Despite missing out on the league title, Snaresbrook FC are still a squad of winners, says Millicent Brown, and they count Frank Lampard Snr among their supporters.
It’s been another fantastic year for the historic local Wanstead football team Snaresbrook FC, which has been playing on the Nutter Field for decades.
Originally named RAFARNO – short for Royal Air Force Army Royal Navy Officers – the club was set up at the end of World War One to provide sporting activities for the local community. Even these days, a fenced-off section with a fir tree remains at the top end of the ground, marking the area where horses and carriages used to drop off passengers.
This season, the team has been competing in one of the top divisions of Essex’s highest-flying leagues – the Essex Olympian Football League – and for a long time looked as though they would end up champions.
Sponsored by local businessman and renowned soccer legend Frank Lampard Snr of the nearby Nightingale on the Green pub, they had a great start early in the season, and even up until mid-season were the top club with games in hand. Sadly, in the end, Snaresbrook lost the Division One title by just six points, ending up fourth in the league, despite having beaten the eventual champions in two games.
New manager Rob Caine, currently taking over from former manager Paul ‘Stan’ Staniford, said: “We have a squad of winners. It was a tough year – let’s move on from it… We haven’t done ourselves any injustice, all our players should be proud of what they have achieved this year. Most of the teams which played us this year – including some Premiership teams – told us we were one of the best teams they had played and we deserved to be in the top division. This coming year is going to be another tough year, but this summer, we have some triallists coming over to the Nutter Field and hopefully they will be signing up with us for next season.”
The Nightingale’s Frank Lampard Snr, who is sponsoring the team once again during the forthcoming year, said: “This has been a great season for my team – and what a brilliant year it has been supporting them! To have such a fabulous club so close to my Nightingale pub is a dream come true – and it is fantastic that we have teamed up together. It’s lovely to have the whole team coming in to enjoy our Sky Sports action at the pub after most of their games. The new season is almost upon us and I am sure it is another year when Snaresbrook FC will do themselves proud and be one of the main contestants for the top spot.”
At a recent ceremony at the Nutter Field clubhouse, the following awards were made:
- Golden boot: Tyriquee Solomon
- Manager’s player: Josh Woodcock
- Players’ player: Chris Huggins