Greenwich Borough F.C.

Greenwich Borough FC

Full name

Greenwich Borough Football Club

Nickname(s)

Boro, The Cannons

Founded

1928 (as Woolwich Borough Council Athletic Club)

Ground

DGS Marine Stadium, Eltham Palace (Groundshare at Cray Valley PM F.C.)

Chairman

Perry Skinner

Manager

Gary Alexander

League

Isthmian League Division One South

2015–16

Southern Counties
East League, 1st (promoted)

Home colours

Away colours

Greenwich Borough Football Club is a football club temporarily based in Eltham Palace, London. They currently play in Division One South of the Isthmian League.

Former England and Arsenal striker Ian Wright made his non-league debut with the club in a handful of appearances in 1985.^[1]

History

Woolwich Borough Council Athletic Club

Greenwich Borough FC was formed as Woolwich Borough Council Athletic Club in 1928 and played most of their home games at Danson Park, Welling. The club joined the Woolwich and District League and were champions at the first attempt. They also reached the final of the Woolwich and District League Cup but lost 0–3 to Fibrent Athletic at Bexleyheath Town's ground. Owing to their success, "Borough" was awarded Senior status and joined the Kent Amateur League Division 1, where they failed to build upon a bright start over a number of years. The club moved a ground at Harrow Meadow, Eltham (now built over for housing) in 1933 and briefly disbanded during World War II.

South London Alliance League

In 1948 they relinquished their Senior status to join the South London Alliance League Division 2. In 1955, Woolwich Borough Council won the South London Alliance League Division 2 title and also came runners-up in the Elizabeth Jacques Cup. The following season they won the Division 1 title and were promoted to the South London Alliance Premier Division. The club then enjoyed their most successful period ever when they won the Premier Division title for six years running from 1961 to 1966 inclusive. During this time the club was twice winners (1965, 1966) and once runners-up (1964) of the Queen Mary Cup.

In 1965 the club changed their name to London Borough of Greenwich FC following a change of London Borough boundaries. The change of name was inauspicious and the club endured a trophy less drought until winning their seventh South London Alliance Premier Division title in 1974.

London Spartan League

In 1976, the club transferred to the London Spartan League and managed to finish runners-up in the Queen Mary Cup. The club regained its Senior status the following year. In 1978, Borough celebrated its 50th anniversary by inaugurating their floodlights at Harrow Meadow with a game against Charlton Athletic in front of over 2,000 spectators. The club continued to enjoy periodic success in the 1980s, including winning the London Spartan League Senior Division title in 1980 and the London Spartan League Senior Cup in 1983.

Kent Football League

For the 1984–85 season, the club changed to its current name of ""Greenwich Borough FC"" upon joining the Kent Football League. The club finished sixth in the league but also managed to win both the Kent League Cup and the Kent Senior Trophy. In this season, a promising Sunday League player called Ian Wright made his non-league debut for the club, later going on to play for Crystal Palace, Arsenal, West Ham United and the England National Team.

In 1987, Greenwich Borough won both the Kent League and the Kent League Cup double, scoring 113 goals along the way. In 1988, Borough again won the League and hoped to progress to the Southern Football League by way of significant planned improvements to their Harrow Meadow ground which were eventually blocked by Greenwich Council.

In the 1989–90 season Greenwich Borough reached the 4th round of the FA Vase before losing 4–5 in a replay against Harefield United. The club re-entered the FA Cup in 1993 and managed to progress to the 3rd Qualifying Round before being soundly beaten 0–4 at home to Molesey.

Southern Counties East League

The 1997–98 season saw a restructuring of the Kent League (known since 2013 as the Southern Counties East Football League) and Greenwich Borough being placed in the newly formed Premier Division. The Borough finished in 5th – their highest position for 9 years – and also won both the Kent League Cup and the Kent Senior Trophy.

In 2001, Borough finished as runners-up in the Kent League Cup, losing to Ramsgate in the final.

In the 2007–08 season the Borough set a new club record in the FA Vase by beating Horley Town, Thamesmead Town, Chichester City United, Wembley and Harefield United to reach the 5th round, before finally bowing out to Hungerford Town 1–2 in a tightly contested replay. The club also achieved a 3rd-place finish in the league.

In the 2013–14 season, the club reached the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup before being knocked out to Worcester City of the Conference North division.

Ground

Borough originally shared Harrow Meadow with a cricket club and the distance from the changing rooms to the original football pitch caused the ground to fail league grading requirements. The club subsequently acquired full use of the facilities and were able to move onto the area formerly occupied by the cricket pitch. The ground had a clubhouse and floodlights, but no seating and only a portion of the pitch perimeter had hard standing.

The end of the 2008–9 season saw the sale of Harrow Meadow to property developers, which precipitated a number of ground sharing agreements with other local clubs including Erith & Belvedere, Holmesdale (from 2009) and Dartford (from 2013).

In 2016, the club announced a new long-term return to Eltham through a ground sharing arrangement with Cray Valley (PM) for the Badgers Sports Ground on Middle Park Avenue.^[2]

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.		Position	Player
		GK	Ben Bridle-Card
		GK	Craig Holloway
		DF	Gary Borrowdale
		DF	Lewis Clark
		DF	Rob Gillman
		DF	Paddy O'Connor
		DF	Nathan Paul
		DF	Danny Young
		MF	Gary Alexander
		MF	Jake Britnell

No.		Position	Player
		MF	Ryan Dolby
		MF	Ryan Johnson
		MF	Peter Sweeney
		FW	Jesse Darko
		FW	Mohamed Eisa
		FW	Yacine Gnahore
		FW	Francisco Mbela
		FW	Michael Power
		FW	Tom Youngs

Leagues

1928–29 – Woolwich & District League
1929–39 – Kent Amateur League
1946–48 – Kent Amateur League
1948–76 – South London Alliance League
1976–84 – London Spartan League
1984 – present Kent Football League

Names

Woolwich Borough Council 1928–65
London Borough of Greenwich 1965–84
Greenwich Borough 1984–present

Honours

Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division
- Champions 2015–16
Woolwich & District League
- Champions 1928–29
South London Alliance League
- Premier Division Champions 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1973–74
- Division 1 Champions 1955–56
- Division 2 Champions 1954–55
- Elizabeth Jacques Cup Runners-up 1954–55
- Queen Mary Cup Winners 1964–65, 1965–66
- Queen Mary Cup Runners-up 1963–64, 1973–74
London Spartan League
- Senior Division Champions 1979–80
- Senior Cup Winners 1982–83
Kent Football League
- Champions 1986–87 and 1987–88
Kent Junior Cup A
- County Winners 1961–62
- Division One winners 1960–61, 1961–62
Kent Junior Cup B
- Division One winners 1955–56, 1975–76
Kent Junior Cup C
- Division One winners 1954–55

Club records

Best league position: Kent League champions 1986–87 and 1987–88
Best FA Cup performance: 4th qualifying round, 2014–15
Best FA Vase performance: 5th round replay, 2007–08
Best attendance: 2000 vs Charlton Athletic 1978 – Friendly match

References

Sources

Official website
Greenwich Borough at the Football Club History Database

External links

Pyramid passion feature

Isthmian League

Premier Division	AFC Sudbury Billericay Town Bognor Regis Town Burgess Hill Town Canvey Island Dulwich Hamlet Enfield Town Folkestone Invicta Grays Athletic Harlow Town Harrow Borough Havant & Waterlooville Hendon Kingstonian Leatherhead Leiston Lowestoft Town Merstham Metropolitan Police Needham Market Staines Town Tonbridge Angels Wingate & Finchley Worthing

Division One North	AFC Hornchurch Aveley Bowers & Pitsea Brentwood Town Brightlingsea Regent Bury Town Cheshunt Dereham Town Great Wakering Rovers Haringey Borough Heybridge Swifts Maldon & Tiptree Norwich United Phoenix Sports Romford Soham Town Rangers Thamesmead Town Thurrock Tilbury VCD Athletic Waltham Abbey Ware Witham Town Wroxham

Division One South	Carshalton Athletic Chatham Town Chipstead Corinthian-Casuals Cray Wanderers Dorking Wanderers East Grinstead Town Faversham Town Godalming Town Greenwich Borough Guernsey Hastings United Herne Bay Horsham Hythe Town Lewes Molesey Ramsgate Sittingbourne South Park Three Bridges Tooting & Mitcham United Walton Casuals Whyteleafe

Seasons	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1919 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

Football in London

League teams
(tiers 1–4)

1	Arsenal Chelsea Crystal Palace Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United

2	Brentford Fulham Queens Park Rangers

3	AFC Wimbledon Charlton Athletic Millwall

4	Barnet Leyton Orient

Non-League teams
(tiers 5–8)

5	Bromley Dagenham & Redbridge Sutton United

6	Hampton & Richmond Borough Wealdstone Welling United

7	Dulwich Hamlet Enfield Town Harrow Borough Hendon Kingstonian Metropolitan Police Wingate & Finchley

8	A.F.C. Hornchurch Carshalton Athletic Corinthian-Casuals Cray Wanderers Greenwich Borough Hanwell Town Haringey Borough Northwood Phoenix Sports Thamesmead Town Tooting & Mitcham United Uxbridge VCD Athletic

Rivalries

London derbies
- Arsenal–Chelsea
- Millwall–West Ham
- North
- South
- East
- West

Cup competitions