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Essex Senior League Preview: The Clubs

Essex Senior League Preview: The Clubs

Michael Woods15 Jun 2022 - 06:23
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Part 14: Stansted

The Airportmen had a number of former Boro players in their ranks last season, including Connor Hammond, Paul Clayton, and Billy Coyle; if they have stayed there will be a few familiar faces to catch up with when we play them.

Brief History:

Formed in 1902, Stansted’s early years were spent playing in local leagues, before joining the East Herts League in the 1930s. They were champions in 1935, and although they had to wait almost fifty years before winning another significant honour, they more than made up for it in 1984, when they won the Essex Senior League Cup, beating Brentwood 1-0 in the Final. They also won the Eastern Floodlit Cup and the East Anglian Cup that season, but most significantly, they beat Stamford 3-2 at Wembley Stadium to lift the FA Vase

Having been founder members of the Essex Senior League in 1971, they were league champions in 2010, but were unable to accept promotion to the Isthmian League due to issues at their Hargrave Park ground, which – as Boro supporters will remember – is three sided due to the adjoining cricket pitch.

Since winning the ESL, Stansted have twice been runners up, and last season finished fourth.

Previous Meetings:

Romford and Stansted have met 29 times in all competitions since 1992, with Boro winning 19 and losing just 4. The first game between the clubs was in October 1992, and a crowd of 239 at Hornchurch Stadium witnessed a 2-2 draw in which Boro’s goals were scored by Steve Game and Jeff Mundy.

The most recent game between the sides was the 2010 Essex Senior Cup tie played at Aveley, which Stansted won 4-2, in which Dwight Gayle, who went on to play for Newcastle United and Crystal Palace, scored two of Stansted’s goals.

In Romford’s ESL Championship season of 2008-09, Boro won 2-1 at Hargrave Park in a game that featured an al fresco half-time team talk by Boro manager Paul Martin when the key to the dressing room door temporarily went missing!

Last Season:

Stansted were at one time very much in the hunt for the runners-up spot in the Essex Senior League in 2021-22, but a run of mixed results in the last few weeks of the season, including defeats at the hands of rivals for second spot Redbridge and Saffron Walden Town (in a game watched by a crowd of 547) saw them eventually finish fourth.

In the FA Cup, Stansted were beaten 4-0 by Basildon United in the Extra-Preliminary Round, while in the FA Vase they beat West Essex and Wivenhoe Town (both on penalties), before exiting in the 2nd Round Proper at Fakenham Town, also on penalties.

In the Errington Challenge Cup, they beat Sporting Bengal United and Redbridge before losing at Stanway Rovers, while the Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy saw them beat Clapton and Athletic Newham before the eventual winners, Redbridge, eliminated them.

Leading scorer for Stansted last season was Michael Salako, who netted 19 league goals in a total of 21, and has been rewarded with a move to Isthmian League Premier side, Brightlingsea Regent.

Home Ground and How to Get There:

Stansted play their home games at Hargrave Park, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex CM24 8BX.

By road, Hargrave Park is about 55 miles from Romford, and to get there take the M11 to junction 8, and then the A120 West to Stansted Mountfitchet. Once in Stansted Mountfitchet the ground is on the B1383, Cambridge Road.

Public transport entails taking the Stansted Express from Liverpool Street to Stansted Mountfitchet, from where the ground is a half mile walk.

Website:
https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/stanstedfc2011

Twitter:
@FCStansted

Further reading