Aveley F.C.

Aveley
Full name	Aveley Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Millers
Founded	1927
Ground	Parkside, Aveley
Capacity	3,500 (424 seated)
Chairman	Graham Gennings
Manager	Danny Scopes
League	National League South
2023–24	National League South, 7th of 24
Website	http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/aveley
Home colours	Away colours

Aveley Football Club are a semi–professional football club based in Aveley, Essex, England. They are currently members of the National League South and play at Parkside.

History

The club was established in 1927 and played in local leagues until World War II. In 1946 they joined the Thurrock Combination League, and went on to win the Essex Junior Cup in 1948 and 1949.^[2] In 1949 the club joined Division Two of the London League. They finished fourth in their first season, and were promoted to Division One. The following season they won Division One, but were not promoted to the Premier Division.^[3] However, despite finishing ninth in 1952–53, they were promoted. After finishing seventh, then third in their first two seasons in the Premier Division, they won the division in 1954–55.^[4] In 1957 the club switched to the Delphian League, finishing as runners-up in their first season. When the league folded in 1963 they joined Division Two of the Athenian League. After finishing second in 1968–69, the club was promoted to Division One. They won the Division One title in 1970–71, earning promotion to the Premier Division.^[4]

In 1973 Aveley joined Division Two of the Isthmian League, which became Division One in 1977. They won the Essex Thameside Trophy in 1979–80 and the Hornchurch Charity Cup in 1982–83. In 1985–86 they finished bottom of the division, and were relegated to Division Two North. After finishing second in 1989–90, a season in which they also became the first club from the bottom division to win the League Cup, the club was promoted back to Division One. Although they finished fourth in their first season back in Division One, the club finished bottom of the division the following season, but were not relegated. However, in 1992–93 they finished bottom again and were relegated to Division Two. In 1994–95 the club were relegated to Division Three, where they remained until 2002, when league reorganisation saw them placed in Division One North.

Aveley were transferred to Division One East of the Southern League in 2004, before returning to Division One North of the Isthmian League in 2006. They won the division in 2008–09, and were promoted to the Premier Division. After finishing third in Isthmian League under manager Rod Stringer, the club lost in the promotion play-off semi-finals to eventual winners Boreham Wood.^[4] In 2011–12 the club were relegated back to Division One North after finishing third-from-bottom. In their first season in Division One they finished fifth and qualified for the promotion play-offs. They lost 3–1 to Maldon & Tiptree in the semi-finals.^[4] In 2021–22 Aveley were Division One North champions and were promoted to the Premier Division.^[5] The following season saw the club win the League Cup, defeating Potters Bar Town 3–0 in the final.^[6] They went on to finish fourth in the league, and after beating Canvey Island in the play-off semi-finals, defeated Hornchurch 1–0 in the final to earn a second consecutive promotion, this time to the National League South.^[7] They finished seventh in the National League South in their first season in the division, before losing 2–1 to Maidstone United in the play-off quarter-finals.

Ground

The club played at Lodge Meadow until moving to Mill Field in 1952, at which point they gained the nickname the Millers.^[2] The new ground was built by supporters on land they had purchased,^[1] and a stand was bought from Grays Athletic for £100, subsequently becoming known as the Pepper Stand.^[8] The ground was opened with a local derby match against Grays.^[9] Terracing was installed on the other side of the ground, on which a 400-seat wooden stand was erected in 1958 at a cost of £2,600, together with additional terracing.^[8] Floodlights were installed in 1967, with Grays again the visitors for the first match played under them.^[9] At the time of its closure, the ground had a capacity of 4,000, of which 400 was seated and covered.^[10]

During the 2010s the club bought the site of a former gravel pit from Thurrock Council using money raised from selling Mill Field to developers.^[2] The 2016–17 season was the club's last at Mill Field, as they moved to Parkside Stadium for the start of the 2017–18 season.^[11] The new ground featured two seated stands on either side of the pitch, one of which was built into the clubhouse, with the clubhouse roof overhang providing cover.^[1] Two covered terraces were erected behind each goal, either side of the goalmouth, whilst an artificial pitch was installed.^[1] In 2018 Parkside hosted a number of games in the CONIFA World Cup.^[12] The ground has also been shared by Grays Athletic (2017–2023), May & Baker (2019–2024), Cannons Wood (since 2023), Hashtag United Women (since 2023) and Hashtag United (since 2024).

Honours

Isthmian League
- Division One North champions 2008–09, 2021–22
- League Cup winners 1989–90, 2022–23
Athenian League
- Champions 1970–71
London League
- Premier Division champions 1954–55
- Division One champions 1950–51
Essex Thames-Side Challenge Trophy
- Winners 1979–80, 2004–05, 2006–07

Records

Best FA Cup performance: First round, 1970–71^[4]
Best FA Trophy performance: Quarter-finals, 2019–20^[4]
Best FA Vase performance: Fourth round, 1995–96^[4]
Biggest win: 11–1 vs Histon, 24 August 1963^[10]
Heaviest defeat: 8–0 vs Orient, Essex Thames-Side Trophy^[10]
Record attendance: 3,741 vs Slough Town, 27 February 1971^[10]
Most appearances: Ken Riley, 422^[10]
Record goalscorer: Jotty Wilks, 214^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Parklife for Millers", Groundtastic, Autumn 2017, issue 90, pp46–49
^ ^a ^b ^c History Archived 16 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Aveley FC
^ London League 1950–1964 Non-League Matters
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Aveley at the Football Club History Database
^ "CHAMPIONS". www.pitchero.com/clubs/aveley. 19 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
^ Millers lift the Velocity Cup Thurrock Nub News, 5 April 2023
^ "Two In A Row For The Millers- As Lightning Strikes Twice For The Urchins". Isthmian League. 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
^ ^a ^b Jon Weaver (2006) The Football Grounds of Essex Metropolitan, pp4–6
^ ^a ^b Aveley Archived 1 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine Pyramid Passion
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) Non-League Club Directory 2013, p579 ISBN 978-1-869833-77-0
^ Exchange marks historic day for Aveley^[usurped] Non-League Daily
^ Why the CONIFA World Football Cup matters to Matabeleland Sky Sports, 31 May 2018