It’s been another busy week around the club, with news of player signings, pre-season games arranged, and the release by the Essex Senior League of the opening two rounds of fixtures among other things. In case you missed the announcements on social media, here’s a round up.

Player News:

Darren Manning’s Boro squad is taking shape with new signings and some familiar faces re-signing this week. First up is Prince Sikiru who made 34 appearances for Redbridge at Step 4 last season as part of the squad that narrowly missed out on promotion in Isthmian League North via the Play-Offs, beaten on penalties at Stanway Rovers in the Final.

Also signing on for Boro is attacking midfielder Ben McCrow, who joins from Heybridge Swifts, for whom he made 29 appearance last season, scoring 5 goals.

Rejoining Romford is goalkeeper Lamar Johnson who played for Boro in 2011-12 before leaving to join Grays Athletic. Last season he played for Walthamstow and Welwyn Garden City.

Defender Teddy Desmond, who made 36 appearances last season, scoring 4 goals including the vital equaliser against Harwich & Parkeston on the final day of the season, has re-signed for 2026-27. Another player signing on for another season is last season’s Players’ Player of The Year, Greig Stewart, who joined Boro in November 2025, making 19 appearances and scored the vital, winning goal at Hullbridge Sports.

Next is Alfie Osbourne, who comes to Romford having been with Basildon United for several seasons, and who played 30 games for them last season and scored against Boro in the 3-2 away defeat last March. Also signing on is Elton Gjonbala, who previously had spells with Grays Athletic, East Thurrock and finished last season on loan at Sporting Bengal.

Finally – for now – Ben Sargent, a defender, joins from White Ensign, where he made 38 appearances last season.

Management Team:

Joining Boro as assistant manager is Vinny Murphy, who has experience at Step 4 as both a player and manager and was boss at Walthamstow FC for two years.

Pre-Season Friendlies:

In addition to the pre-season fixtures already announced, Romford make the trip up the A12 to face Essex Senior League champions Little Oakley on Saturday 18th July . This game will kick off at 4pm. Then, on Saturday 25th July , Boro will play Isthmian League North side Walthamstow at their Wadham Lodge ground. The kick-off time for this game is yet to be confirmed.

On Wednesday 15th July last season’s losing FA Vase finalists, Cockfosters, will visit Mayesbrook Park. Cockfosters recently announced the signing of two Boro old boys, Jake Anderson and Hassan Nalbant.

The full programme of Boro’s pre-season games is as follows:

Sat 11 July Southend United U23/U18 Home
Wed 15 July Cockfosters Home
Sat 18 July Little Oakley Away
Tue 21 July Sawbridgeworth Town Away
Sat 25 July Walthamstow Away

Essex Senior League fixtures:

The Essex Senior League has released the opening two rounds of fixtures for the 2026-27 season.
Boro start with a trip to Basildon United]/b] on [b] Saturday 1st August and then entertain Woodford Town on Wednesday 12th August.

The full list of fixtures for the season will be announced by the league in due course.

Finally, some sponsorship news. Coral Romford Dogs will again have pitchside advertising boards up at the stadium as well as programme and online adverts featured through the season. A night at the dogs is a fantastic family night out, see https://romfordgreyhoundstadium.co.uk/ for details.

Also, DLH Lifting Services have agreed to sponsor Boro’s tracksuits this season and we thank them – and all of our other sponsors - for their support!