Romford

Football clubs representing Romford go back to 1876, when Romford FC was formed. A fascinating history with ups and downs ensued since the pioneers lost 15-0 away to Darwen in the quarter-final of the FA Cup of 1880-81.

Apart from the Cup, friendlies were played until the club joined the newly formed South Essex League in 1896. Another club, Romford United, split away in 1909, playing home games over the road from their old friends. The originals had one disastrous season competing in the Southern League.

Main Stand, Brooklands.

Their general lack of organisation saw them expelled from the South Essex League in the 1910-11 season and subsequently disbanded, while rivals United changed their name to Romford Town and joined the Athenian League for two seasons. Town folded in December 1910.

Another club, Romford Town Thursday, played on Thursday afternoons at Brooklands, a ground formerly used by the reserve team of Romford FC. A new club, the second version of Romford FC, took up occupancy of the ground and joined the London League in 1929, joining the Athenian League two years later. 

They became champions in 1935-36 and 1936-37 before transferring to the Isthmian League following World War II. In 1948-49, Crook Colliery Welfare were defeated at Upton Park in a replay after a drawn game at Roker Park for the ‘Boro’ to reach Wembley in the final of the FA Amateur Cup.

View from the Main Stand at Brooklands,
also home to the Romford Rockets speedway team at the time.

Bromley won the final 1-0 in front of 100,000 fans. By then, Romford had also reached the first round of the FA Cup a few times, going out to Folkestone, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Yeovil Town. The club moved to Division One of the Southern League for the 1959-60 season.

Promotion was won in their first season in new surroundings, with the club reaching the second round of the FA Cup on several occasions. In 1960-61, Sutton United were defeated in round one before Northampton Town proved too strong. 1961-62 saw Watford win at Brooklands Stadium after a victory over Walthamstow Avenue.

First round defeats followed against Enfield, Luton Town, and Wimbledon, the last of which came after the 1966-67 Southern League title being won. It was around this time that the club entered the ballot hoping to be elected to the Football League, which proved unsuccessful.

Brooklands in the 60s

1970-71 saw Gillingham leave Brooklands with a win in the second round of the FA Cup before Boro were relegated from the Premier Division to Division One of the Southern League in 1974-75. The club had invested heavily in their home ground in the hope of making the step up, ending up in financial difficulties through it.

Brooklands was sold in 1975, with the club remaining there for another two years. With no new ground being started, Romford shared venues before resigning from the league in the summer of 1978, as the club closed down.

In 1992, a new incarnation of Romford FC was created, becoming a member of the Essex Senior League as a tenant of Hornchurch FC at Bridge Avenue. In 1995-96, the league title was secured while sharing with Ford United at Rush Green, followed by a merger with Collier Row FC to become Collier Row & Romford FC.

Romford's plans for Westlands.

This controversial move saw the amalgamation play at the Sungate ground and take up Row’s place in Division Two of the Isthmian League, by-passing a division along the way. The divisional title was won in 1996-97, with the club dropping Collier Row from their title, leaving those involved needing to set up a new incarnation of that club.

The team was relegated to Division Two in 2000-01, and with Sungate lacking in facilities, Romford often had to borrow grounds elsewhere to fulfil fixtures, as the entry into “my visits” below will verify. The club eventually vacated the ground in December 2001 before returning to Rush Green in 2002.

This was after the club had been relegated to the Essex Senior League. Paul Martin became manager during the 2007-08 season, as the club moved to become the tenant of Aveley FC at Mill Field. Boro lifted the league title in 2008-09, enabling them to rejoin the Isthmian League as a Division One North member. 

Rookery Hill, Corringham. One of Romford's several tenancies.

In 2009, the club had high hopes of a new ground as permission to build a new stadium on the Westlands Playing Fields on London Road was granted. Finances would prove to be the issue. With a sparse playing budget, the Boro managed to stay up for over a decade.

Another move followed in 2012, this time to Ship Lane, Thurrock. They then headed to Rookery Hill, the home of East Thurrock United at the time, to share facilities in 2018. More controversy arrived in the shape of Glenn Tamplin, who became a major investor and manager of the club in November 2019.

Lots of new players were signed on big wages, this after the club had moved once again, this time as a tenant of Brentwood Town FC. Tamplin departed after two seasons were abandoned by the worldwide pandemic, with Steve Butterworth taking over as manager.

Mayesbrook Park, Barking.

This was while Romford had moved into Mayesbrook Park to share with Barking FC. The team was relegated back to the Essex Senior League in 2021-22. Dan Spinks became the manager in March 2023, while in November of the same year, the Boro returned to the now vacant Rookery Hill.

The 2023-24 season proved to be special in the history of the club. A run in the FA Vase saw a semi-final victory over Lincoln United, which led to a 3-0 win at Wembley against Great Wakering Rovers. The playoffs were also reached, where Sporting Bengal United ended hopes of promotion after Barking had been defeated in the semi-finals.

FA Vase winners 2023-24.

The move to East Thurrock proved to be unsustainable, so the club returned to Mayesbrook Park, while manager Spinks and most of the squad departed, with Kris Newby being appointed as the new manager. Meanwhile, local MP, Andrew Rosindell continued to champion the cause to find the club a permanent home in his constituency.

Romford FC will play in the Essex Senior League in the 2025-26 season.

My visits

1999-00 Season

I had moved to live and work in London, and on occasional days off work, I would venture out and try to see parts of the capital I hadn’t previously visited. This would invariably include visiting football grounds far and wide on a one-day travelcard.

With my Non-League Annual and an A-Z map as companions, I would plan trips. On this occasion, I decided that Collier Row might be a nice idea, so I took what I presume was the 247 bus from Romford and getting out five-minutes short of the ground.

My drawing of Sungate, with some old Romford team kits.
Click on the image to enlarge it.

I cannot recall everything, but the drawing of the venue shows that I must have taken photos or notes of some kind. I headed on once I had my look and caught another bus to Barkingside to catch the tube home.

Later, towards the end of the season, I decided that a midweek fixture, which could well have been a Thursday night, fitted the bill. It wasn’t the easiest journey, needing a long tube ride and then a bus, which was at least half an hour in duration, especially as people were returning from work.

Arriving at the ground in plenty of time before kick-off to have drinks in the clubhouse, I was dismayed to be greeted by a sign announcing that the game had been moved to the home of East Thurrock United. I hung around for a few minutes in case anyone else was coming to the game who might have offered me a lift.

Wednesday 27th September 2007

Again, I was out and about, this time taking stadium photos with my new digital camera. Curiosity got the better of me after leaving Hornchurch’s home, taking a bus to Romford, and then another to Collier Row.

The ground was virtually raised to the floor, with just ruins of stands remaining from the view, I managed from the gates of a car mechanics yard. Once more, I headed back to the tube, disappointed.