Erith & Belvedere

Erith & Belvedere is a non-league football club who were formed in 1922, who represent the town of Erith in Southeast London. The club were formed following the restructuring of Belvedere & District FC who were formed in 1918. They immediately became members of the Kent League.

The club didn’t take long to make a name for itself, going on to reach the final of the FA Amateur Cup in 1923-24, where the team was defeated 3-0 by Clapton at The Den, Millwall. Prior to a one season spell in the Premier Division of the London League.

The main stand at Park View

Back as a Kent League club, Erith & Belvedere once again reached the Amateur cup final in 1937-38, on this occasion losing 1-0 to Bromley at Millwall. At the end of World War Two, the ‘Deres' became founder members of the Corinthian League, finishing third in their debut campaign.

The same finish was achieved twice more, before a runners-up spot in 1962-63 saw the club joining the Athenian League after the Corinthian League was disbanded. This was an era where Dennis Crawford amassed the record number of appearances, while Colin Johnson put away the goals. 

The Deres were placed in Division One, from where they were promoted to the Premier Division in 1970-71 under locally born Roy Dwight, better known as an FA Cup final goal scorer with Nottingham Forest and being the cousin of Elton John.

It was decided to rejoin the Kent League in 1978 where the team lifted the title in 1981-82 and were promoted to the Southern League as a Southern Division side. This was achieved under manager Peter Peters, who was in charge of the side for over seventeen years after replacing Dwight in 1971. 

In 1997 their Park View ground in Belvedere suffered a fire which destroyed the Main Stand by arsonists. The club moved to Park View Road to share with Welling United while their former home became a retail park after the land was sold in 2001, with some of the cash being used on a new stand and base at their new home.

On the pitch the side struggled constantly in what was now the East Division of the competition for several years with manager Mike Acland performing near miracles with his side, before eventually being relegated to the Kent League in 2004-05, which was the clubs first ever demotion. 

Chris Dickson started his career at the club around this time before moving on to Charlton Athletic, before Micky Collins was appointed as manager in May 2010. After several years of rebuilding and attempts on promotion, The Deres achieved their aim at the end of the 2012-13 as they lifted the Kent League title.

Victory on the final day of the season saw promotion to Division One North of the Isthmian League. Matt Longhurst became manager in 2014 as the club was relegated to the Premier Division of the Southern Counties East League after just one season as a Step 4 club.

Worse was to follow in 2016-17 as the Deres went down to Division One, from where they regained their Premier Division status in 2017-18. They went on to lift the Southern Counties East League in 2022-23 to be promoted to Division One South East of the Isthmian League. 

However, the jump proved to severe, as the team finished bottom f the table twelve months later to return to the SCEL Premier Division.

Erith & Belvedere will play in the Southern Counties East League Premier Division in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Thursday in April 1984

I was still at Borehamwood at college struggling to get my head around my course and failing badly. Light relief was needed so I set out on a days groundhopping south of the river.

I had been to The Valley at Charlton as it looked likely that they may have been close to going out of business and I wanted a chance to see the old place, before heading to Belvedere by bus. 

Park View had seen better days to be honest. The Main Stand down one side was wooden and low with bench seating. The side opposite had a low cover with the rest of the ground being made up of flat open grass and hard standing.

Wednesday 4th October 2006

I went past where the ground once stood on another groundhopping day when travelling from the grounds of Thamesmead Town to Erith Town. A large DIY superstore stood where the ground was once situated. 

It had been rumoured for several years that the club were keen to sell the ground and look to move with the proceeds, but they struggled with planning permission until the fire. I also went on to Park View Road, The Deres new home later that day. For full details visit the Welling United page.

Erith & Belvedere 0 Lancing 2 (Sunday 14th November 2010) FA Vase Round Two (att: 96)

I had the day off work so I eagerly looked at the Non League Paper for possible fixtures that day. Epsom & Ewell were at home, or at least at Merstham FC where they were residing. However, the chance of seeing the facilities in action at Park View Road seemed more attractive at the time.

The rain was lashing down putting the game in doubt, so my brother Nick kindly rung the ground for me while I waited for a definite reply at Charing Cross before I set off. The groundsman told him personally that it would be on, so I set off on the train through the gloomy suburbs on the train.

It really was a day that would test the endeavour of most diehards, let along a neutral, so plumped for the bus ride to the ground. I struggled to see through the window as I looked out for my stop, such was the rain, but the display on board helped me out. 

The coach from the Sussex coast had already dropped off the team, officials and supporters. I paid what I thought was quite an expensive admission charge at the gate, of which I can't remember exactly how much, but it was more than usual for that level, and bought a programme.

I took shelter in the cold clubhouse and ordered a very average pint of bitter. It seems the standard of the ale was also shared with their landords Welling United judging by my experiences at the ground. Neither exactly hit the spot.

At least they had Sky TV so the live match was on. I went onto the Guinness and chatted to some of the Lancing supporters who seemed intent on having a very jolly day out. They were certainly thirsty and determined to back their side to the hilt.

I went outside and took a seat in the stand and sat with a friend of mine from Lord's, Bob Gunton who also did some scouting and enjoys his non league football. We had a good chat as ever, with several others around us chatting about the game and non league in general.

The open end to our left was closed. The open Park View Road End was open but the weather meant that only the hardiest of supporter stood there. The stand opposite which contained all of Welling United's facilities had one or two fans sat in it. Our stand offered an excellent view, with the changing rooms below and clubhouse to the side with a bit of open terracing at either side.

The game was competitive with both sides giving their all in treacherous conditions. The teams went in level at half time, but Lancing scored soon into the second half which really interested me as I had a golden goal ticket, which I thought was pretty close to when the ball went in. I went to see the PA man and he told me I was a minute out!

Never mind, I went downstairs to the clubhouse for a warming medicinal whisky before enjoying the catering before the second half. The Deres pressed, but Lancing were the better side on the break. It didn't shock me when they doubled their lead.

At full time I caught the bus back to the station and then caught the train to Charing Cross. After a quick pint in the excellent but crowded Harp, I found a traditional old pub near Leicester Square where I got talking to a despondent Chelsea and Dartford fan. 

He had seen both his teams take a heavy beating over the weekend but still remained optimistic and was looking forward to travelling to Port Vale with the Darts that week. It was a lovely end to a good day out.