Thurrock F.C.

Thurrock

Full name

Thurrock Football Club

Nickname(s)

The Fleet

Founded

April 1985 (as Purfleet)

Ground

Ship Lane, Aveley

Capacity

3,500 (524 seated)

Chairman

Tommy South

Manager

Mark Stimson

League

Isthmian League
Division One North

2014–15

Isthmian League
Division One North, 5th

Home colours

Away colours

Third colours

Thurrock Football Club is an English football club based in Aveley, Thurrock, Essex. Known as Purfleet until 2003, the club are currently members of the Isthmian League Division One North and play at Ship Lane.

History

Purfleet F.C. were established in April 1985 and entered the Reserve Division of the Essex Senior League in 1985 and spent one season in that division before joining the first-team league. After finishing third and winning the league cup in their first season, they won the league and cup double in 1987–88, earning promotion to Division Two North of the Isthmian League. They finished as runners-up in their first season and were promoted to Division One. However, the following season they were relegated back to Division Two North after finishing second from bottom.

In 1991–92 the club won the division, and were promoted to Division One. Two seasons later they finished second, and were promoted to the Premier Division. In 2003 the club changed its name to Thurrock, and after finishing third in the league at the end of the 2003–04 season, in which they also won the league cup and the Essex Senior Cup, became founder members of the Conference South.

In the club's first season in the new league, they qualified for the promotion play-offs but were knocked out by Eastbourne Borough. However, they did win the Essex Senior Cup for a second successive season. In 2008–09 the club finished in the relegation zone, but were reprieved after Team Bath resigned from the league. In 2010–11 the club again finished in the relegation zone, but were reprieved after Rushden & Diamonds were expelled from the Conference National league hence Southport were not relegated from the Conference National.

Thurrock announced manager Robbie Garvey resigned following the clubs defeat against fellow Conference strugglers Staines Town on 5 December 2011. Lee Goodwin and Grant Gordon took charge of the team on a match by match basis until a new manager is appointed.^[1] Thurrock were relegated at the end of the season, finishing bottom of the Conference South. In 2012–13, they initially finished 19th in the Isthmian Premier, two spots above relegation, but then had 3 points controversily deducted for fielding an ineligible player, dropping them to last place and thus relegating them to Division One North of the Isthmian League. The three points were deducted after the season ended despite the offence taking place in August leading to a protracted legal dispute.

Stadium

The club has played at Ship Lane since their establishment in April 1985. At first the ground was a part of the Thurrock Hotel complex, and initially consisted of two pitches and dressing rooms in the main hotel building. Due to this set-up the club could only compete at Junior level. The playing area was turned around 90° to make one full pitch and dressing rooms were built so the club could become a separate entity.

Floodlights were erected in January 1988 after planning permission was accepted from Thurrock Council to add these features as well as a grandstand.

Current squad

As of 22 February 2015

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.		Position	Player
		GK	Rhys Madden
		GK	Jordon Warren
		DF	Lewis Clark
		DF	Simon King
		DF	Remi Sutton
		DF	Aaron Waters
		MF	Kweku Ansah
		MF	Steven Carvell
		MF	Robert Clark
		MF	Joe Christou

No.		Position	Player
		MF	Jordan Darko
		MF	James Goode
		MF	Gareth Madden
		MF	Lewwis Spence (Captain)
		MF	Leslie Thompson
		MF	Bradley Warner
		FW	L'heureux Menga
		FW	Kurt Smith
		FW	Charlie Stimson
		FW	Ross Wall

Honours

Essex Senior League
- Champions 1987–88
- League Cup Winners 1986–87, 1987–88
Isthmian League
- Division Two Champions 1991–92
- League Cup winners 2003–04
Essex Senior Cup
- Winners 2003–04, 2004–05

Records

Best league performance: Third in the Conference South, 2004–05
Best FA Cup performance: First round proper, 2003–04, 2004–05
Best FA Trophy performance: Fourth round, 2004–05
Best FA Vase performance: Fourth round, 1990–91

References

↑ "Robbie Garvey Quits at Thurrock". 5 December 2011.

External links

Club website
Thurrock at the Football Club History Database
Purfleet at the Football Club History Database

Isthmian League

Premier Division	AFC Hornchurch Billericay Town Bognor Regis Town Bury Town Canvey Island Dulwich Hamlet East Thurrock United Enfield Town Grays Athletic Hampton & Richmond Borough Harrow Borough Hendon Kingstonian Leatherhead Leiston Lewes Maidstone United Margate Metropolitan Police Peacehaven & Telscombe Tonbridge Angels VCD Athletic Wingate & Finchley Witham Town

Division One North	AFC Sudbury Aveley Barkingside Brentwood Town Brightlingsea Regent Burnham Ramblers Chatham Town Cheshunt Cray Wanderers Dereham Town Great Wakering Rovers Harlow Town Heybridge Swifts Maldon & Tiptree Needham Market Redbridge Romford Soham Town Rangers Thamesmead Town Thurrock Tilbury Waltham Abbey Ware Wroxham

Division One South	Burgess Hill Town Carshalton Athletic Chipstead Corinthian-Casuals East Grinstead Town Faversham Town Folkestone Invicta Guernsey Hastings United Herne Bay Horsham Hythe Town Merstham Ramsgate Redhill Sittingbourne South Park Three Bridges Tooting & Mitcham United Walton & Hersham Walton Casuals Whitstable Town Whyteleafe Worthing

Seasons	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1919 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15

Coordinates: 51°29′22.00″N 0°15′53.67″E / 51.4894444°N 0.2649083°E / 51.4894444; 0.2649083