Beckenham Town

Beckenham Town FC is a non-league from the Northwest Kent and London border, who were formed in 1971, growing out of amateur club Stanhope Rovers who were a dominant force in the area for many years.

By 1971 it was apparent that they were the senior team in Beckenham and so they were re-incorporated as Beckenham Town, assuming the same name as an earlier club in the area which had folded in 1969. 

An old downloaded image of the Main Stand at Eden Park

The original club became members of the Kent FA in 1887 before they joined the London League in 1923. They bobbed between Division One and the Premier Division, going on to join the Aetolian League in 1961 which became the Greater London League in 1964.

The new club nicknamed the 'Reds' started life in the Metropolitan League before progressing to the London Spartan League in 1975. They moved from the Stanhope Recreation Ground to Eden Park in 1980 and two years later joined the Kent League for the start of the 1982-83 season. 

They continued along without threatening to win any honours, with runners-up their best-placed finish, in 2005-06 under manager Gavin Rose. which was followed by third place in 2007-08 by which time Jason Huntley had taken over the reins.

Beckenham hit the headlines in an audacious attempt to bring Teddy Sheringham out of retirement to play for the club in the FA Vase in the summer of 2009. He signed forms on September 8th, but he failed to ever make an appearance.

The Kent League became part of the Southern Counties East League from 2013-14 with Town being placed in the Premier Division, going on to finish fourth in 2017-18. Following the disruption caused by the pandemic Beckenham were moved to Premier Division South of the Combined Counties League for the 2021-22 season.

They ended as champions winning promotion to Division One South East of the Isthmian League. Darren Anslow succeeded Huntley who was in charge for over sixteen years in 2023. In October 2024 Del Oldfield was appointed as the new Town boss.

Beckenham Town FC will play in the Isthmian League Division One South East in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Thursday 22nd November 2007

One bright Autumn day, I decided to venture down to Eden Park as part of a days groundhop. I arrived to find the gates locked, but I still managed to take some photos. The ground was in a very pleasant location in the park of the same name. 

It was relatively basic, but neatly kept. It consisted of a mixture of flat hard standing and grass, with a small stand down one side. The near end housed the clubhouse, admin and changing facilities with a car park behind it.

Not that any of not getting in worried me, or the state of the ground. I was doing something I loved doing, visiting new places on a day away from work.

Beckenham Town 2 Croydon 1 (Wednesday 31st July 2013) Pre Season Friendly (att: approx 40)

It was that time of the year for me to get out and about to some football despite enjoying a glorious summer of cricket. The weather had been warm for quite some time, so a match on a pleasant evening after a siesta following the completion of my morning shift seemed ideal.

I had wanted to tick off the grounds on these pages that I'd visited without seeing a game, and with Beckenham advertising a 7pm kick off, to allow me extra time to get home and to bed afterwards, this was an ideal opportunity.

The busy train from Charing Cross dropped me at Eden Park. The pub of the same name was advertising carvery's, which would definitely be worth bearing in mind if I contemplated a future call. Within a few minutes I was walking through the main gates, only to find the admission gate flung open. This was good news. 

I was to see a game for free, but my joy soon abated when I realised that the match would take place on the practise pitch alongside, as the main turf was being nurtured ahead of the league season. No programmes or teamsheets were issued.

After sampling a cold bottle of Budweisser in the clubhouse for £3 I followed the others outside as I took stock of the main ground. Several small covers for standing spectators had been added; two behind the near goal and one down either touchline. A new seated stand was also towards the Clubhouse End with the second pitch behind. The sprinklers were on and the main pitch did look superb.

In contrast the pitch being used for the friendly was narrow, hard and bumpy in parts. A hedge with a street behind was on the far side, with more bushes and weeds behind either goal, which would lead to hold ups in play while the balls were retrieved.

Croydon looked calm in the early stages as their experienced centre back, wearing the number sixteen shirt controlled things. The Becks were more frenetic, and the excellent referee had to calm down several players as frustrations with their inabilities and the temperatures caused tempers to rise at times. The whinging would have done a block of Aussie cricket fans proud.

The lack of linesmen didn't help at times, despite volunteer substitutes from both sides doing their best with their flags. Beckenham had more of the ball and pressed, but didn't cause enough problems when in possession. The Trams number nine, Michael Burton impressed me. 

It was no surprise when he latched onto a headed down free kick and lobbed the ball into the home net on twenty six minutes - despite the 'home' linesman flagging for offside. The visiting fans and officials were most happy, with one ringing a small bell in celebration.

I did a lap at half time and congratulated the ref on his performance as he and a fan lamented the moaning from the players. Two new recruits were given the flags for the second period. Croydon made several changes before the resumption, sending out a younger line up. Beckenham once more had the majority of the play before making several substitutions after an hour.

It looked like Croydon may hang on to their lead, but on seventy six minutes Adam Wadmore fired a low free kick into the bottom corner of The Trams net. The pressure continued even though Burton repeatedly caused panic when receiving the ball.

The evening was closing in as the game had kicked off ten minutes later than advertised. I was keen to be on the 8.48 train back to the city so I made my way behind the goal nearest the exit. I was about to call it a night when Gabriel Adesina sprung the Croydon defence and rounded the keeper before rolling the ball home.

That was enough for me. It had been a good game of football. Although I was disappointed that it hadn't taken place on the main pitch it had been a worthwhile night out, as well as been a cheap one. My only complaint was the amount of insect bites that would blight me for the following few days.