Romford F.C.
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| Full name | Romford Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Boro' |
| Founded | 1876 (original club) 1929 (second incarnation) 1992 (current club) |
| Ground | Ship Lane, (groundshare with Thurrock F.C.) |
| Capacity | 3,500 (524 seated) |
| Chairman | Steve Gardener |
| Manager | Paul Martin |
| League | Isthmian League Division One North |
| 2015–16 | Isthmian League Division One North, 16th |
Romford Football Club is an English football club based in Romford, East London. The club are currently members of Division One North of the Isthmian League, and play at Ship Lane in Thurrock.
The original Romford was established in 1876. They reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in 1880–81, but lost 15–0 at Darwen. There was no league football for them to play until they joined the South Essex League in 1896. An internal dispute saw several committee and players leave to form a new club in 1909, called Romford United and competing directly against Romford in the South Essex League at a ground literally across the road. The original club continued under new management and joined the Southern League while still playing in the South Essex League, but played only a single season before leaving.
The new regime at the original club proved disastrous, being expelled from the South Essex League during the 1910–11 season and subsequently folding, leaving Romford United as the only club with the town's name. They changed to Romford Town and joined the Athenian League, but finished bottom in their first season and left at the end of their second, before closing down during World War I. Romford Town had remained members of the South Essex League and returned to action after the war, but lack of support saw them withdraw in December 1920 and fold. For the rest of the 1920s the only club under the Romford name was Romford Town Thursday, playing on Thursday afternoons at Brooklands, a ground previously used by Romford's reserve team.
In 1929 the club was re-established. Taking over the use of the Brooklands stadium, they joined the London League. In 1931 they moved to the Athenian League, which they won in 1935–36 and 1936–37. Following World War II the club transferred to the Isthmian League. In 1948–49 they reached the final of the FA Amateur Cup, but lost 1–0 to Bromley in front of 100 000 spectators in the first final to be held at Wembley. In 1959 they switched to Division One of the Southern League. They were promoted to the Premier Division in their first season after finishing second, and won the Premier Division in 1966–67. The club made several applications to join the Football League, but were never successful in the elections. In 1974–75 they finished second bottom of the Premier Division, and were relegated to Division One. By this time the club had developed Brooklands considerably in anticipation of eventually being elected to the Football League and had large debts to show for it, and had to sell Brooklands in 1975 but remained until 1977. After a season of borrowing grounds to play home matches they resigned from the Southern League and folded in 1978, with the building work on a new ground barely started and hardly any money left.
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