Match Officials:
Referee: Dan Boulden
Assistant: Robert Collins & David Stacey

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HONOURS AND RECORDS

Honours
• Essex Senior League
• Champions 1994–95, 2013–14, 2017–18
• Errington Challenge Cup winners 2017–18
• Essex Intermediate League
• Division Two champions 1991–92
• Division Three champions 1990–91
Records
• Best FA Cup performance: Second qualifying round, 1998–99, 2006–07
• Best FA Trophy performance: First round, 2002–03, 2004–05
• Best FA Vase performance: Runners-up, 2023–24
• Record attendance: 1,500 vs Southend United, friendly match, 20 July 2021
• Most appearances: John Heffer 511
• Biggest win: 9–0 vs Eton Manor, 27 December 1931
• Heaviest defeat: 1–7 vs Bowers United, Essex Senior League, 1 April 1998

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The season so far:
You could say it’s gone rather well! GWR currently top the ESL table, with 64 points from 30 matches and a 63%-win ratio and are well placed for direct promotion or, at least, a play-off place with 8 games to go. From their 30 matches, they have 19 wins, 7 draws and just 4 defeats. Their home record is 12 wins, 4 draws and 1 defeat, against Benfleet, so it’s a tough task for The Bridge in the ‘El Essexo’ Derby.

Season progress, as you’d expect, has seen The Rovers top the table on three occasions, including their current position. They did drop as low as 10th by game 14 but have been on the rise ever since.

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Form Guide:
Form is excellent! They currently top the form table with 16 points from their last 5 matches (The Bridge are now 7th in the table). Not only are their last six results good, but they have also not been defeated for 15 matches! Their last defeat was against The Bridge in the Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy way back on Tuesday, 2nd December 2025.
Last six matches:

Opponents	Venue	Competition	Res	Score
Harwich & Parkeston	Away	Essex Senior League Premier	W	4 - 0
West Essex	Away	Essex Senior League Premier	W	3 - 0
Sporting Bengal United	Home	Essex Senior League Premier	W	5 - 0
Buckhurst Hill	Home	Essex Senior League Premier	D	1 - 1
Romford	Away	Essex Senior League Premier	W	4 - 0
Basildon United	Away	Essex Senior League Premier	W	5 - 0

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Last time out:
Their last match in the ESL was a 4-0 win at Harwich & Parkeston. Thomas Barton opened the scoring after 15 minutes, before Luke Hirst added two (43’ & 61’). Substitute Shaun Gittleson made it four in the 94th minute.

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The Bridge v Great Wakering Rovers – last meeting:
The last encounter between the two teams was in the Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy 2nd Round on Tuesday, 2nd December 2025 at Lower Road. Watched by a crowd of 150, The Bridge won a close match 2-1. The Bridge led 2-0 with both goals from Ellis Devereux (23’ and 32’) before Mitchell Arthur scored just before half-time (45+5’). The Bridge held on despite goalkeeper Harry Fairs being injured, with Kelson McFarlane producing a magnificent performance as stand-in keeper.

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The Squad:
Players listed below have appeared for GWR in the last six matches.

No.	Player	Appearances	Sub Appearances	Goals
1	Jack McQueen	6
2	Harrison Topliss	6		5
3	Ben Search	6		3
4	Bradley Bennett	6
5	Max Gnandi	6		5
6	Jack Dickinson	5
7	Shaye La-Rose	5	1
8	Bradleigh Rowland	4	1
9	Luke Hirst	4	1	4
10	George Martin	4
11	Thomas Barton	3	2	1
12	Max Harbrow	3	3
13	Reece Conway	3	2
14	Gene Ghag	2
15	Alfie Whiteaker	1	2
16	Shaun Gittleson	1	5	2
17	Harry Talbot	1	5
18	Jack Mitchell		3	1
19	Albert Perry		1
20	Mitchell Arthur		4

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Hotshots:
GWR goalscorers 2025/26

No.	Player	Goals
1	Harry Talbot	13
2	Max Gnandi	11
3	Ben Search	11
4	Harrison Topliss	9
5	Luke Hirst	8
6	Alex Teniola	8
7	Shaun Gittleson	6
8	Jack Dickinson	5
9	Bradley Bennett	3
10	Mitchell Arthur	2
11	Thomas Barton	2
12	Shaye La-Rose	2
13	Igli Metalia	2
14	Bradleigh Rowland	2
15	Taylor Legg	1
16	Jack McQueen	1
17	Jack Mitchell	1
18	James White	1
19	Alfie Whiteaker	1

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Watch Out For:
Where do I start…there’s plenty of GWR players to keep an eye on. Maybe it’s easiest to say, “all of them”. Main goal scorers in the last six games have been Harrison Topliss and Max Gnandi with 5, Luke Hirst with 4 and Ben Search with 3. However, there’s danger from everywhere, and GWR have the best goal difference in the league at the moment with +43, one better than Barking, who are the top scorers with 83, and GWR are next with 76 goals scored.

They have also only conceded 1 goal in their last six league games, scoring 22, so there’s obviously loads to keep an eye on!

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