Essex Senior League side Walthamstow are now jointly managed by John Mackie and Terry Spillane. Mackie played over 100 times for Leyton Orient, and has been assistant manager at Potters Bar Town and Greenwich Borough, while Spillane will be familiar to Romford supporters from his days managing Stansted, Redbridge, Aveley, and Maldon & Tiptree, among others.

While Romford have played two pre-season games, winning one and losing one, Walthamstow have played three, and won three. They opened with a 2-1 win over fellow Essex Senior Leaguers West Essex, before recording a notable 1-0 at Isthmian Premier Division side Bowers & Pitsea. In their most recent game, they beat Finishing Touch Football 5-1 last Saturday.

Walthamstow were formed in 1959 as Pennant FC, playing first in the South West Essex League and later in the Metropolitan League, and then the London Spartan League. In 1988 they changed their name to Walthamstow Pennant, to keep the name alive after the demise of Walthamstow Avenue. In 1995 they merged with Leyton FC to become Leyton Pennant, however after a takeover in 2003, they changed their name once more, becoming Waltham Forest FC, a name that was retained until 2018, when the title Walthamstow FC was adopted.

Romford have never met Walthamstow FC in their current incarnation, although Boro have met their predecessors on more than twenty occasions, with the most recent being the Ryman League fixture played at Wadham Lodge in December 2013, when a brace of goals each from Ryan Imbert and Danny Jones earned Boro a 4-0 win.

Before the 2020-21 season was curtailed, Walthamstow sat third in the Essex Senior League with 27 points from 12 games, with only Hashtag United and Stansted above them. When 2019-20 was called null and void, they were also third in the table, trailing Hashtag United and Saffron Walden Town.

Wednesday’s game at Mayesbrook Park kicks off at 7.45pm and admission prices are:
Adults: £5
Concessions (Over 65): £3
Junior (Under 16): £1

Tickets can be purchased in advance at https://romfordfc.ktckts.com/