Billericay Town F.C.
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| Billericay Town | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Billericay Town Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | The Navy, The Blues | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1880 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | New Lodge, Blunts Wall Road, Billericay |
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| Capacity | 3,500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | Steve Kent | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager | Matt Jones | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | Isthmian League Premier Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005-06 | Premier Division, 7th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Billericay Town Football Club are an English association football club based in Billericay, Essex, who currently play in the Isthmian League Premier Division.
[edit] History
The club was formed in 1880 making it the 11th oldest club in Essex and moved into the Romford & District League in 1890 - competing in this league until 1914.
After the First World War, the Mid-Essex League was entered and they remained in that competition until 1947.
That year they joined the Southern Essex Combination remaining there until 1966 when they became founder-members of the Essex Olympian League.
Five years later, Billericay Town became founder-members of the Essex Senior League and the club's six-year stay in that competition saw them win the Championship three times and were Runners-Up twice (and third the other season). The League Cup was won four times and they were Finalists once. In addition they won the League Challenge Cup the only time that it was competed for.
Progressing to the Athenian League in 1977, Billericay won the Championship and the League Cup in the first season. They became Champions again in 1978/79 and after two seasons were elected into the Isthmian League.
Whilst members of the Essex Senior League, the club won the FA Vase in 1976 when Stamford were beaten 1-0 after extra-time at Wembley Stadium.
The following season, 1976/77, saw the club go to Wembley again and - after a 1-1 draw there - played at Nottingham Forest's City Ground in the replay and emerged victorious with a 2-1 victory over Sheffield, the oldest club in the world.
Billericay Town became the first (and so far the only) club to win the F.A. Vase for a third time in 1979 when they defeated Almondsbury Greenway 4-1. This match was notable for a hat-trick by Doug Young - the first hat-trick in a Cup Final at Wembley Stadium since Geoff Hurst's in the 1966 World Cup Final.
The Club then competed in the FA Trophy until 1989/90 when the F.A. Vase was again entered and the Quarter-Final was reached, losing 0-1 to the eventual finalists, Bridlington. After their success in the Athenian League, Billericay's league successes continued in the Isthmian League when in their first season they easily won the Division 2 title with a winning margin of 17 points, and scoring 100 goals in their 36 league matches. The following season, in Division 1, they finished as Runners-Up to Bishop's Stortford - the first time in the history of the Isthmian League that a club had won promotion in two successive seasons on entry into the League. Billericay then had five seasons in the Premier Division until being relegated in 1986. They then spent two years in Division One before again being relegated - this time into Division Two North. Following re-organisation of the League, Billericay finished in third place in the newly formed Division Two and so gained promotion to Division One. That season, 1991/92, they finished the season with an unbeaten run of 15 games, including winning the Essex Thames-Side Trophy. Promotion back to the Premier Division was obtained in 1998 and 12th position was obtained in the first season back. In season 1999/2000 they obtained their highest-ever league position in the Pyramid structure - 7th place. In the following three seasons they finished in 8th, 9th and 12th places in the League.
Following the resignation of Gary Calder as Manager at the end of the 2002/03 season the Club moved away from the usual list of local managers and appointed ex-Tottenham Hotspur player Justin Edinburgh as Manager – his first venture into football management following his early retirement from the game after being injured playing for Portsmouth, where he spent two seasons.
In January 2004, a local business-man, Steve Kent, acquired the controlling interest in the Club by buying the shares of the major shareholders and also settling the club's debts. Since his arrival Steve has set about renovating some of the clubs facilities, overseeing the resurfacing of the car park, the building of new boardroom and office facilities and commencing work on a refit and extension of the clubhouse.
Unfortunately the 2003/04 season ended in disappointment for Billericay as they were unable to escape the bottom four and failed to earn a place in the new Nationwide South league. Many changes have occurred on the playing side of the club over the summer, with a lot of new players arriving at New Lodge as Billericay move towards becoming the latest non-league club to have a full-time squad. In the event Billericay narrowly missed out on promotion, finishing second, only to lose in the play-offs. The majority of the squad have returned for the current season, determined to go one better this time around.
Full Membership of the Football Association was achieved in 1993, twelve years after obtaining Associate Membership in 1981.
Billericay Town also became the first Non-League club to win the Rothmans Merit Award in 1978 for “having made a worth-while contribution to the wide spectrum of the game in 1977/78” - the only club previously to have won this Award was Liverpool, the previous season, when they were the European Champions.
Billericay finished second in the Isthmian League Premier Division in the 2004-05 season, but failed to earn promotion after losing 1-0 to Leyton in the end of season playoffs.
Billericay Town finished 7th in the Ryman Premier League in the 2005/2006 season. They lost their last game 2-1 to Hampton, after leading 1-0. The loss means that they don't get into the Ryman Premier League play-offs, and Staines also leapfrogged them.
In January 2006 manager Justin Edinburgh left the club to be manager of Fisher Athletic in the same division. Assistant manager Matt Jones took over as caretaker, and later was appointed as permanent manager. As assistant managers he has employed the former Billericay player Jason Broom, and Grant Gordon.
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] External links
| Preceded by Hoddesdon Town |
Winner of the FA Vase 1975–6 & 1976–7 |
Succeeded by Newcastle Blue Star |
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AFC Wimbledon | Ashford Town (Middx) | Billericay Town | Boreham Wood | Bromley | Carshalton Athletic | Chelmsford City | East Thurrock United | Folkestone Invicta | Hampton & Richmond Borough | Harrow Borough | Hendon | Heybridge Swifts | Horsham | Leyton | Margate | Ramsgate | Slough Town | Staines Town | Tonbridge Angels | Walton & Hersham | Worthing edit |
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