Essex Senior Football League
Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football 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.<ref name=history /> It is a feeder league to Division One North of the Isthmian League and has a single division which sits at Step 5 (or Level 9) of the National League System.<ref name=history />
Founder members
The Essex Senior League was formed in 1971 with nine founder members. The finishing positions for the 1971–72 season were as follows:
| 1 | Witham Town |
| 2 | Billericay Town |
| 3 | Pegasus Athletic |
| 4 | Tiptree United |
| 5 | Saffron Walden Town |
| 6 | Basildon United |
| 7 | Heybridge Swifts |
| 8 | Southend United 'A' |
| 9 | Stansted |
Promotion and relegation
The Essex Senior League states that a club must finish in the top 3 to be considered for promotion to the Isthmian League Division One North.<ref name=history>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However the process is governed by the FA Leagues Committee<ref name=handbook /> who regulate relegations and promotions throughout the National League System. As of the 2014–15 season FA rules for Step 5 divisions such as the Essex Senior League stipulate that the champions should be offered the first chance of promotion. If the champions do not wish to be promoted or are not able to meet the entry requirements for promotion then the 2nd or 3rd placed team may be considered for promotion. Under normal circumstances, only one club can be promoted from a Step 5 league (e.g., the Essex Senior League) to a Step 4 league (e.g., the Isthmian League Division One).<ref name=nls-doc>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In exchange for the promoted club, the Essex Senior League would typically receive a relegated club from a Step 4 league.<ref name=history /> Relegated clubs of Step 4 leagues are allocated an appropriate league based on their geographical locations.<ref name=nls-doc /> Thus the Essex Senior League is most likely to receive one of the relegated clubs from the Isthmian League Division One North.
There was no relegation from the Essex Senior League into a lower league since there was no Step 6 equivalent to the ESL<ref name=history /> until the 2017–18 season. Leagues including the Essex Olympian League (Step 7) sometimes acted as a feeder league to the Essex Senior League but promotion and relegation between the two leagues was not automatic.<ref name=nonleaguematters>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A Step 6 division for Essex and East Anglia was announced in October 2017 to solve the relegation problem. Since 2018–19, the Eastern Counties League controls this new division.<ref name=Step6/>
Current Essex Senior League members
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- Athletic Newham
- Barking
- Benfleet
- Buckhurst Hill
- FC Clacton
- Frenford
- Great Wakering Rovers
- Halstead Town
- Hullbridge Sports
- Ilford
- Little Oakley
- Romford
- Saffron Walden Town
- Stansted
- Stanway Rovers
- Sawbridgeworth
- Takeley
- West Essex
- White Ensign
- Woodford Town
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Champions, runners up and third place finishers
League winners records
- 5 times – Basildon United
- 3 times – Billericay Town, Bowers & Pitsea, Concord Rangers, Great Wakering Rovers, Heybridge Swifts, Witham Town
- 2 times – Brentwood Town, Brightlingsea United, Canvey Island, Enfield, Enfield Town, Ford United, Romford, Saffron Walden Town
- 1 time – AFC Hornchurch, Barking, Burnham Ramblers, Haringey Borough, Hullbridge Sports, Leyton, Maldon Town, Purfleet, Stansted, Stanway Rovers, Southend Manor, Tilbury, Walthamstow
Errington Challenge Cup
The Essex Senior League Challenge Cup is a knock-out tournament competed for by teams in the Essex Senior Football League.<ref name=handbook /> As of the 2017–18 season the competition is referred to as the Errington Challenge Cup in recognition of the league's treasurer Margaret Errington who held the post for 26 years before her death in 2016. Brentwood Town and Basildon United hold the record jointly for the most cup wins, each lifting the trophy four times (Brentwood Town in 1975–76, 1978–79, 1990–91, 2006–07, Basildon United in 1977–78, 1993–94, 1997–98, 2015–16).<ref name=handbook />
Final results
League and Cup double
On 14 occasions a team has won both the Essex Senior League and the Essex Senior League Challenge Cup in the same season. They are:
- 1972–73 – Billericay Town<ref name=handbook />
- 1977–78 – Basildon United<ref name=handbook />
- 1982–83 – Heybridge Swifts<ref name=handbook />
- 1987–88 – Purfleet<ref name=handbook />
- 1992–93 – Canvey Island<ref name=handbook />
- 1993–94 – Basildon United<ref name=handbook />
- 1995–96 – Romford<ref name=handbook />
- 1998–99 – Bowers United<ref name=handbook />
- 1999–00 – Saffron Walden Town<ref name=handbook />
- 2005–06 – AFC Hornchurch<ref name=handbook />
- 2006–07 – Brentwood Town<ref name=handbook />
- 2011–12 – Witham Town<ref name=handbook />
- 2013–14 – Great Wakering Rovers<ref name=handbook />
- 2017–18 – Great Wakering Rovers
Former members
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- AFC Hornchurch
- Barkingside
- Basildon United
- Beaumont Athletic
- Billericay Town
- Bowers & Pitsea
- Brentwood Town
- Brightlingsea United
- Burnham Ramblers
- Bury Academy
- Canvey Island
- Chelmsford City reserves
- Clapton
- Cockfosters
- Colchester United 'A'
- Concord Rangers
- East Ham United
- East Thurrock United
- Enfield
- Enfield Town
- Eton Manor
- FC Romania
- Hackney Wick
- Hadley
- Haringey Borough
- Hashtag United
- Heybridge Swifts
- Hoddesdon Town
- Leyton
- Leyton Athletic
- London APSA
- Maldon Town
- Pegasus Athletic
- Purfleet
- Redbridge
- Sawbridgeworth Town
- Southend Manor
- Southend United 'A'
- St Margaretsbury
- Stambridge
- Stansted
- Tiptree United
- Tower Hamlets
- Waltham Abbey
- Walthamstow
- Witham Town
- Wivenhoe Town
- Woodford Town
- Woodford Town reserves
Notable former Essex Senior League players
Several Essex Senior League players have also played for Football League or Premier League teams: Template:Expand list
- Jimmy Greaves – Played for Brentwood Town<ref name=history /> after playing for West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, AC Milan, Chelsea and England.
- Alan Brazil – Played for Stambridge<ref name=history /> after Queens Park Rangers and other teams including Manchester United and Scotland.
- Kerry Dixon – Played in the Essex Senior League<ref name=history /> for Basildon after playing for other teams including Chelsea and England.
- Michael Kightly – left Basildon United to join Southend United circa 2003,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> playing for Burnley as of April 2016.
- Dwight Gayle – left Stansted to play for Dagenham & Redbridge, Peterborough United and Crystal Palace.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Trevor Putney – left Brentwood to join Ipswich Town in 1980,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> also played for Norwich City, and Middlesbrough.
- Stuart Wardley – left Saffron Walden Town to join Queens Park Rangers in 1999.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Steve Tilson – left Witham Town to join Southend United in 1989.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Gary Hart – left Stansted for £1,000 and a set of kit to join Brighton & Hove Albion in 1998.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Ben Barnett – left Southend Manor to briefly join Leyton Orient in 2000.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- John Warner – left Burnham Ramblers to join Colchester United in 1988.
- Scott Forbes – left Saffron Walden Town to join Southend United in 2000.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
References
External links
Template:Essex Senior League Template:Football in England table cells