F. C. Risden
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F.C. Risden are an English association football club, who play at Harlow Stadium. For the 2006-07 season they had been expected to play at in the Essex Senior League, a Step 5 league in the National League System. However, Risden's ground, which also features a dog track, did not meet the specifications for the ESL, so they will continue to play in the Bishop's Stortford, Stansted and District Football League for the coming season.
This appears to have been the catalyst for a continued series of disappointment for the Harlow based side. The Saturday team are currently occupying a mid-table position in the Bishop's Stortford, Stansted and District Football League Premier Division, which they won comfortably only last season, and the reserve side are fareing little better, with a poor campaign currently underway in the lower echlons of the same set-up.
Both Sunday sides are in complete disarray, firstly the name of F.C. Risden was refused by a ballot of the local clubs of the Harlow and District Football League at the annual League meeting. This forced the club to be recognized simply as F.C.R. on a Sunday.
This was then followed by the refusal of HDFL to appoint referee's to their matches because of allegations made on the Risden website the previous season about a local official. Worse still was to follow, as like Saturday's, both teams got off to a poor start during their respective campaigns, which saw a number of key players leave. The team then went out at the first hurdle in the F.A. Sunday Cup. The much-vaunted first team were struggling to come to terms with their new Premier Division status and the Reserves were struggling to even raise a team. This was further complicated when Risden Reserves had an amazing 4 players sent-off during a match, leading to lengthy bans and indeed the demise of the Reserve team who now have folded.
The first team, now with a squad of over 30 players, bravely chose to battle on in the Premier Division despite being out of their depth. However this resolve was dented by the recent resignation of a senior member of the management team AND the abandonment of a local fixture because of yet another refereeing dispute.
