FC Broxbourne Borough

FC Broxbourne Borough was a non-league football club, which was formed as Somersett Ambury V&E FC in 1991, before being dissolved in 2020, although the story of the club goes back much further than that.

The club was formed in 1959 as Somersett F.C. by alumni of Chase Boys School, in Enfield playing in local football. In 1975 the club accepted an invitation from the V & E (Victoria and Emms) Youth Club Centre at Goffs Lane in Cheshunt. Cheshunt Rangers FC merged with the club in 1982. 

In 1991, Ambury, a Premier Division team from the Mercury Waltham Sunday League, merged with Somersett to become Somersett Ambury V & E, then known locally as SAVE F.C.

In 1993 the club joined the Herts County League and then the Spartan South Midlands League in 1997. In 2002 the club changed its name to its present title. Financial troubles hit the club in 2012 despite the ground regularly been hired out to other teams to share. The club was liquidated and immediately re-formed dropping down two divisions in the process.

Promotion was won from Division Two in 2012-13 and started the following season in fine form, sitting in second place in the league at December 2013. However, the club were severely hit when manager Kem Kemal, the director of football Tolga Huseyin and committee member Inanc Elitoc all left the club along with many players to move to Ware. 

The 2014-15 season saw Boro regather and be promoted to the Premier Division as Division One runners-up. After a sixteenth place, the side was relegated in last place in 2016-17, before going close to relegation from Division One twelve months later.

Broxbourne ended eighth in 2018-19 and sat one position lower when the 2019-20 season ended early owing to the Coronavirs pandemic under manager Declan Murphy. The club withdrew from the Spartan South Midlands League before the commencement of the 2020-21 campaign.

My visits

Monday 10th August 2007 

My last call out of seven clubs on was to Broxbourne Borough V&E as the club was called at the time. As it turns out, I was a little fortunate to find them. I had quite a comprehensive map of the area but because the club were still progressing, they are not marked clearly. 

I was under the impression that they were based in the village of Goffs Oak and fortunately the hourly bus was due from Cheshunt. I was a bit concerned when the bus turned away from Goffs Lane to go through a large housing development. 

We eventually turned back towards it and I saw the floodlights ahead, so I got off just past the big nearby roundabout when I saw the letters BBFC and EFC on the clubhouse roof. This confused me until I got to the club door. Enfield FC shared the ground for two seasons from 2008-09.

I was tired, weary and wanting the loo so with the club open I went inside. The few regulars looked at me suspiciously when I went in. I asked if I was OK to buy a beer and they were OKish. I had my Scarborough Athletic polo shirt on which really had them baffled. 

"You haven't walked here from Scarborough, have you?" asked the pub wit. I explained what I was up to, and they told me to have a look at the ground while shaking their heads in disbelief.

I'm so glad I made the effort. I entered behind the goal where there were still signs of development work being carried out. To my left and going round the corner was one of the most curious stands I've ever seen. 

It was made from wood with the floor constructed from the type of decking you normally find outside a pub. Seats were behind the goal, with the corner section being for home and away directors, followed by decking terracing.

The rest of the ground was open, with the far end having a practice pitch behind it. On the halfway line of the far touchline was an open seated stand. Maybe a roof was to follow?

I set off walking back to Cheshunt station for a train back to London. I'd seen enough of buses and traffic lights for one day. I had twenty minutes to wait so I called in for a pint at the Windmill pub next to the station. I would heartily recommend this place to any Tottenham or fans of football memorabilia as it is a shrine the exploits of Spurs.

A lovely end to a wonderful day out around Hertfordshire.

FC Broxbourne Borough 0 Harpenden Town 4 (Thursday 13^th March 2014) Spartan South Midlands League Division One (att: 30)

My shifts at work for the week were over so it was time to relax and head to a game before enjoying the Cheltenham Gold Cup and rolling the Hampstead CC wicket the following day. 

Following a refreshing siesta, I travelled down to Highbury & Islington to catch a train to Cuffley, from where the bus 242 took me to the Claremont stop. The driver only charged me £2 return after I accidentally gave him the wrong stop. He refused to take any extra money.

The ground was just over the large roundabout. I paid my £5 admission, but sadly there were no programmes. The open seating from my previous visit now had a roof and was named the Scoradis Stavrou Memorial Stand. It was a very pleasant early Spring evening, so I had a bottle of Bulmers in the bar to quench my thirst.

The crowd was low, but with Spurs on terrestrial TV the match was always going to be a tough sell. I enjoyed having a walk around the arena during the first period, which was just shaded by Boro, but the score remained blank. Not that it wasn’t without chances or incident.

After yet another late kick off, Broxbourne’s central defender had a dipping shot go just wide and then the Harpenden keeper pushed a header around the post. They continued to go close even though the visitors had plenty of possession. Boro’s number 6 had a fine chip tipped onto the bar, while the skipper wearing 10 looked a class act.

It was interesting to see the Broxbourne head coach instructing from the stand opposite the dug outs and later offering advice to the bench via his mobile phone. I wasn’t sure of the reasons behind that.

There were a few more in the bar at the break watching the TV offering. One poor lad was either trying to convince all and sundry of his ‘passion’ for Spurs or he was suffering from Tourette’s as he sat alone shouting expletives at the screen?

Two goals in quick succession from the visitors knocked the stuffing out of Boro, as I listened to the climax of England’s T20 game against the West Indies. 

Shortly after a Town forward was scythed down when bearing down on goal. I was surprised the offender wasn’t sent off. The ensuing free kick was deflected into the air and nodded into an unguarded net.

Sadly, the encounter was marred following a rash challenge in midfield as tempers frayed. A straight red card was shown to the offender, which led to a minor pushing and shoving match which soon subsided. 

The ref was unpopular all evening, but he became even more so when he sent off one from each side after consultation with a linesman.  The two sent for early baths seemed non plussed at their involvement. That said, some of the language from players and benches alike towards the officials was nothing short of disgraceful.

I departed with just over ten minutes to go, which would have been five or so if not for yet another late kick off, to catch the hourly bus back to Cuffley, which then arrived nearly ten minutes late! 

The journey back saw me squeeze onto a tube full of noticeably quiet Spurs fans and then a terribly slow ride back to Kingsbury after some poor tortured soul had chucked themselves under a train at Green Park.

Eventually I managed to catch the last thirty minutes in the pub in Kingsbury. Judging by the state of some of the punters, I was best off.