Dulwich travel north to take on old friends in a new guise with their maiden trip to Enfield Town and the Queen Elizabeth II Stadium on Donkey Lane.

The latter years of football in Enfield have been turbulent ones after much success. The original Enfield FC, founded like the Hamlet back in 1893, grew to be one of the strongest and most feared of the Non-League giants. During the early 1980s the E’s lifted the Conference title in 1982/83 and 1985/86 as well as the FA Trophy in 1981/82 and 1987/88. Their form slipped and they were relegated to the Isthmian League in 1990. Despite a run of seven consecutive top-three finishes they remained in that league, being denied promotion after winning the title in 1995 because the Football Conference were not satisfied with the club’s financial credentials.

Ironically, they won their most recent Conference title in the final season of the re-election system, in which the Football League members had to vote on whether or not to replace one of the bottom four teams in the Fourth Division with the champions of the highest non-league division. As had happened three years earlier, the old boys act came into play as football league members blackballed Enfield from joining their exclusive club.

Matters came to head at the end of the last century when, in 1999, the club’s Southbury Road ground was sold, leaving Enfield FC to seek out groundshares with other clubs as the off field wrangling between Chairman Tony Lazarou and the disgruntled supporters continued unabated. Eventually the fans lost patience. The newly formed Enfield Supporters’ Trust considered that the regime in charge of Enfield FC no longer had the interests of the club or the town at heart and lacked the sufficient resolve to bring about the return of the E’s to their spiritual home in the borough. Whilst Lazarou took “his” club off to far-off pastures, Boreham Wood, then Ware in Hertfordshire, the fans set about the task of bringing football back to the borough.

The historic day dawned on 23rd June 2001 as the Trust announced the formation of the new club, the first wholly fans owned entity pre-dating others who might claim that title. Playing at Brimsdown Rovers’ Goldsdown Road ground, the newly formed club were admitted to the Essex Senior League for the 2001/02 season, three divisions below the Isthmian League Premier Division where the “original” Enfield continued to ply their trade. The club’s first season saw them finish second in the league and win the League Cup, the Capital Counties Feeder Leagues Trophy, and the Middlesex Senior Charity Cup.

The following season they won the league, but were not promoted due to insufficient facilities at Goldsdown Road. Despite only finishing fourth in the 2003/04 season, in May 2004 the Isthmian League invited the club to join Division 2, but later rescinded the offer. The honours continued to pile up as they won the Essex Senior League for a second time in 2004/05, and were promoted to Division One East of the Southern League, to which Enfield had just been promoted after coming second in Isthmian Two. Enfield Town success continued as finished third in their first season at this level League, qualifying for the play-offs, but after a valiant display they were beaten 3-1 after extra time by Wivenhoe Town.

In the summer of 2006 the club were transferred to the Isthmian League joining Division One North of the Isthmian League. They again finished third, but lost 4-2 to AFC Sudbury in the play-off semi-finals. At the end of this season the old Enfield were liquidated by chairman Lazarou after debts to the Inland Revenue crushed the club. In a magnanimous gesture Enfield Town chairman Paul Millington released a statement suggesting that the two clubs should merge and “return the name of Enfield to the top of the non-league world.” However, the Enfield players, officials, and supporters rejected the offer and instead from the ashes of old Enfield was born yet another new named Enfield 1893.

The club qualified for the play-offs again in 2009/10 after finishing fourth. They beat Wingate & Finchley 3-2 in the semi-finals, before losing 3-1 in the final to Concord Rangers.

The following season the club found themselves in the perverse situation of being tenants of their predecessors as Enfield 1893 moved in Goldsdown Road after “merging” with the now defunct Brimsdown Rovers! However the uneasy groundshare would last just that season for the club’s plans to relocate to a home of their own close to the old Southbury Road were soon to bear fruit. In October 2008, Enfield Council announced a deal with the club allowing the club to relocate to the Queen Elizabeth Stadium, a Noel Imber goal kick away from their former home. They departed Goldsdown Road in summer 2011 season, taking with them much of the ground’s fixtures and fittings. Somewhat ironically this left Enfield 1893, champions of the Essex Senior League that season without the infrastructure to make the ground grading for the isthmian League and take their due promotion to the Isthmian League as the ground no longer met standards. After spending the first few months of the 2011/12 stadium groundsharing at with Cheshunt, they finally moved into their new home in November 2011 with a joyous housewarming celebrating with victory against Harefield United in the Middlesex Senior Cup. More celebration come the end of the season as the club finished second, before going on to win the play-offs with a 1-0 win over Needham Market in the final.

At the start of the 2012/13 season the club won the Supporters Direct Cup, defeating Wrexham 3-1. They retained their place in the Isthmian Premier that season, finishing 15th, and held the Supporters Direct Cup the following year, beating YB SK Beveren of Belgium 8-2.

After a promising opening day to the season as the Met Police were comprehensively beaten at Donkey Lane, the current campaign has proved a disappointing one for the Towners culminating in the departure of manager Steve Newing earlier this month after four years in the hot seat. However, the north London club have made a disappointing start to the 2013/14 campaign and after picking up only 9 points from their next 15 league fixtures after that Police victory, the board decided it was time for a change at the top. The mantle passed to the father and son team of Peter and Bryan Hammatt, the latter still plying his trade in the Enfield Town midfield at the grand old age of 40!
Having exited the FA Trophy at the hands of Grays Athletic three weeks ago the Towners had played just once since then that a 3-0 defeat at home to Wingate and Finchley. However as Dulwich were battling through the night at Concord Rangers before valiantly succumbing to their Conference South hosts in the FA Trophy, Enfield Town were busy dismantling Hertford Town in a friendly game with Tyler Campbell (two), Mark Kirby, Jermaine Osei, Corey Whitely and youngster Michael Kālu bagging the goals in a categorical 6-0 victory as the new duumvirate began to mould the team in their image.

This afternoon’s game kicks off at 3.00 pm at the Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, 3 Donkey Lane, Enfield, Middlesex EN1 3PL.

Travel details for today’s game can be found here on the official Enfield Town website. However please note that if you are traveling by train you should use the Enfield Town branch as the Southbury line is closed for engineering works. Trains run from Liverpool Street to Enfield Town station run every fifteen minutes, journey time 33 minutes, also calling 17 minutes later at Seven Sisters where there is a connection with the Victoria Line Underground.

ADMISSION PRICES

• £10 Adults
• £6 Concessions
• £1 U16s
• £1 Transfer to the seating area in the main building