Harlow Town

Harlow Town FC is one of the oldest clubs in Essex, having been formed in 1879. As there were so few clubs in the county, they played Bishop’s Stortford several times a season, which has led to a long lasting rivalry.

In 1898 the club was re-named Harlow and Burnt Mill FC, after combining with Netteswell and Burnt Mill FC, before the agreement ended in 1903 with the title of Harlow Town being taken again. The club played its home games at the Green Man playing fields.

'The Owls' as the club were known as, played local regional league football for many years. In 1960 as members of the London League, Town moved into the first ever sports centre to be built in the UK. The Harlow Sportcentre on Hammarskjold Road attracted a better class of player to allow the club to progress.

In 1962 they moved into the more competitive Delphian League and then the Athenian League. In 1966 Town arranged a prestigious friendly game against the Uruguay national team who were staying nearby during the 1966 World Cup. Benfica also used the Sportcentre before their 1968 European Cup Final at Wembley against Manchester United.

In 1971 a new Main Stand was built to hold 370 seats at a cost of £15,000 and in 1973 the club finally managed to gain membership of the Isthmian League. The clubs centenary season turned out to be their most dramatic as they had a terrific run in the FA Cup.

The Owls reached the second round courtesy of wins against Hornchurch, Bury Town, Margate and Leytonstone/Ilford. This brought a tie away to Southend United which ended in a draw. 5,000 fans saw Harlow win the replay 1-0. Their reward was a game against Leicester City at Filbert Street.


Miraculously an 89th minute equaliser forced a replay. An official attendance of 9,723 packed into The Sportcentre to see a John McKenzie goal send Town through. Watford was the destination for the fourth round tie and despite a heroic performance in front of 24,000 fans the dream was over as The Hornets won 4-3.

The club continued to compete in the Isthmian League before disaster struck in the shape of a financial crisis. The club dropped out of all football for the 1992-93 season as work on the half built new ground on Roydon Road ground to a halt. In June 1993, Italian restaurant owner Georgio Di Benedetto and builder John Taylor officially gave the club a cash injection, which led to a huge refurbishment of the Sportcentre allowing them to resume membership in the Isthmian League.

The clubs nickname was changed to The Hawks and spent a time playing in blue and black stripes in honour of Di Benedetto’s beloved Internazionale. Jeff Bothwell took over as chairman and changed the clubs colours back to their traditional red and white. 

They spent a couple of seasons playing in the Southern League as the non-league structure changed, before the Hawks at last got their new ground in 2006.

Barrows Farm is ironically built not far from where there were previous attempts to build a new stadium. The new stadium brought success on the pitch as promotion was secured and the second round of the FA Cup reached. Macclesfield Town eventually won the replay 2-0 at Barrows Farm in front of a crowd of 2,149.

In the 2009-10 season the club entered into administration and took on a CVA while being deducted ten points. They finished bottom of the league with former favourite Marvin Samuel in charge of the team, but were saved from relegation to the Essex Senior League as clubs further up the pyramid dropped out of their respective leagues.

In January 2010 new owners took over the club with Danny Chapman coming in as the new manager; leading the side to the play-offs where Town were defeated in the semi-finals by Wingate & Finchley.

After another decent finish the 2012-13 season was one of disappointment; not helped by the deduction of ten points for an administrative error. A new 3G surface was laid in the summer of 2013, with Barrows Farm being renamed Harlow Arena.

The new pitch suited the Owls as they defeated Heybridge Swifts in the semi-final of the play-offs before losing the final 3-0 to Witham Town. The club launched a new youth academy in the summer of 2014 with several youth teams using the 3G surface at Harlow Arena.

Chapman's side just missed out on the league title in 2014-15 and then lost the semi-final of the play-offs 4-3 to Thurrock after extra time. A third place finish in 2015-16 meant a third consecutive play-off campaign, but this time it would end in success.

Cray Wanderers were defeated 3-0 in the semi-final before AFC Hornchurch were seen off 3-1 at Harlow Arena to seal promotion to the Premier Division of the Isthmian League, where they finished in a mid table position in the 2016-17 season.

Town were relegated after a couple of seasons of struggle in 2018-19 to the Isthmian League South Central Division, which eventually saw manager Chapman resign to be replaced by Mark Holloway. Dave Collis quickly followed to look after the team after the earlier appointment failed during the abandoned Covid-19 campaigns.

Danny Chapman returned to the helm, with Harlow being placed in Division One Central of the Southern League. The artificial pitch at Barrows Farm was causing considerable problems and with no known date for repairs being issued, the club withdrew from the league midseason in 2022-23 with their record being expunged.

The club returned to their home venue for the 2023-24 season when the team competed in the Eastern Counties League Division One South as the crowds returned.

Harlow Town FC  will play in the Eastern Counties League Division One South in the 2023-24 season.

My visits

Harlow Town 1 Windsor & Eton 0 (Wednesday 12th September 2001) Isthmian League Division One (att: approx 200)

I finished work at Lord’s and decided to head out of London for the evening to take in a new ground and indeed a new town. The train from Liverpool Street dropped me off at Harlow Town station from where I could see the four corner towering floodlights of the Sportcentre.

My immediate impression was I’d arrived in a poor man’s Stevenage. Harlow was another of the new towns created to ease the population congestion in London. New boring roads and housing estates had been added to the old town of Harlow after the Second World War.

I passed by the former artificial ski slope and down the bank to find the clubhouse at the rear of the Main Stand. I enjoyed a few beers in a very vibrant atmosphere including about a score of visiting fans.

Once inside the ground I watched the game both from the raised seated stand and the narrow flat terracing in front. There was a low covered shelter on the far side for fans preferring to stand under cover. The rest of the ground had grass banks which curved around the artificial athletics track.

Town had begun the season in fine style and their passionate support certainly got behind their side. They went on to win a reasonable game 1-0.

I made my way back across the field and to my waiting train back to the metropolis after the match. It had been a decent evening out.

Harlow Town 1 Waltham Forest 1 (Friday 15th March 2013) Isthmian League Division One North (att: 122)

The Ryman Isthmian League were keen for fixtures to be played right across the weekend in an attempt to increase attendances and awareness, including their support of the 'Kick it Out' campaign, so I was delighted to see that I had an opportunity to visit Barrows Farm on a day off.

The weather was poor all day and one or two tweets coming from Harlow had me slightly concerned as to whether the game would be on or not. Indeed, after a tube and train ride before taking a fast rail service from Tottenham Hale to Harlow Town, I even checked out whether the greyhound racing was on at the nearby stadium as a back up plan.

The long boring outer ring road that was Elizabeth Way led me to the stadium. I hardly saw a soul and definitely no pubs or activity. My only company was my phone radio and passing traffic. The rain was lashing down and the wind was bad when it got through the trees. The floodlights on the horizon were a welcome sight.

My immediate impression was one of a decent arena, albeit in the middle of nowhere, save for a few office buildings over yet another large roundabout. I walked up the slope past the parked cars and went to pay my entrance fee. 

I nearly fainted when I was told it was £11 including a programme, a full £2.50 more than at Brentwood the previous evening. The gateman said admission without a programme was £9 but I assumed I wanted one, which was clever sales technique on his part. I realised that the club were struggling financially, but would charging so much encourage any new fans?

Barrows Farm really was a decent new ground. One side had a decent sizes covered terracing, with a seated stand with corporate boxes at the rear stood opposite. The rest of the ground was flat open standing, but there was room for future development and there was also plenty of barriers in place to give the arena an organised feel.

The bar was at ground floor level next to the seated stand with a refreshment kiosk as part of the arrangement. I recognised several faces from groundhopping as I sat with my beer. My choice of seats made me popular as an official put up the teamsheet next to me. 

The visitors scurried across with their notepads, whereas one or two of us simply took a photo of it for future reference. The official giggled as he told me that he'd made me popular. At least one or two were speaking. Anything was better than Lenny Henry and Comic Relief on the TV.

At this point a gent introduced himself. It was Gary the Charlton fan, who I'd met at the Cray v Tooting match a couple of years previously through a mutual friend. We'd got on really well that night so it was a pleasure to bump into him again. We caught up with how our respective teams were getting on and lamented as to the merits of Harlow as a town.

Before kick off we walked round to the terrace and got a place with a decent view, not that there was too much jostling. We were joined by Russell, a Wycombe fan who I'd made contact with by Twitter and Facebook but had never met in person before. He was a good young chap who was very enthusiastic about his hobby. It was good to be with like minded pleasant company.

The wind was howling down the pitch with the rain still falling and was at the backs of the home side. The pitch was holding up surprisingly well. Harlow's number nine Kwane Asamoah was creating problems with his physique, but didn't look like scoring. To be fair nor did either side. I commented to my pals that I thought that we were destined for a 0-0.

I was proved wrong as we walked round for a cuppa, as Forest's Jack Leashman chested down a ball and volleyed into the corner. It was a fine finish and out of character for the fare on offer. The whistle blew for the interval soon after. The catering was at least excellent value with a Bovril costing 90p and a tray of chips £1.20.

We returned to our position for the second half while discussing how long before the end of the game we needed to leave to catch the 10.06 train. We certainly didn't want to be stranded at the station longer than we needed to be. The visitors keeper Chico Ramos kept his side ahead with a fine save as Town looked to equalise.

Throughout the game the local youths really got behind their side with vocal encouragement. Unfortunately at times this led to pure abuse of the visiting team. In the second half they were positioned behind the Forest bench. 

A couple were really pushing their luck, thinking that because a fence was separating them they could say what they liked. The visiting bench reacted, which didn't help matters. The home bench were also most verbal whenever the Forest coaches appealed for any decision.

With around ten minutes remaining, a bad tackle from Manny Sackey of Waltham could easily have resulted in a red card. I thought he caught the ball, but his follow through broke the leg of Harlow player Mitchell Das. The challenge made a terrible sound. 

Das had to be taken away on a stretcher and while play was held up the loudest of the locals really got stuck into the visitors. No-one likes to see anyone injured, but sometimes it happens. It doesn't need cranking up any further by people not directly involved. Waltham Forest immediately sent their best wishes to Das at full time via Twitter.

Predictably enough, the action was feisty from then on. Gary and I made our way round to the exit and made a run for it on what was around a couple of minutes into stoppage time. We'd gone a couple of hundred metres when the silence was broken by the sound of the air raid siren in the terrace with the home fans. Player coach Danny Brown had popped up in the ninety fifth minute to grab the equaliser. Apparently they could have gone on to win it after that.

We got back to the station in time for our intended service to warm through. We got out at Tottenham Hale and I said my farewell as I caught the Overground back home. It had been a decent evening, thanks mainly to the company. 

Harlow Town 3 Cray Wanderers 0 (Wednesday 27th April 2016) Isthmian League Division One North Play-Off Semi-Final (att: 832)

Having just returned from my wonderful holiday I was keen to get in some football. It turned out to be an excellent sports day as during the day I watched some of the fourth day action between Surrey and Somerset at The Oval in the County Championship. With the game heading to an inevitable draw, I headed home for tea before taking the train to Stanmore.

My regular non-league and cricket mate Tony Foster picked me up, with his satnav taking us on a very pleasant country route which took us straight to Barrows Farm in the south of Harlow. Having snaffled a parking spot on the road leading to the adjacent greyhound stadium, we arrived at the gates with still forty minutes until kick off.

Admission was £10, with a programme full of reading an extra quid. Crowds were already building and it was obvious that the gate would be well in advanced of the norm of around 250. The club were well prepared with upstairs in the clubhouse selling bottled beer and tea and coffee. Both were a reasonable £1.

I received a bit of a shock when I saw the cover. Harlow were up against Cray, when I had it in my head that their opponents were Thurrock! I’d even decided I’d wanted the away team to win after their kindness when Scarborough Athletic were being formed. The Essex side were in fact in the other semi-final against AFC Hornchurch.

We ventured out on what was a breezy but pleasant evening and wandered round to the cover on the far side. The Harlow Arena as the ground had been renamed by the new owners was unchanged from my previous visit, apart from it having an artificial pitch installed. Enfield 1893 had become Harlow’s tenants.

I had warned my mate about the vocal home support and their siren, so when the teams emerged and then tossed up and changed ends, we headed for the opposite side of the cover for some chance of being able to concentrate on the game.

The match started off at a ferocious pace, with tackles flying in. It was immediately obvious that it would be a physical encounter and would need a strong ref. Neither bench were short of offering advice to the officials.

Cray looked the better side and I was impressed by their forward James Duckworth who caused problems to the Hawks defence. He had a chance when capitalising on a slip, but he was forced wide by home keeper David Hughes and could only put his effort into the side netting.

Harlow had gradually clawed their way into the match and probably went in at the interval slightly on top, although chances were at a premium. Tony mentioned that he reckoned we might be going to extra time and I couldn’t disagree.

Our predictions summed up why the bookies never put off potential punters as the game changed within three minutes of the restart.

The impressive Jared Small beat a couple of defenders on the by-line before hitting a hard low cross from which Junior Dadson tapped home from a couple of yards. Cue mass celebrations and the air raid siren.

Within five minutes it was two nil as a Cray defender upended Craig Pope in the box, leaving the excellent referee Tim Donnellan with no option but to point to the spot. Alex Read slotted the penalty into the corner despite the best efforts of Sam Faulkner in the Wanderers net.

Wanderers nearly got straight back into the contest when they were awarded a free kick twenty five yards from goal. A magnificent effort from substitute Michael Frieter was matched with an amazing flying save from Hughes in the home net as the ball was dipping into the top corner.

It was three nil on sixty two minutes as Harlow completed a whirlwind fifteen minutes as former Reading man Ibrahima Sonko fed Small, who once again led the defence a merry dance with his footwork. His cross was fired home by Piers Wixon.

Full credit must be given to Cray who continued to press, but the home side had become a different and more confident outfit. Nothing was going to stop them, and they saw out the final period of the game in relative comfort.

We gradually wandered round from our position and realised that we’d made a good choice. The wind had got up and it was now a very chilly evening. It was rubbing of the hands stuff by full time.

At full time we made a dash round the corner and were soon on our way. Despite a slight unintentional detour and having to divert via Barnet owing to road works on the way home, I was in the local Wetherspoons at Kingsbury at just gone 11pm in time for a couple of night caps.

It was no shock when Harlow won promotion a few days later against AFC Hornchurch. They had a fine team and an impressive set up in general.

Harlow Town 2 Harrow Borough 0 (Tuesday 25th October 2016) Isthmian League Premier Division (att: 194)

Tony Foster was kind enough to do the driving duties once again as we headed to Essex as the cold nights began to bite. Parking was always going to be easier than for the play-off match a few months earlier. Tony got us a spot not too far from the turnstiles.

Admission was an expensive £12, although the excellent programme was just another pound. Once we collected a warm drink we headed over to the far side; being careful to stand further along from the vocal home fans and their fire siren.

Harrow put in a decent performance but they were to pay for not finishing off their chances. The sides went in for the interval the game remaining scoreless, but with Borough the better side.

Hawks boss Danny Chapman made some astute changes to the line up and formation, which would pay dividends for his charges. A fine move on the hour mark would release full back Layne Eadie, whose cross was slotted home by the former Hendon winger Khale da Costa.

David Hughes in the Harlow goal was still being forced to earn his money as Boro continued to try and draw level. However, the game was put beyond doubt in its dying embers as Leon Antoine’s header rounded off a fine move to make it 2-0.

The result saw Harrow still in the relegation places, although they did have several games in hand thanks to their fine FA Cup run.

Harlow Town 0 Hendon 3 (Saturday 30^th December 2017) Isthmian League Premier Division (att: 256)

The Hendon train kept up at full speed in the final match of 2017. I would have struggled to make the game by public transport, being on night shift, but Dean was keen to go and offered me a lift.

He picked me up at Kingsbury Library in his black cab, with fellow passenger Neil already in the back. We enjoyed a lovely smooth ride with our driver keeping fully in touch through his intercom. I was relieved he didn’t have the metre running!

We had time for a drink and a chat with other Dons fans in the clubhouse before kick off, before taking up a position in the covered terrace afterwards. A strong wind made conditions difficult as Hendon looked to consolidate their play-off berth.

Harlow were at the other end of the table, but began the brighter of the sides, before the visitors began to take control of the midfield, while the defence looked in fine form. They hardly missed a header all afternoon, keeping former colleague Kezie Ibe very quiet.

One or two chances were being created by Hendon, with Keagan Cole being guilty of missing an excellent chance when he missed a volley completely when in front of goal. We were satisfied with a blank first half.

Hendon opened the scoring six minutes after the restart, when Ashley Nathaniel-George was tripped in the box. Referee Stuart Cheek had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, with leading scorer Niko Muir making no mistake sending keeper David Hughes the wrong way.

Three minutes later a fine move including Nathaniel-George and Cole set up Muir who fired in a powerful shot on the turn, giving Hughes no chance. It could have been 3-0 shortly after as Hendon turned on the style.

A fabulous move right down the pitch ended with Dave Diedhiou hitting the outside of the post with a powerful drive. The home side forced the ever excellent Tom Lovelock into a fine save as they looked to get back into the game.

Referee Cheek was in benevolent mood towards the home side when he turned down appeals for a blatant penalty as Nathaniel-George continued to torture the defence. The hosts put more pressure on the Hendon goal, but a mixture of fine goalkeeping and defending kept the visitors goal intact.

Harlow could count themselves a tad unfortunate to be two goals behind when Muir rounded off another fine day, as he capitalised on a terrible mix up between Jared Small and Hughes to force the ball over the line into an empty net in the final minute.

There was still time for Dons sub Casey Maclaren to collect a straight red card for an incident on the far side of the pitch; which the club would later appeal against after viewing video evidence.

Dean did a fine job soon getting us away after the final whistle and relaying BBC 5 Live to Neil and I in the back as we travelled back to North West London with wide smiles. I was home at 5.45 in time for a good nap before work.