Canvey Island F.C.
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| Full name | Canvey Island Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Gulls Yellow Army The Islanders | ||
| Founded | 1926 | ||
| Ground | The Frost Financial Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 4,500 | ||
| Chairman | John Batch | ||
| Manager | Danny Heale | ||
| League | Isthmian League Premier Division | ||
| 2014–15 | Isthmian League Premier Division, 17th | ||
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Canvey Island Football Club, known as the Gulls or Yellow Army, is an English association football club based in Canvey Island, Essex. Founded in 1926, the club play in the Isthmian League Premier Division, the seventh tier of English football.
History
Football has been played on the Island since Victorian times, with several precursors to the current team folding. Canvey Island F.C. were formed in 1926 but had not achieved major success prior to the early 1990s. The early records of the club were destroyed in a major flood during 1953, their loss referenced in the song "Canvey Island" on the album Do You Like Rock Music? by the group British Sea Power. The club had floated around the regional amateur leagues in Essex for that time. Former player Jeff King became both manager and owner of the then Essex Senior League side in 1992 and has led the club through four promotions in the football pyramid, reaching the Conference after a 2003–04 season that saw them win the Isthmian League by 19 points – winning the title with seven games to spare.
At the end of the 2005–06 season, however, owner-manager Jeff King announced that he was no longer willing to fund the club any longer and left to join Isthmian League Premier Division side Chelmsford City. This left the club in financial difficulties, and as a result of which Canvey voluntarily resigned from the Football Conference, dropping three divisions to join the Isthmian League First Division North in 2006–07. Long-serving reserves and youth team manager, John Batch, assisted by former player Garry Britnell, took over team management at the club following King's departure and began to re-build the club following the departure of the entire first team-squad.
In January 2008, the club had 4 of their players called up to play in the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers and International Friendlies. Midfielders Ryan Edgar and Danny Francis were called up for Caribbean country Dominica to face Barbados, with defender Chris Bourne and midfielder Clydie Roberts being selected for the Guyana squad to face Cuba. Canvey will play in the Isthmian League Premier Division in the 2008–09 season after winning the playoffs. They finished 5th in the league, beat AFC Sudbury in the semi-final and beat Redbridge on penalties in the final.
Manager John Batch decided to stand down[1] from his position as Canvey Island's first-team manager on 6 January 2012. After his business interests increasingly took up more of his time. Glen Alzapiedi who was the clubs first-team coach replaced him as Manager, but left the club in July 2012.
He was replaced by former-Canvey player and ex-Southend United manager Steve Tilson in July 2012,[2] who in turn was replaced by popular striker Danny Heale in May 2013.[3]
Chronology
- 1975–76 – Joined Essex Senior League
- 1978–79 – Essex Senior League runner-up
- 1982–83 – One game, home to Eton Manor, not played
- 1986–87 – Essex Senior League Champions
- 1992–93 – Essex Senior League Champions (2nd time). FA Vase semi-finalists
- 1994–95 – Joined Isthmian League Division Three. Isthmian League Division Three runner-up; promoted to Division Two
- 1995–96 – Isthmian League Division Two Champions; promoted to Division One
- 1997 – Relegated to Division Two
- 1997–98 – Isthmian League Division Two Champions (on goal difference); promoted to Division One
- 1998–99 – Isthmian League Division One Champions; promoted to Premier Division
- 2000–01 – FA Trophy Winners. Isthmian League runner-up
- 2001–02 – Isthmian League runner-up
- 2002–03 – Isthmian League runner-up
- 2003–04 – Isthmian League Champions; FA Trophy runner-up
- 2004–05 – Joined Football Conference in newly renamed National Division
- 2006–07 – Resigned from the Football Conference, joining Isthmian League First Division North
- 2007–08 – Isthmian Division One North Playoff Winners, joining Isthmian League Premier Division
Source: Canvey Island at the Football Club History Database
Cup competitions
Canvey's most significant cup success came in 2001 when they defeated Forest Green Rovers 1–0 after a 14th-minute goal by captain Ben Chenery in the final of the FA Trophy, the leading cup competition in England for clubs outside of the four top leagues- at Aston Villa's Villa Park stadium in front of a crowd of 10,007.
Canvey Island gained further recognition through FA Cup runs, notably in 2001–02 when they knocked out Northampton Town and Wigan Athletic en route to the third round proper of the competition. This gained much publicity for the club and featured on such programmes as the BBC's Match of the Day, and Sky Sports.
Stadium
Canvey Island play at their home matches at Park Lane. The ground is a few feet below sea level, making it one of the only football stadiums in the UK to be as such. The ground has a capacity of "over 4,500"[4] and the stadium has reached its capacity on one occasion, when the team faced Northampton Town in the FA Cup in 2001.[5]
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Former players
Notable former players that have played/managed in the Football League or foreign equivalent level.
Managers
- Listed according to when they were managers for Canvey Island:
- Tommy Harris
- Reg Holland
- Les Gardiner 1961
- Bob Harding
- Dave Milton
- Denis Neville 1966–1967
- Bobby Walters 1967–?
- Terry Marshall 1975
- Peter Heathcote 1975–1976
- Tommy Harris 1976–1977
- Len Gamblin 1977–1978
- Alan Howard 1978–1979
- Sid Woolf 1979–?
- Ben Embery 1983-1990
- Billy Heale 1990-1991
- Peter Prince 1991-1992
- Jeff King 1992–2006
- John Batch 2006–2012
- Glen Alzapiedi 2012
- Steve Tilson July 2012 – May 2013
- Danny Heale May 2013 –
Honours
- FA Trophy winners 2000–01; runners-up 2003–04
- Isthmian League Premier Division champions 2003–04; runners-up 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03
- Isthmian League First Division champions 1998–99
- Isthmian League First Division North play-off winners 2007–08
- Isthmian League Second Division champions 1995–96, 1997–98
- Isthmian League Third Division runners-up 1994–95
- Essex Senior League champions 1986–87, 1992–93; runners-up 1978–79,
- Essex Senior Cup champions 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2011–12; runners-up 2000–01
Records
- Best league position: 14th in Football Conference National Division (level 5) 2005–06
- Best FA Cup performance: 3rd round, 2001–02
- Best FA Trophy performance: Winners, 2000–01
- Best FA Vase performance: Semi-final, 1992–93
References
- ^ "John Batch Stands Down". Non League Chat. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
- ^ "Steve Tilson Appointed First Team Manager!". Canvey Island F.C. 12 July 2012.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Heale Replaces Tilson As Gulls Manager". Canvey Island F.C. 9 May 2013.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "The Brockwell Stadium". Canvey Island website. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ "Club history". Canvey Island website. Retrieved 20 December 2010.