 | |||
| Full name | Thurrock Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Fleet | ||
| Founded | 1984 (as Essex Sports) | ||
| Dissolved | 2018 | ||
| Ground | Ship Lane,Thurrock | ||
| Capacity | 3,500 (524 seated) | ||
| Isthmian League Premier Division, 15th of 24 | ||
Thurrock Football Club was an Englishfootball club based inPurfleet,Thurrock, Essex. Known asPurfleet until 2003, the club played at Ship Lane.
Originally being founded asEssex Sports in 1984,[1] the club was renamed toPurfleet in April 1985, in order to play senior football, and entered the Reserve Division of theEssex Senior League in 1985 and spent one season in that division before joining the first-team league. After finishing third and winning the league cup in their first season, they won the league and cup double in 1987–88, earning promotion to Division Two North of theIsthmian League. They finished as runners-up in their first season and were promoted to Division One. However, the following season they were relegated back to Division Two North after finishing second from bottom.
In 1991–92 the club won the division, and were promoted to Division One. Two seasons later they finished second, and were promoted to the Premier Division. In 2003 the club changed its name toThurrock, and after finishing third in the league at the end of the 2003–04 season, in which they also won the league cup and theEssex Senior Cup, became founder members of theConference South.
In the club'sfirst season in the new league, they qualified for the promotion play-offs but were knocked out byEastbourne Borough. However, they did win the Essex Senior Cup for a second successive season. In2008–09 the club finished in the relegation zone, but were reprieved afterTeam Bath resigned from the league. In2010–11 the club again finished in the relegation zone, but were reprieved afterRushden & Diamonds were expelled from theConference National league henceSouthport were not relegated from the Conference National.
Thurrock announced manager Robbie Garvey resigned following the club's defeat against fellow Conference strugglersStaines Town on 5 December 2011.Lee Goodwin and Grant Gordon took charge of the team on a match by match basis until a new manager was appointed.[2] Thurrock were relegated at the end of the season, finishing bottom of theConference South. In 2012–13, they initially finished 19th in the Isthmian Premier, two spots above relegation, but then had three points controversially deducted for fielding an ineligible player, dropping them to last place and thus relegating them to Division One North of theIsthmian League.The three points were deducted after the season ended despite the offence taking place in August leading to a protracted legal dispute.
2013–14 saw Thurrock fall short of the play-offs on the final game of the season. A 2–1 defeat toTilbury combined withNeedham Market beatingChatham Town 7–1 saw Needham Market take the last play-off place on goal difference. Thurrock went one better in 2014–15 finishing in fifth place. They went on to beatHarlow Town 4–3 after extra time in the play-off semi final but were beaten 5–0 byBrentwood Town in the final. In 2015-2016 Thurrock once more made the play-offs taking league runners-up position but were beaten 2–0 byAFC Hornchurch in the play-off semi final. 2016-2017 saw Thurrock make it three play-offs in a row as they finished 3rd gaining promotion to the Isthmian League Premier division by beating bothAFC Hornchurch andMaldon & Tiptree 1–0.
On 27 August 2017,[3] chairman Tommy South announced that for health reasons he would be selling Thurrock and stepping down at the end of the 2017/18 season. With no buyer forthcoming Thurrock formally resigned from the Isthmian League on 31 March 2018.[4] Thurrock won their last home game at Ship Lane on 21 April 2018 againstKingstonian[5] and lost their final competitive fixture away toStaines Town on 28 April 2018.[6] They finished 15th in the2017–18 Isthmian League.
The club played atShip Lane since their establishment in April 1985 until the end in 2018. At first the ground was a part of the Thurrock Hotel complex, and initially consisted of two pitches and dressing rooms in the main hotel building. Due to this set-up the club could only compete at Junior level. The playing area was turned around 90° to make one full pitch and dressing rooms were built so the club could become a separate entity.
Floodlights were erected in January 1988 after planning permission was accepted fromThurrock Council to add these features as well as agrandstand.
In 2025,Grays Athletic announced they would take ownership of the derelict former Thurrock F.C. stadium at Ship Lane, with plans to begin refurbishment and aim for a return in the 2026–27 season - following the approval of a joint planning application with Group One Automotive and the finalisation of legal agreements in mid-2024.[7]
51°29′22″N0°15′54″E / 51.48944°N 0.26500°E /51.48944; 0.26500
