Their Stay Was a Brief One (D & E)

The third part of looking at clubs whose tenure in the Southern Football League was brief.

Originally known as Deal Cinque Ports FC, the club was formed in the early 1900s, changing its name in 1920 to Deal Town.

Deal`s first matches were played in the Thanet League and the East Kent League.

In 1909 they joined the Eastern section of the Kent League but following the disbanding of the Kent League in 1959, Deal became founder members of the Aetolian League.

In 1963 Deal were elected to the Southern League, following the example of half a dozen or so former Kent rivals.

They made a more `cautious` entry into Southern League football and had to undergo two defeats by five goals before they won their first match against Clacton Town three weeks into the campaign.

When the other clubs which used to make up part of the Kent League joined the Southern League when it was extended, Deal did not do so, so the conclusion was that they wanted to wait to see if the new set-up would be a success.

Deal had a rough time of it during their first season in the Southern League, finishing bottom-but-one.

But just before the end of the season, they brought in Larry Baxter from Cheltenham Town to become player-manager and showed an improvement before a slump after Christmas finally saw them ending up in 19th spot (out of 22).

Baxter was a skillful winger who made over 200 Football League appearances between 1952 and 1961 for Northampton Town, Norwich City, Gillingham and Torquay United, whom he helped to win promotion from the old Fourth Division in 1960, before dropping down into non-League football with Cheltenham in 1961.

However, the 1964/65 season saw Deal finish bottom with only 10 points from 46 matches.

It wasn`t a vintage season for Kent sides, as Bexley United, Dover, Gravesend & Northfleet, Sittingbourne, Ramsgate Athletic, Tunbridge Wells Rangers and Ashford Town as well as Deal, all finished in the bottom twelve.

After a torrid three seasons in the Southern League, Deal moved onto the Greater London League.

The 1971/72 season saw the club return to the Kent League and, after their first Kent League championship back in 1953/54, the second was finally achieved in 1999/00.

As well as their domestic achievements, Deal Town, managed by Tommy Sampson, become the first team from Kent to lift the FA Vase with their 1-0 victory at Wembley Stadium against Chippenham Town in front of a crowd of 20,083 - the second biggest in the history of the competition when played on its own.

More recent seasons has seen Deal hover around mid-table in the now-named Southern Counties East League, a seventh-place finish in 2017/18 being their best effort.

Ahead of the 2004/05 season, the Football Association`s National League System`s Committee underwent a major re-shuffle of the non-League Pyramid which, to be frank, left some clubs finding themselves in some unexpected places.

East Thurrock United were one of them.

The setting up of the Conference North and South divisions saw the three leagues below need to carry out some re-allocation of their clubs, and as part of this, a number of Isthmian One (North) sides, including East Thurrock, were somewhat surprised to find themselves playing in the Eastern Division of the Southern League.

As part of the pyramid re-structuring, it was known that the top two sides would gain automatic promotion, with another club also promoted through the play-offs.

Those in control at Rookery Hill saw this as the best window of opportunity the club would have of being promoted to Premier Division football, as the future set up would see just one automatic promotion spot available each season.

Formed in 1969, East Thurrock and played in the Southern Essex Combination for the 1969/70 season and finished third in the league, before joining the reserve section of the Greater London League in 1970.

They went on to win the division at the first attempt and when the league merged with the Metropolitan League at the end of the season to form the Metropolitan–London League, East Thurrock remained in the reserve division.

After winning the division in 1971/72, they moved up to the senior divisions, joining Division Two and won this division at the first attempt and were promoted to Division One.

After the league merged with the Spartan League to form the London Spartan League in 1975, East Thurrock were placed in Division Two.

They remained there until re-structuring saw them moved into the Premier Division in 1978.

In 1979 the club switched to the Essex Senior League and then in 1988/89 they won the League Cup - a feat they repeated in 1991/92 - a season that also saw them finish third in the league, earning promotion to Division Three of the Isthmian League.

In 1999/00 they were Division Three champions, earning promotion to Division Two and two seasons later, they found themselves switched to the Southern League.

A new sponsorship deal which meant manager Lee Patterson could strengthen the playing squad, with a view to making a concerted effort to land a promotion spot.

Amongst the players brought to Rookery Hill by Patterson in 2004 were former Wimbledon, Dagenham and Hornchurch striker Vinny John, and another former Football League player in defender Dean Chandler, who had seen service with Charlton Athletic and Lincoln City.

The Rocks got off to a great start, winning their first five league fixtures in their new surroundings, but as the season progressed into the winter it was Fisher Athletic and Uxbridge who were clear at the top with Rocks lying third.

Over the Christmas break it was announced that former Aveley manager Steve Mosely had joined the club, and would become co-manager, working alongside Patterson.

After their mid-season blip, East Thurrock put together a good run, which included completing a league `double` over title rivals Uxbridge.

As the season drew to a dramatic conclusion, fellow Essex side Maldon Town had also lifted themselves into contention.

With Fisher already confirmed as champions, a single Sammy Winston goal gave the Rocks victory over Maldon in the last midweek fixture at Rookery Hill which meant that if they won their final game at Dartford on the last Saturday of the season, they would be confirmed to be promoted as runners-up. Anything less than a win could have let in either Maldon or Uxbridge.

In the end, East Thurrock ran out comfortable 3-0 winners and promotion was achieved, and they would be playing Premier Division football next season.

But where? Placing the Rocks in the Southern Premier would have meant a huge amount of travelling, but the FA adopted the sensible move of placing them in the Isthmian Premier for 2005/06.

So ended East Thurrock United`s one and only season as members of the Southern League.

Since then, the Rocks have climbed up through to the National League South and back again and are currently in the Isthmian Premier.

Another `one season wonder` were Eastleigh.

And like East Thurrock, they were `victims` of the FA`s reshuffle to accommodate the two new Conference divisions.

Formed just after the Second World War and originally called Swaythling Athletic and then just Swaythling FC, they were initially members of the Hampshire League.

In 1980, they changed names again to Eastleigh and remained in the Hampshire League until becoming founder members of the Wessex League in 1986.

The club settled at that level, until a distinguished period under the management of current Havant & Waterlooville boss Paul Doswell which began in 2002/03.

Eastleigh were that season’s Wessex League champions and were placed in the Southern League Division One East.

It involved a massive amount of travelling for the Hampshire outfit to far-flung outposts at King`s Lynn, who finished that season as champions, Corby Town, Rothwell Town and Stamford as well as across the Solent to play Newport Isle of Wight.

But, under Doswell and with striker Paul Sales leading the scoring charts with 29, aided by Nicky Banger`s 15, Eastleigh finished fourth behind Lynn, Histon and Tonbridge Angels – and that after having had three points deducted due to an administrative misdemeanor.

And the Spitfires were beneficiaries of the FA.’s restructuring of the non-League Pyramid and were elevated to begin 2004/05 in the Premier Division of the Isthmian League.

On-pitch advancement was being matched off the field and, after a run of 14 unbeaten matches, Eastleigh finished third and won a play-off berth, which they capitalised on fully.

Victories over Braintree Town and Leyton ensured that Doswell had taken his team from Wessex League to Conference South in the space of just three years.

It took them until 2015 before winning the Conference South title and have been solid members of the National League ever since.

Egham Town enjoyed a slightly longer spell in the Southern League.

One unfortunate season in Division One West after the re-shuffling of the non-League Pyramid, was followed by five seasons in more recent times.

The club came into being back in 1877, but back then it was known as Runnymede Rovers. They changed their name to Egham 28 years later in 1905.

They were members of the Surrey Senior League, Spartan League and Athenian League before gaining a place in the Isthmian League Division Two in 1977.

In 1984 they were relocated to Division Two South due to some restructuring.

A Division Two returned in 1991 and at the end of the 1997/98 season, the Sarnies found themselves being relegated to Division Three.

They were in Division One South in 2002 and in 2003/04 finished third-from-bottom.

The restructuring of the Pyramid to shoe-in the Conference North and South saw Egham moved into the Southern League Division One West.

But it proved to be an awful campaign for the Sarnies, who finished bottom, a whopping 19 points behind second-from-bottom Oxford City.

They managed to avoid conceding a century of goals but managed only 25 at the other end in 42 matches!

The Sarnies decided to leave the Isthmian League in 2006 and joined up with the Combined Counties League.

In the 2012/13 season, they were the champions of the Premier Division, pipping Guernsey by two points, which saw them earn promotion to the Southern League Division One Central.

After finishes of 11th and 15th in its first two seasons back in the Southern League, fortunes improved at the Runnymede Stadium after the appointment of Gary Meakin as manager.

A third-place finish in 2015/16 saw the club qualify for the promotion play-offs, in which they were beaten 4–2 on penalties in the semi-finals by St Ives Town after a 2–2 draw.

The following season saw Egham finish fifth, qualifying for the play-offs again, and they went on to lose 4–0 to Farnborough in the semi-finals.

But Meakin departed after the second play-off defeat for his current club, Beaconsfield Town and, after being moved to the Isthmian League South Central Division, they finished bottom in 2018/19, meaning they were relegated back to the Combined Counties League.

The `old` Enfield club have endured a real roller-coaster existence.

A very famous amateur club, who won the FA Amateur Cup in 1966/67 and 1969/70, FA Trophy winners in 1981/82 and 1987/88 and Conference champions in 1982/83 and 1985/86 before there was automatic promotion to the Football League, they were undoubtedly one of the best non-League clubs in the 1980s under Eddie McCluskey.

And after suffering relegation to the Isthmian League Premier Division in 1990, Enfield were constantly threatening a return, with runners-up positions coming in 1990/91, 1991/92 and 1993/94.

The title was comprehensively claimed in 1994/95 under George Borg`s leadership, finishing 14 points clear of second-placed Slough Town and scoring 106 goals, with a powerful attack which included Gary Abbott and Martin St Hilaire.

However, they were denied promotion after winning the title in 1995 because the Football Conference were not satisfied with the club's financial credentials.

They still managed to finish second the next two seasons, but the sale of their famous Southbury Road ground in 1999 signalled the downslide.

Enfield became nomads but managed to remain as an Isthmian Premier side until 2002/03 when they were relegated to Division One North.

Due to the FA`s restructuring, Enfield found themselves in Division Two for 2004/05 and then switched to the Southern League Division One East.

In 2001, disillusioned Enfield supporters decided to form a new club, Enfield Town.

The Enfield Supporters Trust were formed with support from Supporters Direct and negotiations began between on the future of the club.

An outline agreement was reached which would have seen the Trust take over the running of the club, on the basis that the supporters inherited a debt-free club and received £100,000 from the escrow account to fund a new ground.

The balance over £600,000 would have gone to former Enfield chairman Tony Lazarou.

The Trust felt that it had reached a settlement that would enable it to bring the club back to Enfield and start to repair the damage of recent years. However, Lazarou backed out of the deal and it was at this point the Trust decided to ballot its members on setting up Enfield Town FC as one of the first supporters-owned non-League clubs.

The club joined up with Brimsdown Rovers at their Goldsdown Road ground and started life in the Essex Senior League.

Success on-the-field at first outpaced improvements off it, and when Town won the Essex Senior League title in just their second season in existence in 2002/03, they were denied promotion due to ground grading issues.

But when they won it again in 2004/05 under Jim Chandler, they were allowed to move up – but they were placed in the Southern League Division One East – meaning that the two Enfield clubs would be in the same division for the first time!

Town finished third in only season in the Southern League, qualifying for the play-offs, where they were beaten 3–1 after extra-time in the semi-finals by Wivenhoe Town.

Enfield ended up down in 16th spot.

The clubs were paired together again in 2005/06 when another restructuring of the Pyramid saw them placed in the Isthmian Division One North.

But that was to be their final season competing against one another – for now – as Town again finished third and lost in the play-offs once more.

But during the summer of 2007, Enfield had no choice but to liquidate due to the debts owed to the inland revenue by former chairman Tony Lazarou, forcing the club to resign from the Isthmian League Division One North.

Enfield Town approached Enfield proposing a merger, but the Enfield officials opted to remain a separate club and re-formed as Enfield 1893 and joined the Essex Senior League and were runners-up in their first season.

After finishing as runners-up again in 2008/09, Enfield were league champions in 2010/11. However, they were not promoted as their Goldsdown Road ground failed the grading criteria.

The club dropped the `1893` suffix from their name in 2019, reverting to the original club's name.

They current play in the Essex League with home games at Bishop`s Stortford`s Woodside Park.

As for Enfield Town, after moving into the refurbished Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, they finished second in 2011/12 and finally beat their play-off `bogey` by beating Needham Market 1-0 in the final to take their place in the Isthmian Premier where they have remained ever since.