Club History

HARINGEY BOROUGH FC   –   A BRIEF HISTORY

It was not until 1970 that a team played under the name of Haringey Borough when WOOD GREEN TOWN who had played at Coles Park since 1930 changed their name to Haringey Borough while playing in Intermediate football.   But the roots of the Club go back to 1907 when TUFNELL PARK FC was formed and joined the London League in which it played until 1914 and from 1912 to 1914 a team was also entered into the Athenian League.   Wood Green Town was itself a breakaway off-shoot of Tufnell Park in 1911, playing under the name of Tufnell Spartans until 1920. After many name changes and amalgamations which at various times saw the ancestors of the present Club playing in the Isthmian, Athenian, Spartan and Delphian Leagues on a number of different grounds the two Clubs merged in 1973 and played at Coles Park, briefly under the name of Edmonton & Haringey FC until 1976 when the present name was adopted . The Club played in the Athenian League until that Competition closed and they were admitted into the Isthmian League Division 2 North in 1984, remaining in membership for four years but being unable to fulfil their fixtures in 1988/89 due to a mass exodus of management and players just a few weeks before the start of that season. After a year in the wilderness they were admitted to the Spartan League in 1989 retaining Premier Division membership throughout until the South Midlands League merger in season 1997/98 when they finished 7th. in the Premier Division South to secure membership of the new “combined” Premier Division in 1998/99. Premier Division status was retained until the end of season 2006/07 when the Club’s regular flirting with danger finally failed to provide the customary last gasp escape and relegation to Division One ensued, largely due to disastrous early results but the major improvement in the latter stages left us one point adrift of safety. The team bounced back with promotion at the very first attempt and a fine season ended with promotion and winning the Division One Cup. Back in the Premier Division for the season 2008/09 the Club again quickly found itself among the relegation strugglers leading to the appointment of the current Manager – the vastly experienced Tom Loizou. The bottom places were again just avoided but 2009/10 produced a better showing and after a poor start the efforts of the team produced a marked improvement after the enforced winter break owing to the inclement weather. A good run of results thereafter and particularly a run of 7 unbeaten games in April led to the club finishing 15^th in the Division , the highest for several years. Better was to follow in 2010/11 when 8th place was achieved and the Club entered 2011/12 with Tom Loizou at the helm for the 4^thseason and with realistic hopes of making a challenge for the sole promotion spot which until home defeats around Christmas by the 2 front runners looked to be a serious possibilty.  Once it became clear that it was not on the opportunity was taken to field teams with the following season in mind and several defeats inevitably followed although the final placing of 5th represented their best ever performance in the Spartan South Midlands League;  and the winning of the League Challenge Trophy was an exciting end of season bonus.   2012/13 was the last season in the Spartan South Midlands League as the FA moved the Club sideways into the Essex Senior League in the following close season and runners-up spot was achieved at the first attempt in 2013/14 along with being the runners-up in the League’s Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy.   The calendar year 2014/15 saw Borough win more League games (38 out of 41 and 1 drawn) to give them the best record of any Senior Club in the Country.   The Championship of the Essex Senior League was won in 2014/15 resulting in promotion to level 4 of the National Game Pyramid and entry to the Ryman League Dicvision One North in 2015/16.   After a worrying opening with only 7 points collected from the first 17 League games a massive improvement saw the total increased to 50 and mid-table security by the end of the season.    That improvement continued in 2016/17 and a 5th placed finish earned a play off opportunity which ended in disappointment with a 4-5 defeat at Maldon & Tiptree at the semi-final stage;  and that followed on from a disappointing 2-3 semi-final defeat to Metropolitan Police in the London Senior Cup.  2017/18 was the Club’s best ever.  A 4th placed finish again earned a play-off chance and this time promotion to the Premier Division of the Isthmian (aka Bostik) League was secured by virtue of home wins over Heybridge Swifts and Canvey Island.   In addition the Fourth and final qualifying round of the FA Cup was reached but on that occasion Heybridge Swifts triumphed and went on the visit Exeter City in the First Round Proper.  A lengthy FA Trophy run put us into the First Round Proper earing us a home tie with newly relegated Leyton Orient who left Coles Park mightily relieved to avoid embarrassment with a 2-1 win after Borough had taken an early lead.    The first season in the Isthmian (Bostik) League Premier Division ended with Borough in 3rd place but eliminated in the Play-off semi-final by Tonbridge Angels.  The First Round Proper of the FA Cup was reached and the home game with AFC Wimbledon who won by the games only goal, a very late one, drew a record Coles Park crowd of 2,710.  Having led the Premier Division for several weeks in mid-season it was somewhat surprising that we dropped from 2nd to 3rd on the last day of the season after a poor late run but still enjoyed home advantage in the Play-Off Semi-final in which a 45 minute second half onslaught on the Tonbridge Angels goal produced only one goal in response to the two they had scored before the interval. The 2019/20 season’s early termination was less of a disappointment for us than for most other Isthmian Premier Division Clubs as we were marooned in mid-table with no realistic prospect of entering either the promotion or relegation zones. The highlight of the season should have been the visit of National League Yeovil Town in the Final Qualifying Round of the Emirates FA Cup but, as is well known, appalling crowd behaviour brought that game to an early end and the second game seemed something of an anti-climax. In fact, without making excuses, that unpleasant episode seems to have adversely affected our players for some time for, whereas we had been well in the promotion places mix, thereafter we just drifted downwards The early termination of League Fixtures for 2020/21 was more of a blow than was the previous seasons voiding as we were well placed to make a charge towards a play-off place at least. However the Buildbase FA Trophy continued and we enjoyed a run through to the 4th Round Proper when Oxford City of the National League South finally eliminated us 4-2 after we had been two up; en route we had overcome Faversham Town, Bishops Stortford, Eastbourne Borough and Dartford, the last two also being National League South Clubs. The London Senior Cup also carried on and due to withdrawals, we reached the quarter-final without playing a game but lost a penalty shoot out to Hanwell Town after a 2-2 draw. The 2021/22 season was more or less a non-event as regards any real challenge for the League top spots but the semi-finals of The League Cup and the London Senior Cup were reached with both games ending in odd goal defeats in the space of a week. We may well have set a Club record for the highest number of injuries sustained in any season and that even led to an outside chance of relrgation towards the end of the season but the failings of others meant we were never in serious danger. Season 2022/23 was much the same with a nondescript League campaign but it did have an exciting ending as we lost the London Senior Cup Final to Charlton Athletic Under 21s by 3-5 in a game of swinging fortunes which saw us go 0-3 down before fighting back to equalise and force extra time.  Season 2023/24 will live long  in the memory but for all the wrong reasons.   A disastrous start which saw only one point in the bag after nine League games meant there was a mountain to be climbed if the four relegation spots were to be avoided.   As the season wore on it seemed that there was just a possibility that we might claw our way to safety but garnering only three points from the final ten League games put paid to any lingering optimism.  So we now return to the North Division after six seasons in the Premier Division in which we had come within a whisker of promotion to the National League.  Early exits from three of the four Cups entered meant that reaching the semi-final of the other- the League Cup – provided a little cheer to a dismal season.   The Under 23s having switched to the Essex Alliance following the winding up of the Isthmian League Development section reached the semi-final of their League Cup where they encountered the runaway League Chmpions.  The Womens Team went one better and provided the highlight of the Clubs season by reaching the Final of the Capital Womens Senior Cup and gave National League Ashford Town a serious challenge before losing 4-2.

From time to time Reserve sides have been fielded for a few seasons but with no real success either in their own right or as a testing ground for potential First Team players.

Youth teams have also been run at various age levels in many seasons and with considerable success particularly at the older age groups.   In 2002/03 the Club entered an Under 18 team in the Southern Counties Floodlit Youth League and in 2004/05 won the Nemean Division Championship and the Colwyn Youth Cup, also reaching the 2^nd round proper of the FA Youth Cup.   In 2006/07, the Under 16 team playing in the Harrow League secured its Division One title without losing a match, also reaching the League Cup Final. For season 2007/08 a massive expansion saw teams competing at six consecutive age groups from Under 13 to 18 – some in the Harrow League and others in the Cheshunt League. From 2008/09 we no longer competed in the Harrow League and in 2009/10 fielded teams at Under 14 and 17 in the Cheshunt League with the Under 16s breaking new ground in the Eastern Junior Alliance while the Under 18s continued in the Southern Counties Floodlit Youth League. The Under 18s reached the Colwyn Cup Final again in 2008/09 and were Nemean Division Winners in 2009/10   In 2004 and 2005, the Club entered an Under 19 team in the prestigious Gothia Youth Cup played in Gothenberg and in its first attempt battled right through to the quarter-final stage and won the “B” Cup the following year.   Sadly, financial constraints necessitated the closing down of the Youth Section at the end of season 2009/10 but it was hoped that it might be possible to resurrect it when future circumstances are more favourable.  And in season 2017/18 the Southern Counties Floodlit Youth League was re-entered by our Under 18 team which after losing its first two games went on to win the Delphian Division Championship.