CAST INTO THE WILDER
WILDERNESS
NESS
P AUL C LAYDON LAMENTS THE DEMISE OF E TON M ANOR
Eton Manor with the London League
winners’ shield in 1953/54. Note
amongst the coaching staff Alf Ramsey,
back row, third from left
The dawn of the 2017/18 season saw the loss of a long-standing name on the Essex Senior
League (ESL) playing roster after Eton Manor withdrew from the competition. Although
still listed unusually as "non-playing members" of the League, it seems unlikely that the club
that owes its existence to the philanthropic nature of 19th century benefactors, will ever
play again.
Although the club can date its formation to the early 1900s, it has led a nomadic existence
for most of the last fifty years and in some ways it is amazing that it has managed to strug-
gle on for so long. The epitome of a 'one man club', the resignation of club stalwart Reg
Curtis at the end of last season meant that there was, literally, no one left to keep the club
going. Playing out their final season with a groundshare at FC Broxbourne Borough's
Goffs Lane, the club averaged just 18 through the turnstiles for their ESL games, with the
lowest recorded gates being 2 against London Bari in October 2016 and, rather fittingly,
an official attendance of zero for the visit of Sawbridgeworth Town on 25 April 2017, a
match that may now prove to be their last ever game. Unless a modern day philanthropist
comes forward, it appears that Eton Manor are finished.
It could, and some would argue should, be all so different though. The staging of the Lon-
don Olympics in 2012 has resulted in a vast sporting legacy at the Queen Elizabeth Olym-
pic Park at Stratford and, had the right representations been made to the powers that be,
Eton Manor could have been part of that. The fact that a large portion of land that was
once home to the many teams of the parent Eton Manor sports club was used for the de-
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