Games coming thick and fast, nearly missed this one off the fixture list (apologies for the late inclusion). Tonight at the T.J.Cottis, it's a local derby in the Thameside Trophy.

It’s quite difficult to find any information on this one, even on the Essex Senior League Website that carries a piece on it but goes back to 2021 with results of the finals only going up to 2008-09.

However, as you can see above, I did find a picture of it and what I believe are the first-round results and fixtures (including this one).

Anyway, here's a small snippet from that ESL website piece.

The competition was first competed for in season 1945-46 and was only open by invitation to eight clubs, Barking, Clapton, Grays Athletic, Ilford, Leyton, Leytonstone, Romford and Walthamstow Avenue. Dagenham came on the scene later and in 1960-61 secured a 3-2 final win over Leytonstone. The format was altered in 1979-1980 when many more clubs were invited with Aveley successful against Clapton, 2-1, and, in fact, Basildon United were losing finalists having been promoted from the Essex Senior League to the Athenian League in the season of 1980-81.

Some years saw League clubs entering and in 1982-83, Clapton beat Southend United 1-0. In 1988-89, Southend United lost again, this time to Grays Athletic 3-2 and in 1998/99 in a final at Rush Green Arena, Ford United took a 20th-minute lead. Southend United equalised within a minute of the second half only for Ford United to score the winner in 72 min.

Some seasons did not produce a finished competition, 1973-74 due to the Power shortages, 1975-76, fixture congestion, then in 1999-2000 the Canvey Island v Purfleet final was not played due to fixture congestion and in 2002-03 it could not be completed with the worse scenario of all, in season 2008-09 when, having seen the competition not completed once again though Canvey Island did reach the Final, it was the last season of the competition for a while.

Arguably the greatest shock result was in season 2007-08 when Brimsdown Rovers beat Canvey Island 2-1.

Throughout all this time the Trophy was a competition not directly controlled by the Essex County Football Association but in season 2019-20 the ECFA announced a re-launch under their own wing as an invitational Charity Competition and there were four Round One ties with 12 entering at Round Two. In Round One, Basildon United beat Barkingside 4-1, Great Wakering Rovers won 4-0 against Ilford, Brentwood Town saw off Hashtag United 2-0 and Hullbridge Sports beat Canvey Island 1-0. At this stage, no one knew of the impending doom of COVID-19 19 but seven of the eight ties were played, East Thurrock v Great Wakering Rovers 2-0, May & Baker v Romford 0-2, Tilbury v Brentwood Town 5-2, Buckhurst Hill v Walthamstow 0-3 pens after a 1-1 draw, White Ensign v Basildon United 1-3, Grays Athletic v Bowers & Pitsea 1-3, Concord Rangers v Aveley 4-2 pens after a 2-2 draw and the unplayed tie, Canvey Island v Hornchurch. So, the competition was unable to go on to Quarter Final stage and was eventually declared along with so much else, Null and Void.

The beautiful Trophy itself is a solid silver galleon on a marble plinth and is a sight to behold.

Below are this season's results and fixtures:
Round One
Basildon United vs. Buckhurst Hill - TBA
Bowers & Pitsea vs. Barkingside 2-0
Brentwood Town vs. May & Baker Eastbrook Community - TBA
Cannons Wood vs. White Ensign 18 Oct.
Concord Rangers vs. Aveley 31 Oct.
Hullbridge Sports vs. Great Wakering Rovers 14 Nov.
Walthamstow vs. Tilbury 31 Oct

Great Wakering Rovers Football Club is a football club located in Great Wakering, near Southend on Sea in Essex, England. The club are members of the Essex Senior League and play at Burroughs Park.

History
The club was formed in 1919 by soldiers demobbed after World War I and finding employment in the local brickfields. They joined the Southend & District League, dominating it during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1982 they switched to the newly-formed Southend & District Alliance Football League, but this league folded in 1989. At this point the club decided to make the step up to intermediate level and were founder members of the new Division Three of Essex Intermediate League.

In 1990–91 Great Wakering were Division Three champions, earning promotion to Division Two. After winning Division Two the following season,the club successfully applied to join the Essex Senior League.[3] They went on to win the league in 1994–95 and finished as runners-up three times in the next two seasons. They were as runners-up again in 1998–99, but as champions Saffron Walden Town failed to meet the ground grading requirements for a place in Division Three of the Isthmian League, Great Wakering were promoted in their place.

The 1999–2000 season saw Great Wakering finish as runners-up in Division Three, earning promotion to Division Two. League restructuring resulted in them being moved to Division One North in 2002, and in 2004 they were transferred to the Eastern Division of the Southern League, where they remained for two seasons before being transferred back to Division One North of the Isthmian League.[3] In 2011–12 the club finished bottom of the division and were relegated back to the Essex Senior League. In 2013–14 the club were Essex Senior League champions and were promoted back to the Isthmian League. After finishing bottom of the division in 2016–17, the club were relegated to the Essex Senior League. However, they went on to win the league at the first attempt, earning promotion back to the renamed North Division of the Isthmian League.

In 2022–23 Great Wakering finished third-from-bottom of the North Division, resulting in them facing an inter-step play-off with a club from the division below. After being beaten 5–0 by Quorn they were relegated to the Essex Senior League.

11/11/23 Isuzu FA Vase round 2 Great Wakering Rovers 2 Downham Town 0
04/11/23 Essex Senior League Great Wakering Rovers 0 Little Oakley 3
28/10/23 Essex Senior League Great Wakering Rovers 2 Stanway Rovers 0
25/10/23 Essex Senior League West Essex 2 Great Wakering Rovers 3
21/10/23 Isuzu FA Vase round 2 St Neots Town 2 Great Wakering Rovers 2
GWR won 4-2 on pens.
14/10/23 Essex Senior League Great Wakering Rovers 6 Buckhurst Hill 1

After 17 matches, GWR are currently in 7th place in the Essex Senior League Premier, one place below The Bridge. They have 26 points from those 17 games – 7 wins, 5 draws, and 5 defeats. They have a +14 goal difference.
Away form is 1 win, 4 draws, and 2 defeats, scoring 10 and conceding 11.

Kojo Awotwi
Thomas Barton
Joel Bevan
Marcus Bowers
Callum Boylan
Aiden Brown
Joe Burgess
Kien Connolly
Danny Cossington
Thomas Duffy
Perry Dunn
Hafeez Elegushi
Jack Frost
Harvey Gluckstad
Maximilian Gnandi
Connor Hart
Louie Hunt
Caiden Imbert-Thomas
Oliver Jenkins
Billy Johnson
Oscar Jones
Charlie Kendall
Jay Nash
Jack Nolde
Kieron Owusu
Shemarie Perkins-Palmer
Thomas Ranger
Teddy Rumsby
Julian Sarmiento-Ramirez
Ryan Scougall
Ben Search
Luis Shamshoum
Joshua Simpson
Matas Skarna
Harry Talbot
Harrison Topliss
Adam Vyse
Woody Wells
James White
Corey Wood

Not really sure who scores the goals for GWR as there are no stats on Full Time, so watch out for the excellently named Jack Frost, who will probably be around as the night draws on…might need a coat…brrrrrrr

Well, a chance to get back to winning ways but an unpredictable game due to the competition and whether the teams put out changed line-ups. For The Bridge, we are at an interesting stage, do we revive, or will form continue a downward spiral…I know which one I prefer…
There remains just one thing left to say….