Eton Manor F.C.

Eton Manor

Full name	Eton Manor Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Braves
Founded	1901
Ground	Capershotts, Waltham Abbey
Chairman	Reg Curtis
Manager	Kevin Durrant
League	Essex Senior League
2010–11	Essex Senior League, 8th
Home colours Away colours

Eton Manor F.C. is an English football club based in Essex.

History

Early years

The club was formed in 1901 by rich and influential families of the likes of Barings, Villiers and Lord Chelsea for the benefit of bringing sport to the poor and underprivileged youth of the East End of London. Various clubhouses were used in the early years and eventually the sportsground at Hackney Marshes known as "The Wilderness" was used, this started a period of great success in the thirties for the club's football, cricket and rugby sides. The success continued into the forties, fifties and sixties with many famous players coming from the club, Alf Ramsey and Len Wills are just two to have played for the club in the past. The club became founder members of the Aetolian League in 1959 and followed other former member clubs into the Greater London League as founder members in 1964, winning the championship at the first attempt in 1964-65. The club played at several different venues during this period. After becoming founder members of Metropolitan-London League Division One in 1971, and finishing third in 1973-74, the club moved to the Essex Senior League in 1975 and have stayed with the competition ever since.

Struggles and stability

The first few years in the Essex Senior League were relatively successful for the Manor, with the club well established in the top half of the division. However, the club finished bottom in 1981 and they rarely rose out of the bottom 6 for most of the next 20 years, finishing last of all again in 1997, when they won just one league game.

Before the 2003–04 season long-serving Chairman Reg Curtis appointed Kirk Whitelock as manager. Under his stewardship the club stabilised, finishing 9th, 12th and 13th in his three full seasons in charge. However, the club's disciplinary record during this period was poor with red cards an all too familiar occurrence. Half way through the 06–07 season Whitelock stepped down, handing the reins over to his ambitious assistant manager, Graham Chester.

Success & the future

Chester immediately set about building an exciting new team and by the time the 07/08 season kicked off it was clear that the Manor were a force to reckoned with. Built around the goals of Anton Stephenson the Manor got off to a brilliant start and by February found themselves in two Cup Finals and a top 4 league position. The Manor were defeated in the first of those finals by Concord Rangers, but turned the tables in the second final to win the Essex Senior League Cup 3-2 against the same opponents. It was the club’s first senior cup win for nearly 70 years. The team finished a very creditable 4th in the Essex Senior League however, Graham Chester resigned at the end of the season to take over at Isthmian League Division One North club Tilbury.

Former Manor player Billy Cove was appointed as Manager, but his reign was short lived. He oversaw just 5 games as Manager at the start of the 08/09 season, winning once, before resigning. He was replaced by former Ilford and Waltham Forest manager Kevin Durrant. This led to another overhaul of players but the new side settled quickly and ended up finishing 6th in the Essex Senior League, and reaching the semi-final of the Gordon Brasted Trophy. The 09/10 season was less successful. Despite making the semi-final of the Essex Senior League Cup the team's league performances never found a consistent level and a disappointing campaign saw the Manor finish 15th, their lowest finish for 7 seasons. 2010/11 started much better and Manor won 4 and drew 1 of their first 5 league games and progressed through 3 rounds of the FA Vase and one round of the FA Cup. However, following Vase defeat at Stansted in November, the Manor's form slumped and they went 10 league games without a win. Despite an upturn in form in the final few weeks of the season the team missed the top 6, settling for an 8th placed finish. The brightest spark was the run in the Gordon Brasted Trophy, where Manor defeated Basildon United (4-0), London APSA (2-1) and Witham Town (1-0) to qualify for the final against Burnham Ramblers. Despite Courtney Linton giving Manor the lead, they were eventually beaten 4-2 after extra time, their second defeat in 4 years in the final of that competition.

Records

The furthest the club has reached in the FA Cup is the 4th qualifying round, which is the last round before the competition proper, in 1956-57.

External links

• Official website
• Eton Manor at the Football Club History Database