HISTORY

1981 photo, current Echo league Ref and good friend of the club is Paul Kemp (front row-second left)

BUCKHURST HILL FC - OUR HISTORY

Buckhurst Hill Football Club was formed in 1985 by Richard Brand and Alfie Sacre with the
objective of providing youth football in the local community.


From humble beginnings, our first team was put together and Richard and Alfie were soon joined by Ray Sherrin (who is still our Club President today) to run the club, and with more local awareness more volunteers came forward to help run more teams.

Our first team success was our under 15’s who were winners of the Echo League Cup A division in season 1985/86 with our first league success in 1986/87 with Richard Brand and our under 14’s winning the Echo B division. Over the coming years and throughout the nineties further success was achieved through our youth teams from ages under 10-17.

We introduced mini soccer and in the 1999/2000 season our under 7’s won our first league trophy in the Barking mini league. Now thirty-seven years on the club has grown to over 40 teams starting from Under 7’s to Under 16s, including six girl’s teams, we also have our successful mini soccer training at four to six years of age. Our youth teams play in the Eastern Junior Alliance, MidHerts Rural, Echo, Essex Girls and Brentwood Community League.

We have now become one of the most successful youth clubs not only in Essex but throughout the country with numerous County and National Cup successes and league titles, and over 30 boys who have come through our system go on to play at a professional level, and over 50 currently at academies throughout the Country. Our girls’ section has also seen several players join professional clubs which is just fantastic.
Our youth section is integral to our future to provide a pathway to our men’s senior team alongside our ambitions to have a senior ladies team as well.

Season 2023/24 was one of our most successful at youth level with numerous leagues and county cup success across all our age groups which bodes well for the future.
The club decided to branch out into Senior football in 2004 when it joined the Herts County League. The aim was to have a senior team for the youths to progress into and the club then joined the Essex Olympian League in 2008/09, moving up into the Premier Division in 2010/11. To help support our youth system we restructured our senior section in 2014 to provide a progressive path for our homegrown players with the addition of our under 18’s,
and under 23’s to help develop them to men’s football and our first team.

A relegation was suffered in 2016/17 but the following season the club won the Division One title meaning a quick return to the Olympian’s top division. That season also saw the Stags lift the Essex Premier Cup for the first time. The following season the club achieved a double as the
Olympian League Premier Division was won along with a second Essex Premier Cup success. This was when the club decided to make the step up into Step 6 and saw the first phase of the ground development. This included turning the pitch around, concrete walkways, pitch barrier fencing, new dug outs, and new goals. This was achieved with 70% funding from the Football Foundation.

In 2021 we won the Olympian League Premier again and our promotion was confirmed to step six and for the first time in the Club’s history Senior Men’s football in the Thurlow Nunn League. The promotion into the Thurlow Nunn League saw the club also embark on the second phase of ground development with a 100-seat covered stand, floodlights, the Stags Kettle serving delicious hot food and the Buckhurst Hill Bar, the stand and floodlights was achieved with 70% funding from the Football Foundation.

In what was a season of historic milestones, as the club embarked on its first season as a senior club and at the season’s end finished runners-up and with it promotion into the Essex Senior League. The FA Vase was also entered into for the first time in the club’s history and the Stags had a wonderful run, starting off in the 1st Qualifying Round against Enfield, before going on to beat Newbury Forest, Great Yarmouth Town, and Gorleston before finally succumbing to Wroxham in the 3rd Round.

We now enter our third season at this level after finishing fourteenth last season our
highest-ever finish. We have also improved our facilities with a new 100-covered stand as well as tarmac hard standing along one side of the ground where the stands are erected, plus two new turnstiles.
Further improvements are planned over the coming years to align with our ambitions to move up the football pyramid. These are incredibly exciting times for Buckhurst Hill Football Club on and off the pitch, and the warmth within the local community from everyone including all the Parish, District Councillor’s, and Epping Forest District Council has made all the incredible work by all the Buckhurst Hill Family over many years worthwhile.

Now is the time for the next chapter of our history!

Historical Photos