Heybridge Swifts F.C.

Heybridge Swifts

Full name	Heybridge Swifts Football Club
Nickname(s)	Swifts
Founded	1880
Ground	Scraley Road, Heybridge
Ground Capacity	3,000 (550 seated)
Chairman	Gary White
Manager	Jody Brown
League	Isthmian League Division One North
2015–16	Isthmian League Division One North, 20th

Heybridge Swifts Football Club are a non-league football club based in Heybridge, near Maldon, Essex. They were established in 1880 and were founding members of the Essex Senior League in 1971. The Swifts are currently playing in Isthmian League Division One North.

Heybridge Swifts FC was formed in 1880, but the club's first foray into senior football did not come until 1971 when they were founder members of the Essex Senior League. In between that time the club was almost put out of existence when they were evicted from their previous home at Bentall’s Sports Ground in 1964, as it was sold to be made into a shopping precinct. The club then became tenants of neighbours Sadd’s Athletic for two years, but they managed to acquire in time the former carrot field in Scraley Road, which became their new home. After finishing in second place in Essex Senior League at the end of the 1980–81 season the club claimed the league championship in the following three seasons, after which they were admitted to the Isthmian League, initially in Division Two North, which they won in the 1989–90 season.

In 1995–96 Swifts finished as runners-up in Isthmian League Division One and stepped up to the Premier Division, where they remained until relegation during the 2008–09 season. They finished second in the league in 2005–06 behind champions Braintree Town, missing out on promotion to the Conference South after a penalty shoot-out defeat to Fisher Athletic in the play-off final.

A poor 2008–09 season saw Heybridge Swifts relegated from the Isthmian League Premier Division to the Isthmian League Division One North. They have remained in Isthmian League Division One North ever since.

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