Today I'm going back just one year to 2020 and a trip to Enfield Town's rather lovely Queen Elizabeth II Stadium to watch them play Brightlingsea Regent in the Isthmian League Premier Division.
Do you remember this time last year? It was the time when we all hoped that we'd finally got the better of Covid19 following that initial lockdown and we were looking forward to things getting "back to normal" again. Only they didn't. In the world of Non-League football, following the truncated and unsatisfactory end to season 2019/20, the bright new 2020/21 season began in September but would ultimately suffer the same ugly fate as it's predecessor and came to a halt before the end of the year. Clubs and their loyal band of unpaid volunteers had tried so hard to get games on up and down the land. We had to wear masks, sign in to the NHS track and trace app, adopt new one-way systems and sanitise our hands, all to watch a modest level of football whilst the professionals in the Football and Premier Leagues slugged it out behind closed doors. There were even limits on capacity at Non-League level and I attended more than one game where they stopped admitting people once the Covid19 capacity of 300 had been reached. It's hard to get people to attend Non-League football at the best of times but, given the risks involved and the hoops that needed to be jumped through simply to attend, it's little wonder that many didn't bother. For me however, the inability to attend a game at a higher level opened the door to matches at more minor grounds that I hadn't previously attended. The Queen Elizabeth II Stadium in Enfield was one such ground.
Football in Enfield has been a tale of tenacity to keep things alive since the 1980s. I used to work in the Borough in the 1980's and visited Enfield FC's former home at Southbury Road on three occasions, the last being an FA Trophy match against Rushden & Diamonds (remember them?) in 1995. Enfield FC had been one of the leading lights at the top of Non-League football and had been knocking on the door to the Football League for a while, having won the Football Conference on two occasions in the 1980's. Unluckily for Enfield, they won their final Conference title in the last season in which the old re-election system operated before the introduction of automatic promotion from the Conference to the Football League arrived. Enfield's financial credentials were questionable however and, under the Chairmanship of Tony Lazarou, they sold their Southbury Road ground and opted to groundshare 10 miles away at Borehamwood. There was uproar amongst the fans who formed a Supporters Trust and sought to take control of the club and bring them back to the Borough of Enfield. However their efforts were rebuffed by the Chairman and, in the end, the exasperated Supporters formed a new club in 2001: Enfield Town, based in Brimsdown which was within the Borough. Enfield FC however weren't done and their continued existence gave many supporters a terrible dilemma as to who to follow. Enfield FC eventually folded in 2007 and the supporters of the new Enfield Town club proposed a merger to retain the history of Enfield FC. Disappointingly the merger was rebuffed and another new phoenix club known as Enfield 1893 was formed from the ashes of Enfield FC.
Since 2001, Enfield Town, owned by the Supporters Trust have carried what I refer to as the DNA of Enfield FC, irrespective of the shenanigans at the original club or it's successor Enfield 1893 (now renamed Enfield FC once again!). The club has built slowly from the Essex Senior League (and yes, Enfield is actually in Middlesex) and today finds itself in the Ishmian League Premier Division (the third level of Non-League football or the 7th level of the English Football Pyramid). In 2011 the club moved to the Queen Elizabeth Stadium located close to their former home at Southbury Road. The new stadium is an athletics stadium but the club have managed to bring the supporters closer to the action by allowing supporters to stand directly behind the goals at the two ends of the pitch despite the running track. The jewel in the crown of the Queen Elizabeth II Stadium is a wonderful art deco club house that incorporates the changing rooms and supporter/club facilities. It's definitely worth a visit!
In case you were wondering, Brightlingsea is a coastal town in Essex between Colchester and Clacton. The club was formed in 2005 following a merger between Brightlingsea United and a local youth club Regent Park Rangers.
The attendance on a cold night was 331 but the hardy supporters were warmed by a competitive and entertaining match. Regent took the lead on 14 minutes with a goal from Lewis Bryne-Hewitt. Enfield got their equaliser seven minutes later scored by Neville Nzembela. In the 27th minute Enfield took the lead thanks to a goal from Percy (not a name you hear too often these days!) Kiangebeni. Early in the second half and parity was restored with a header from a corner scored by Charlie Durling but just after the hour mark, Town scored what proved to be a winner when Lyle Della-Verde crashed home a shot from the edge of the box. It finished 3-2 despite a host of other missed chances and there was still time for some late drama in the third minute of added time when the referee gave Regent a free kick on the edge of the box when it looked for all the world like the foul ended up a yard inside the area. Watch the video attached to my blog and you decide!
CRB Match No. 2415
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