About East Thurrock United

Nickname The Rocks
Founded 27 April 1969
Ground Rookery Hill, Corringham
Capacity 3,500 (160 seated)
Chairman Steve Wiseman
Manager Marc Harrison
League Isthmian League North Division
2021–22 Isthmian League Premier Division, 21st of 22

The club was founded on 27 April 1969 by a group of fans who felt that the area around Corringham and Stanford-le-Hope should have a senior non-league football club, following the successful Corringham Social Sunday league team. The new club played in the Southern Essex Combination for the 1969–70 season and finished third in the league, before joining the reserve section of the Greater London League in 1970. They went on to win the division at the first attempt. The league merged with the Metropolitan League at the end of the season to form the Metropolitan–London League, with East Thurrock remaining in the reserve division. After winning the division in 1971–72, they moved up to the senior divisions, joining Division Two. They also won this division at the first attempt and were promoted to Division One.

After the league merged with the Spartan League to form the London Spartan League in 1975, East Thurrock were placed in Division Two. They remained in Division Two until restructuring saw them moved into the Premier Division in 1978. In 1979 the club switched to the Essex Senior League. In 1988–89 they won the League Cup, a feat they repeated in 1991–92, a season that also saw them finish third in the league, earning promotion to Division Three of the Isthmian League. In 1999–2000 they were Division Three champions, earning promotion to Division Two. Two seasons later they were placed in Division One North upon league reorganisation, before being moved into the Eastern Division of the Southern League for the 2004–05 season as part of a wider restructuring of the non-League pyramid. After finishing as Eastern Division runners-up in the first season, they were promoted and moved back to the Isthmian League, joining its Premier Division.

East Thurrock were relegated back to Division One North of the Isthmian League at the end of the 2007–08 season following a one-point deduction for fielding an ineligible player. They finished as runners-up in 2008–09, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, but lost 1–0 to Concord Rangers in the semi-finals. A fifth-place finish in 2009–10 saw the club qualify for the play-offs again, but they were again beaten 1–0 by Concord Rangers in the semi-finals. In 2010–11 the club won the division and were promoted to the Premier Division. In 2011–12 they reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history, losing 3–0 at home to Macclesfield Town. The following season saw them finish fifth in the Isthmian League Premier Division, qualifying for the play-offs. However, they lost 1–0 to Lowestoft Town in the semi-finals.

In 2014–15 East Thurrock reached the first round of the FA Cup again, this time losing 2–0 at Hartlepool United. In the following season, they finished third in the Premier Division, again qualifying for the play-offs. The club beat Tonbridge Angels 2–0 in the semi-finals and Dulwich Hamlet 3–1 in the final in front of a record crowd of 1,661, resulting in promotion to the National League South. After three seasons in the sixth tier, the club finished second-from-bottom of the National League South in 2018–19 and were relegated back to the Isthmian League's Premier Division in a season that also saw them win the Essex Senior Cup for the first time in their history, defeating Chelmsford City 3–1 in the final. In season 2021-22 the club finished 21st out of 22 and were relegated to the Isthmian League North for season 2022-23.

Recent results & form
East Thurrock United are currently in 16th place in the league table with 3 points from 5 matches. They have won 1 and lost 4 of the 5 games and have a -5 goal difference, scoring 5 and conceding 10. In current form, they beat Brentwood 1-0 last time out, following 4 defeats.

Harry Hope scoring the winner against Brentwood Town.

They also recently exited both the FA Cup and FA Trophy, both at the second qualifying round stage.

Watch out for:
Harry Hope and Brian Moses, joint leading goal scorers this season with 3 goals apiece, albeit 2 of Harry’s have been penalties.

Harry Hope
A competitive midfielder with an eye for goal, Harry joined the club from National South side Braintree Town, making his debut at Lewes in February 2022. Harry started out playing for his hometown club Nailsea United in the Somerset Premier League, then while studying at Cardiff Metropolitan University, Harry played for Cardiff Met FC in the Welsh Premier League, before moving on to Bath-based Southern League side Larkhall Athletic.
Brian Moses
An experienced striker at this level, Brian joined the club in early September 2022. At 6ft 7in Moses cuts an imposing figure on the pitch. The twenty-six-year-old has previously enjoyed a spell playing under Marc and Liam at Tilbury FC, and includes Cheshunt, Basildon United, Grays Athletic and Maldon & Tiptree amongst his previous clubs.

Ground

During the club's first season as members of the Southern Essex Combination, in 1969–70, home matches were played at Corringham Recreation Ground. They subsequently moved to the Billet Ground in Stanford-Le-Hope, before ground-sharing with nearby Grays Athletic during the 1973–74 season in order to be granted senior status by the Essex County Football Association, before returning to the Billet Ground after upgrading works had taken place.

In 1977 the club left the Billet Ground again, ground sharing at Tilbury until 1982 when they moved to the Thames Board Mill Ground. They remained at the new ground for two years. Still seeking their own ground, the club bought land on the edge of Corringham Marshes and began building the Rookery Ground, which opened in 1984. The site had previously been the home ground of Lathol Athletic. Temporary seating was installed in 1989 prior to an FA Vase fifth round match against Bashley.

A 160-seat main stand was erected, with a covered terrace built on the other side of the pitch, together with two covered areas behind one goal. The ground currently has a capacity of 3,000, of which 160 is seated and 1,000 covered.

TRAVELLING TO ROOKERY HILL
East Thurrock United Football Club
Rookery Hill
Corringham
Essex
SS17 9LB

BY ROAD
Directions from M25 Junction 30.
Take a13 towards Tilbury.
Exit A13 at Stanford-le-Hope exit (A1014), (this is just after the BP garage).
Take third exit at roundabout over A13 to join A1014.
Follow A1014 for approx half a mile.
Stay in left lane as you approach next roundabout (London Gateway Port roundabout), to stay on A1014
After another mile, go straight through traffic lights.
Take next left into Rookery Hill, ground entrance is on your left.

Please note there is limited parking available at the ground so please arrive early if you need to park in the ground. Off site parking along Rookery Hill, outside ground.

Can we also ask for you to be considerate to our neighbours when parking and ensure that you do not block any access points. If parking roadside, please do not block the footpath. Please allow room for prams, disability scooters etc.

By Bus
The '100' bus (www.firstgroup.com) which runs between Chelmsford and Lakeside stops 200 yards from the ground (Corringham Club Corner). Keep car park opposite Corringham Club on your right, and follow Church Road (which becomes Rookery Hill), ground comes up on your right. The 100 bus also runs past Stanford-le-Hope and Basildon rail stations if you are coming via rail.

BY RAIL
Nearest stations are Stanford-le-hope or Basildon, both on the Fenchurch Street to Southend line. Stanford is about a mile away as the crow flies. Basildon 4 miles. A small cab fare, or jump on the'100' bus (see above).

Not too far away this one, so get down to Corringham to support the boys if you can and let's see if we can make it three in a row. COYB!