962-63 won them entry to the Isthmian League. They won seven further league titles, and were one of the first two Isthmian League clubs to join the Alliance Premier League (now the Football Conference) in 1981. During their period in the Isthmian league they made their first appearance in the FA Amateur Cup Final. After taking an early lead, their goalkeeper, Malcolm Mitchell, broke his arm, and Roy Thomas, an aggressive and skilful but rather short winger, went into goal. No substitutes were allowed and Crook Town won 2-1.

Alliance/Conference years

During the early 1980s, Enfield was among the strongest Conference sides, winning the title in 1982-83 and 1985-86, and the FA Trophy in 1981-82 and 1987-88. Their form slipped and they were relegated to the Isthmian League in 1990. Despite a run of seven consecutive top-three finishes they remained in that league, being denied promotion after winning the title in 1995 because the Football Conference were not satisfied with the club's financial credentials.

Ironically, they won their most recent Conference title in the final season of the re-election system, in which the Football League members had to vote on whether or not to replace one of the bottom four teams in the Fourth Division with the champions of the highest non-league division. As had happened three years earlier, the league members voted against Enfield joining their ranks.

After Southbury Road

In 1999, the club sold its Southbury Road stadium, and began ground sharing with several nearby clubs. Eventually, the board decided on a long term ground share with Boreham Wood F.C., 10 miles away. Fearing that the club would never return to its home borough, a group of fans set up a supporters' trust. The trust hoped to become involved in the running of Enfield F.C. and to bring about the club's return to play in the Borough of Enfield. For months, their attempts to help were rebuffed by chairman Tony Lazarou. In February 2001 a deal to transfer control of the club to the Trust was proposed, but Lazarou stalled on the deal for several months and by the beginning of June nothing had happened.

When the club sold Southbury Road, £750,000 from the sale had been placed into an escrow account, for the use of the club in building a new ground. In 2001, chairman Lazarou asked Enfield Council to hand the money over to him even though he had not identified a site for a new ground; after Lazarou threatened legal action, the Council handed over the money.

After these events, the Enfield Supporters' Trust felt that all hope of a return to Enfield and of their becoming involved in running the club was lost. On June 5,2001 the Trust voted to secede from Enfield F.C. and set up a new club, Enfield Town F.C. A significant proportion of Enfield F.C.'s supporters switched allegiance to the new club.

Enfield F.C. struggled in the Isthmian League Premier Division, and was relegated in 2003 with 101 goals conceded. The 2003-04 season was even worse, finishing bottom of Division One North with 138 goals conceded. In 2004-05 Enfield F.C. came second in the Isthmian League Second Division, winning promotion to the Southern League Division One East. By this point they had left Meadow Park, home of Boreham Wood F.C., and had moved to Wodson Park, home of Ware F.C.

Lazarou owed Enfield Football Club a vast amount of money from the sale of the ground at Southbury Road. A Football Association hearing stated he should repay to the club a sum believed to be in the region of £200,000.

During the close season at the end of the 2006-07 season, Enfield chose to go into liquidation, allowing its debts to be wiped out. However this meant it would have to resign from the First Division North.

Reformation

Enfield F.C.'s officials, players and supporters rejected the offer of a merger from Enfield Town F.C. and instead the club re-surfaced as Enfield (1893) F.C. and joined the Essex Senior League, situated one step below the First Division North. Enfield 1893 managed to retain most of the Enfield F.C. playing staff who had finished in 13th place - mid-table - in the First Division North the previous season.

Timeline - Enfield F.C.

*1893 - Founded
*1894 - Joined Tottenham & District Junior Alliance [ [http://www.tgtlsnews.20fr.com/history.htm TGTLS archive] accessed 29 June 2007]
*1896 - Joined North Middlesex League
*1901-02 - North Middlesex League Premier Division Champions
*1902-03 - North Middlesex League Premier Division Champions
*1903 - Joined London League
*1911 - London League Division One Champions
*1912 - Founder member of Athenian League
*1919 - Did not re-join Athenian League after the War
*1921-22 - Rejoined Athenian League
*1934-35 - Athenian League runner-up
*1939-40 - Athenian League abandoned on outbreak of the War
*1961-62 - Athenian League Champions
*1962-63 - Athenian League Champions (2nd time)
*1963-64 - Joined Isthmian League; FA Amateur Cup finalists
*1964-65 - Isthmian League runner-up after losing Championship play-off against Hendon
*1966-67 - FA Amateur Cup Winners
*1967-68 - Isthmian League Champions
*1968-69 - Isthmian League Champions (2nd time)
*1969-70 - Isthmian League Champions (3rd time in a row). FA Amateur Cup Winners (2nd time)
*1971-72 - Isthmian League runner-up; FA Amateur Cup finalists
*1974-75 - Isthmian League runner-up (lost the title on goal average)
*1975-76 - Isthmian League Champions (4th time). FA Trophy semi-finalists
*1976-77 - Isthmian League Champions (5th time)
*1977-78 - Division One re-named Premier Division. Isthmian League Champions (6th time)
*1979-80 - Isthmian League Champions (7th time)
*1980-81 - Isthmian League runner-up
*1981-82 - Joined Alliance Premier League. Alliance Premier League runner-up. FA Trophy Winners
*1982-83 - Alliance Premier League Champions
*1984-85 - FA Trophy semi-finalists
*1985-86 - Alliance Premier League Champions (2nd time). FA Trophy semi-finalists
*1986-87 - Alliance Premier League renamed Conference
*1987-88 - FA Trophy Winners (2nd time)
*1990-91 - Rejoined Isthmian League. Isthmian League runner-up
*1991-92 - Isthmian League runner-up
*1993-94 - Isthmian League runner-up. FA Trophy semi-finalists
*1994-95 - Isthmian League Champions (8th time)
*1995-96 - Isthmian League runner-up (lost title on goal difference)
*1996-97 - Isthmian League runner-up
*2002-03 - Relegated to Division One North
*2003-04 - Relegated to Division Two
*2004-05 - Isthmian League Division Two runners-up
*2007 - Enfield FC dissolved and ceased to exist.

Timeline - Enfield (1893) F.C.

*2007 - Enfield (1893) FC formed and joined Essex Senior League.
*2007-08 - Ended season as runners-up, level on points with Concord Rangers but with a worse goal difference.

Enfield F.C. best performances

* Best league position: 1st in Alliance Premier League (then level 5), 1985-86.
* Best FA Cup performance: 4th round, 1985-86
* Best FA Amateur Cup performance: winners 1966-67, 1969-70;
* Best FA Trophy performance: winners 1981-82, 1987-88
* Best FA Vase performance: 5th round, 2004-05

Source: fchd|id=ENFIELD|name=Enfield

Enfield F.C. Honours

* FA Trophy winners 1981-82, 1987-88
* FA Amateur Cup winners 1966-67, 1969-70; runners-up 1963-64, 1971-72
* Football Conference champions 1982-83, 1985-86; runners-up 1981-82
* Isthmian League champions 1967-68, 1968-69, 1969-70, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1977-78, 1979-80, 1994-95; runners-up 1964-65, 1971-72, 1974-75, 1980-81, 1990-91, 1991-92, 1993-94,
* Athenian League champions 1961-62, 1962-63; runners-up 1934-35
* London Senior Cup winners 1934-35, 1960-61, 1966-67, 1971-72, 1975-76; runners-up 1963-64, 1967-68

Notable Enfield F.C. players

*Noel Ashford
*John Bailey
*Mark Bentley
*John Burridge
*Paul Canoville
*Darren Collins
*Bob Dowie
*Peter Feely
*Paul Furlong
*Trevor Savage
*Greg Heald
*David Howell
*Nicky Ironton
*Steve King
*Lee Marshall
*Lloyd Opara
*Andy Pape
*Carl Richards
*Martin Robinson
*Paul Underwood

References

External links

* [http://www.enfieldfc.co.uk Official site]
* [http://www.efcfans.com/ EFC Fans]
*fchd|id=ENFIELD|name=Enfield