Nickname(s) Towners Chairman Paul Reed Founded 2001 | Ground Capacity 2,500 Manager Steve Newing | |
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Full name Enfield Town Football Club Ground Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, Enfield 2015–16 Isthmian League Premier Division, 6th Arena/Stadium Queen Elizabeth II Stadium League Isthmian League Premier Division | ||
Enfield Town Football Club is an English football club from Enfield Town, Greater London. Established in 2001 as a fan-led breakaway from Enfield F.C., the club currently play in the Premier Division of the Isthmian League and are based at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium.
Contents
The club badge features the Enfield beast.
History
The club was founded on 23 June 2001 by the Enfield Supporters' Trust after Trust members considered that the regime in charge of Enfield F.C. no longer had the interests of the club at heart and lacked sufficient will to bring about the return of the club to its home town, having left Southbury Road in 1999. This followed the chairman of Enfield FC withdrawing from an outline agreement with the Supporters' Trust which would have seen the Trust take over the running of a debt-free club and receiving £100,000 from money from the sale of Southbury Road which was held in an escrow account by Enfield Council. The balance of over £600,000 would have been paid to the chairman.
Playing at Brimsdown Rovers' Goldsdown Road ground, the newly formed club were admitted to the Essex Senior League for the 2001–02 season, three divisions below the Isthmian League Premier Division where Enfield continued to play. The club's first season saw them finish second in the league and win the League Cup, the Capital Counties Feeder Leagues Trophy, and the Middlesex Senior Charity Cup.
The following season they won the league, but were not promoted due to insufficient facilities at Goldsdown Road. Despite only finishing fourth in the 2003–04 season, in May 2004 the Isthmian League invited the club to join Division Two, but later rescinded the offer. They won the Essex Senior League for a second time in 2004–05, and were promoted to Division One East of the Southern League, which Enfield were also members of. They finished third in their first season in the Southern League, qualifying for the play-offs, where they were beaten 3–1 after extra time by Wivenhoe Town.
In the summer of 2006 the club were transferred to Division One North of the Isthmian League. They again finished third, but lost 4–2 to AFC Sudbury in the play-off semi-finals. At the end of the season Enfield were liquidated and Enfield Town chairman Paul Millington released a statement suggesting that the two clubs should merge and "return the name of Enfield to the top of the non-league world". However, the Enfield players, officials and supporters rejected the offer and formed a brand new club named Enfield 1893.
The club qualified for the play-offs again in 2009–10 after finishing fourth. They beat Wingate & Finchley 3–2 in the semi-finals, before losing 3–1 in the final to Concord Rangers. In 2011–12 they finished second, before going onto win the play-offs with a 1–0 win over Needham Market in the final.
At the start of the 2012–13 season the club won the Supporters Direct Cup, defeating Wrexham 3–1. They retained their place in the Isthmian League Premier Division that season, finishing 16th, and held the Supporters Direct Cup the following year, beating YB SK Beveren of Belgium 8-2.
Ground
The club originally played at Brimsdown Rovers' Goldsdown Road ground, and were later joined by Enfield 1893. In October 2008, Enfield Council announced a deal with the club allowing the club to relocate to the Queen Elizabeth Stadium, close to Enfield's old Southbury Road ground. At the end of the 2009–10 season the club was awarded a grant of £81,504 by the Football Stadium Improvement Fund towards the first phase of works on the new ground.
They left Goldsdown Road at the end of the 2010–11 season, taking with them much of the ground's infrastructure, which resulted in Enfield 1893, who had won the Essex Senior League, not being able to take promotion to the Isthmian League as the ground no longer met the league's standards. After spending the first few months of the 2011–12 stadium groundsharing at the Cheshunt Stadium in Cheshunt, they moved into the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in November 2011, with the first match being a victory against Harefield United in the Middlesex Senior Cup.
Current squad
As of 11 January 2017.Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Reserves
The club set up a reserve side in time for the 2006–07 season and joined the Eastern Division of the Capital League. The club's U21 team play in the Isthmian League's U21 North Division.
Women's team
The club also have a women's team, who play in the FA Women's Premier League.