 | |||
| Full name | Ilford Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Foxes | ||
| Founded | 1881 (original club) 1987 (modern club) | ||
| Ground | Cricklefield Stadium,Ilford | ||
| Capacity | 3,500 (216 seated)[1] | ||
| Chairman | Adam Peek | ||
| Manager | Chris Davis and Ray Bartlett | ||
| League | Essex Senior League | ||
| 2024–25 | Essex Senior League, 15th of 20 | ||
Ilford Football Club is afootball club based inIlford,East London, England. Affiliated to theEssex County Football Association, they are currently members of theEssex Senior League and play at the Cricklefield Stadium. Nicknamed the Foxes, the club play in blue and white hoops or stripes.
The original Ilford Football Club was established in 1881 by a group of teenagers.[2] They were founder members of theSouthern League in 1894, joining Division One.[3] They finished bottom of Division One in1895–96, losing all 18 matches and subsequently faced a promotion-relegation test match againstWolverton LNWR; after losing 2–0, Ilford resigned from the league.[3] They then became founder members of theLondon League, where they were placed in Division One for the 1896–97 season.[3][4] However, they also left the London League after two season,[4] this time joining Division One of theSouth Essex League.[2] In 1900–01 the club won theLondon Senior Cup, beatingClapton 2–1 in the final. They won the competition again in 1904–05, winning the final againstEaling Association by the same scoreline.
In 1905 Ilford were founder members of theIsthmian League, which their treasurer George Clarke had played a key role in establishing.[2] Although the club finished bottom of the table in the league'sfirst season, they were champions thefollowing season and runners-up in1911–12. The club won the London Senior Cup for a third time in 1913–14, defeatingNunhead 2–0 in a replay after the initial final ended 1–1. FollowingWorld War I, they were runners-up in the1919 season and then won back-to-back league titles in1920–21 and1921–22,[3] also winning the London Senior Cup in the latter season with a 3–1 win over Nunhead in the final. In1925–26 the club reached the first round of theFA Cup for the first time; after beatingLondon Caledonians 2–1, they lost 1–0 atClapton in the second round. The club went on to finish as league runners-up in1926–27, and reached the second round of the FA Cup again thefollowing season, losing 5–3 atExeter City.
In 1928–29 Ilford reached the final of theFA Amateur Cup, going on to beatLeyton 3–1 atHighbury in front of a crowd of 35,000.[2] The club also won the London Senior Cup, defeatingLondon Caledonians 4–1 in the final. They retained both trophies next season, beatingBournemouth Gasworks Athletic 5–1 in the FA Amateur Cup final atUpton Park,[3] and defeatingWalthamstow Avenue 4–1 in the London Senior Cup final. The club were Isthmian League runners-up again in1931–32, and reached a third FA Amateur Cup final in 1935–36. However, after the first match at Crystal Palace againstCasuals ended in a 1–1 draw, they lost the replay at Upton Park 2–0. The club finished as Isthmian League runners-up in1937–38 and again thefollowing season.[3]
In 1953–54 Ilford won the London Senior Cup again, defeatingHounslow Town 2–0 in the final. In 1957–58 they were FA Cup Amateur finalists for a fourth time, losing 3–0 toWoking atWembley Stadium. Another appearance in the FA Cup first round thefollowing season ended with a 3–1 defeat atNorwich City. In 1973–74 the club reached the final of the last edition of the FA Amateur Cup, losing 4–1 toBishop's Stortford at Wembley.[3] Thefollowing season the club reached the second round of the FA Cup, losing 2–0 at home toSouthend United.[3]
With plans in place to build a new ground inFairlop, Ilford moved toLeytonstone's Granleigh Road ground in 1977. However, land development tax from the sale of theirLynn Road ground had not been considered in the budget and the club were left with insufficient funds to build a new ground.[2] Instead they merged withLeytonstone in 1979 to formLeytonstone/Ilford. The new club later merged withWalthamstow Avenue to formRedbridge Forest, who in turn merged withDagenham to form the modernDagenham & Redbridge.
Ilford Football Club was resurrected as a separate entity in 1987. They joined Division One of theSpartan League in 1988. However, issues including a lack of finance, manpower and home ground led to the club leaving the league in 1990. Although they returned in 1993, they left at the end of the 1993–94 season.[5] After a further two seasons in abeyance, the club joined theEssex Senior League in 1996.[3] They were Essex Senior League runners-up in2003–04, earning promotion to Division Two of theIsthmian League. They won Division Two at thefirst attempt, and were promoted to the Eastern Division of the Southern League.
After asingle season in the Southern League, Ilford were transferred back to the Isthmian League, joining Division One North. They finished in the bottom three for six of the next seven seasons, before being relegated back to the Essex Senior League at the end of the2012–13 season, in which they had finished bottom of Division One North.[3] In June 2017 the club were voted out of the Essex Senior League due to the non-payment of fines.[6] However, they were readmitted to the league in July following an appeal.[7]
The original Ilford were playing at the Ilford Sports Ground by the time they joined the Southern League in 1894.[2] However, after being given notice to leave the site in 1904 as it was to be used for housing, the club leased four acres of land to the north of Ilford, where the ground that became known asLynn Road was built.[2] Lynn Road was used for FA Amateur Cup semi-finals, and during the1948 Summer Olympics to host two matches in thefootball tournament.[2] In 1977 the club moved to Leytonstone's Granleigh Road ground whilst a new ground was planned to be built inFairlop.
After reforming, the modern Ilford struggled to secure a permanent ground, groundsharing atBarkingEast Ham United and Southgate Olympic, as well as playing at the Douglas Eyre leisure complex in Walthamstow and two matches at the council-owned Cricklefield Stadium in 1989. However, in 1994 the club made a permanent move to the Cricklefield Stadium in 1993.[2] Cricklefield had been opened in 1925 as an athletics ground. DuringWorld War II it was used as a balloon landing site and following the war the ground was rebuilt and reopened on 27 May 1950.[2]
51°33′35.910″N0°5′27.899″E / 51.55997500°N 0.09108306°E /51.55997500; 0.09108306
