Match Preview

Just 30 minutes on the fastest route due to traffic conditions will take Google 30 minutes to travel the 19.5 miles via A13 (other good routes are also available) to Tilbury and, ultimately, Chadfields or the EMR Stadium as it’s now known. I’m not quite sure what car Google drives but I’m sure yours will get you to the home of the league leaders in a similar fashion to see if The Bridge can topple the high-flying Dockers.

Tilbury Football Club is a football club based in Tilbury, Thurrock, England. The club play in black and white stripes, are currently members of the Essex Senior League and play home matches at Chadfields.

History
The club was established in 1889 by workers from Tilbury Docks. They joined the Gravesend League, later becoming members of the Grays & District League and then the Romford & District League. After returning to the Grays & District League, the club were league champions in 1901–02, 1902–03, 1906–07 and 1907–08. In 1903 they had also started playing in the South Essex League; the club were Division Two champions in the South Essex League in 1921–22, and went on to win the league championship in 1922–23 and 1924–25. After finishing as runners-up in the league in 1926–27,they moved up to Division One of the Kent League.

In 1931 Tilbury transferred to the Premier Division of the London League. At the start of World War II, the club joined the South Essex Combination, but temporarily disbanded at the end of the 1939–40 season after their ground was commandeered by the army. Upon resuming play at the end of the war, they were Premier Division runners-up in 1946–47 and 1947–48, and again in 1949–50, a season that saw the club reach the first round proper of the FA Cup for the first time after playing nine qualifying matches. Drawn away to Third Division South club Notts County in the first round, they lost 4–0. The club then switched to the Corinthian League, in which they played for seven seasons before returning to the London League in 1957. They were London League champions and League Cup winners in 1958–59 and went on to retain the title for the next three seasons, as well as winning the League Cup again in 1960–61 and 1961–62. After their fourth title win, the club joined the Delphian League but the 1962–63 league season had to be abandoned due to extensive adverse weather conditions and the league then folded, leading to the club (and most of the rest of the Delphian League) becoming members of the new Division Two of the Athenian League.

Tilbury won the Division Two title at the first attempt, earning promotion to Division One. They went on to win the Division One title in 1968–69 and were promoted to the Premier Division. Following a third-place finish in the Premier Division in 1972–73, the club joined the newly formed Division Two of the Isthmian League. They won the division in 1975–76 and were promoted to Division One, which was renamed the Premier Division in 1977. In 1977–78 the club reached the FA Cup first round again; after defeating Kettering Town 3–2 in a second replay (the first match was declared null and void as Tilbury had used an ineligible player), they went on to beat Nuneaton Borough 2–1 in the second round, before being drawn away to Second Division Stoke City in the third round, a match they lost 4–0.

In 1979–80 Tilbury finished bottom of the Isthmian League's Premier Division and were relegated to Division One. At the end of the 1986–87 season they were relegated to Division Two North, where they played until being transferred to Division Three in 1991 as a result of league reorganisation. The 1991–92 season saw the club finish third in Division Three, earning promotion to Division Two. Although they were relegated back to Division Three at the end of the 1997–98 season, another third-place finish in 1999–2000 saw the club promoted to Division Two again. League reorganisation led to the club being moved into Division One North in 2002. They were subsequently transferred to Division One East of the Southern League for the 2004–05 season, in which they finished bottom of the table, resulting in relegation to the Essex Senior League.

Tilbury finished third in their first season in the Essex Senior League and were promoted back to Division One North of the Isthmian League. A third-place finish in Division One North in 2011–12 saw them qualify for the promotion play-offs, in which they lost 4–3 to Needham Market in the semi-finals. They finished bottom of the North Division in 2022–23 and were relegated back to the Essex Senior League.

Ground
The club played on several different grounds in their early years, including the Green & Siley Weir ground, Daisy Field and at Tilbury Fort, before returning to the Green & Siley Weir ground in 1900. After World War I they moved to the Orient Field, a ground owned by one of the directors of Clapton Orient. During World War II the ground was commandeered by the Army for anti-aircraft guns being used to protect the docks.

After the war, the club were told that they could only return to the Orient Field if they agreed to become a feeder club for Orient. After refusing, the club moved to an adjacent site named Chadfields in 1947, which had previously been used as a greyhound racing track. In the first year at the new ground, a small grandstand was built on the east side and basic terracing was installed. The ground's record attendance of 5,500 was set for the FA Cup fourth qualifying round match against Gorleston that the club won to set up their first round tie with Notts County in the 1949–50 season. The money raised from the cup run, together with the sale of Tom Scannell to Southend United, enabled the club to buy the site. A clubhouse was built in 1958 and floodlights were erected in 1966.

In 1970 the original grandstand was replaced with a two-level concrete stand with dressing rooms on the ground floor and a spectator area. Another seated stand was built on the west side of the pitch in 1996, replacing three separate covered areas and five steps of terracing. Hashtag United also played at Chadfields in 2019–20, with Brimsdown becoming tenants for 2020–21.

Honours
Isthmian League
Division Two champions 1975–76
League Cup winners 1974–75, 2008–09
Athenian League
Division One champions 1968–69
Division Two champions 1963–64
London League
Champions 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62
League Cup winners 1958–59, 1960–61, 1961–62
South Essex League
Champions 1922–23, 1924–25
Division Two champions 1921–22
Grays & District League
Champions 1901–02, 1902–03, 1906–07, 1907–08
East Anglian Cup
Winners 2008–09
Essex Elizabethan Trophy
Winners 1963–64
Essex Junior Cup
Winners 1908–09, 1924–25
Essex Professional Cup
Winners 1975–76
Essex Senior Cup
Winners 1960–61, 1963–64, 1971–72, 1974–75
Mithras Cup
Winners 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78

Records
Best FA Cup performance: Third round, 1977–78
Best FA Amateur Cup performance: Quarter-finals, 1946–47
Best FA Trophy performance: Third round, 1982–83
Best FA Vase performance: Fifth round, 2023–24
Most appearances: Nicky Smith, 424 (1975–1982)
Most goals: Ross Livermore, 282
Record attendance: 5,500 vs Gorleston, FA Cup fourth qualifying round replay, 1949
Record transfer fee received: £2,000 from Dartford for Steve Connor, 1995; £2,000 from Grays Athletic for Tony Macklin, 1990

19/03/24 Essex Senior League
WEST ESSEX 0
TILBURY 0

16/03/24 Essex Senior League
BUCKHURST HILL 4
TILBURY 0

12/03/24 Errington Challenge Cup
2nd Round
TILBURY 0
BARKING 2

09/03/24 Essex Senior League
TILBURY 1
(Alex Clark)
SAFFRON WALDEN TOWN 0

06/03/24 Essex Senior League
SPORTING BENGAL UNITED 0
TILBURY 4
(Alex Clark 2, Harry Donavon, Oliver Spooner)

27/02/24 Essex Senior League
GREAT WAKERING ROVERS 0
TILBURY 1
(Harry Donavon)
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After 31 matches, “The Dockers” are top of the Essex Senior League Premier. They have 73 points from those 31 games, 9 points clear of their nearest challengers Woodford Town and Romford. 23 wins, 4 draws, and 4 defeats, a +46 goal difference, scoring 66 and conceding 20…you could say it’s been a good season!

Home form consists of 10 wins, 2 draws, and 2 defeats, scoring 29 and conceding 10.
In current form, The Dockers are in 5th place with 4 wins, 1 draw, and 1 defeat, scoring 10 and conceding 5. Recent results have been poor compared to the rest of their season with those 3 defeats in their last 3 games, without scoring a goal, as shown above, but overall, they’ve been pretty impressive!

We met in the ESL on the 28th of October and The Dockers won 2-0 at the T.J.Cottis with my old mate “light the blue touch paper and stand well back” Roman Campbell and Alex Clark the scorers. The match was watched by a decent crowd of 190.

Note – This is the official player list as per the Full Time Website. Some of the players listed may have left the club.
Oluwatobiloba Adekunle
Ezra Agyiri
Johnny Ashman
Tommy Baker
Harvey Browne
Joseph Burton
Roman Campbell
Samuel Carter
Alex Clark
Harry Donovan
Alfie Fry
Dean Hall
Jack Hayes
Harry Hope
Callum Ibe
MacAuley Joynes
David Knight
Ben Marlow
Connor Martin
Jack McQueen
Igli Metalia
Peter Mokwenye
Christian North
Troy Osei-Bobie
Anthony Page
Oliver Plunkett
Thomas Salter
Oliver Spooner
Daniel Trendall
Sergio Uyi
MacKenzie Vincent
Benjamin Wyss

Everyone!
No seriously, they’re not top of the league for nothing!
Scorers are the aforementioned Mr Campbell who has 20 and Alex Clark has 10. Harry Donavon has been scoring recently, apart from the last three games, and has 9 in total so look out for them and probably quite a few others.

Stand well back…
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Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security…this is a tough one. The phrase “I’ll settle for a point” springs to mind but I know @ThGaffa won’t be happy to do that and will, quite rightly, want all three. The Bridge, on their day can beat anyone, but it depends on what Bridge we get and Tilbury will be keen to get back to winning ways, so an intriguing encounter beckons. If you can, get down to Chadfields and show the lads some Hullbridge support, I’m sure they will appreciate it…