The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, eastern Hertfordshire, southern Lincolnshire, and north and east London. The league is a feeder to Division One North of the Isthmian League, but may also see sides promoted to the Northern Premier League Midlands Division.

History

Formation

During the early part of the 20th century there were several leagues covering East Anglia, including the Norfolk & Suffolk League, the East Anglian League, the Essex & Suffolk Border League and the Ipswich & District League, whilst some of the larger clubs (including Ipswich Town and Cambridge Town) played in the Southern Amateur League. Suggestions of forming a league to cover the whole region had been made since the early 1900s, but intensified after Norwich City were promoted to Division Two of the Football League in 1934 and saw a significant rise in attendances. During the 1934–35 season there was a strong movement in Harwich and Ipswich for the formation of such a league and after canvassing, a 'Meeting of Representatives of East Anglian Football Clubs' was held at the Picture House in Ipswich on 17 February 1935. More recently, it has been sponsored by building supplies company Jewson, Ridgeons, and current sponsor Thurlow Nunn.

Expansion to two divisions

There had been occasional discussions about adding a second division to the league since its formation, but in 1983 it seemed about to become a reality. However, it was then delayed by the Football Association at the request of the Essex Senior League. The idea was resurrected during the 1987–88 season and a meeting was held to discuss it on 22 November 1987. The league contacted 21 clubs who were considered potential members, of which fifteen were interested in joining. A further four clubs were contacted and another (Long Sutton Athletic) asked for details. Ultimately fourteen clubs applied to join the league; eight from the Peterborough & District League (Downham Town, Huntingdon United, King's Lynn reserves, Ortonians, Somersham Town, Warboys Town and Yaxley – Parson Drove also applied later in the year, but were rejected), three from the Anglian Combination (Diss Town, Fakenham Town and Wroxham) and three from the Essex & Suffolk Border League (Bury Town reserves, Hatfield Peverel and Little Oakley). All were accepted except Hatfield Peverel and Little Oakley, whose grounds were deemed inadequate, whilst Ortonians later withdrew after difficulties getting their reserve and 'A' teams into the Peterborough & District League. Mildenhall Town from the Cambridgeshire League and Ipswich Wanderers from the Ipswich Sunday League were later invited to join, whilst Halstead Town were persuaded to transfer from the Essex Senior League after Ortonian's late withdrawal, allowing the inaugural Division One season in 1988–89 to start with 14 clubs.

Addition of Division One South

On 3 October 2017, The Football Association ratified the creation of a new Step 6 (level 10) division in the league, Division One South, which started playing in the 2018–19 season. It covers the rest of Essex, as well as East London and parts of North London and east Hertfordshire and is intended to enable promotion to the Essex Senior League and relegation to the Essex Olympian League.

Current Eastern Counties League members

Premier Division

  • Cornard United
  • Dereham Town
  • Ely City
  • Fakenham Town
  • Great Yarmouth Town
  • Hadleigh United
  • Harleston Town
  • Haverhill Rovers
  • Heacham
  • Ipswich Wanderers
  • Kirkley & Pakefield
  • Lakenheath
  • Mulbarton Wanderers
  • Soham Town Rangers
  • Stowmarket Town
  • Thetford Town
  • Walsham-le-Willows
  • Woodbridge Town

Division One North

  • AFC Sudbury reserves
  • Diss Town
  • Dussindale & Hellesdon Rovers
  • FC Clacton
  • FC Parson Drove
  • FC Peterborough
  • Framlingham Town
  • Gorleston reserves
  • Halesworth Town
  • Haverhill Borough
  • Holbeach United
  • Holland
  • Kings Park Rangers
  • Leiston under 23s
  • Long Melford
  • Needham Market reserves
  • Stanway Pegasus
  • Whittlesey Athletic
  • Wivenhoe Town
  • Wroxham reserves

Division One South

  • AS London
  • Barkingside
  • Basildon Town
  • Brimsdown
  • Burnham Ramblers
  • Cannons Wood
  • Clapton Community
  • Coggeshall Town
  • Dunmow Town
  • Enfield Borough
  • FC Baresi
  • FC Romania
  • Hoddesdon Town
  • Hutton
  • Lymore Gardens
  • May & Baker
  • Newbury Forest
  • NW London
  • Rayleigh Town
  • Southend Manor
  • Stansted

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Former teams

103 teams have previously played in the Eastern Counties League, including several reserve and 'A' teams. The league's geographical span has previously stretched from Gillingham in Kent in the south to Boston in Lincolnshire in the north and Eynesbury in Cambridgeshire in the west. In the 1940s and 1950s it contained up to four 'A' teams from London.

  • A.F.C. Sudbury (1999–2006)
  • Arsenal 'A' (1948–55)
  • Benfleet (2018–2024)
  • Biggleswade Town (1955–63)
  • Boston Town (1966–68)
  • Braintree Town (four spells)
  • Braintree Town Reserves (2012–19)
  • Brightlingsea Regent (2011–14)
  • Brightlingsea Regent Reserves (2018–20)
  • Brightlingsea United (1990–2002)
  • Buckhurst Hill (2021–22)
  • Bungay Town (1963–64)
  • Bury Town (three spells)
  • Bury Town Reserves (1988–96)
  • Cambridge City Reserves (six spells)
  • Cambridge Regional College (2006–14)
  • Cambridge United (1951–58)
  • Cambridge United Reserves (1959–60, 1978–79)
  • Cambridge University Press (2010–13)
  • Chatteris Town (1966–2001)
  • Chelmsford (1935–37)
  • Chelmsford City Reserves (1938–63)
  • Chelsea Reserves (1948–53)
  • Clapton (2023–2024)
  • Clapton Community (2023–2024)
  • Coggeshall Town (2016–18)
  • Coggeshall United (2018–23)
  • Colchester Town (1935–37)
  • Colchester United Reserves (1937–59, 1976–88)
  • Cromer (1937–39)
  • Debenham LC (2005–23)
  • Dereham Town Reserves (2013–17)
  • Eynesbury Rovers (1952–63)
  • FC Clacton (three spells)
  • Felixstowe Port & Town (1976–2000)
  • Felixstowe & Walton United (2000–18)
  • Felixstowe & Walton United Reserves (2018–20)
  • Fire United (2018–20)
  • Frenford (2018–23)
  • Fulbourn Institute (2005–06)
  • Gillingham Reserves (1949–54)
  • Godmanchester Rovers (2002–21)
  • Gorleston (three spells)
  • Gothic (1963–78)
  • Halstead Town (1988–2022)
  • Hashtag United (2018–19)
  • Hertford Town (1972–73)
  • Histon (1965–2000, 2017–19)
  • Histon reserves (2000–11)
  • Huntingdon Town (2021–23)
  • Huntingdon United (1988–92)
  • Ipswich Town (1935–36)
  • Ipswich Town Reserves (1936–38)
  • Ipswich Town 'A' (1948–51)
  • Ipswich Wanderers (1988–2023)
  • King's Lynn (1935–39, 1948–54)
  • King's Lynn Reserves (four spells)
  • King's Lynn Town Reserves (2014–21)
  • Leiston (2001–11)
  • Leyton Athletic (2019–20)
  • Little Oakley (2017–21)
  • Long Sutton Athletic (1988–95)
  • Athletic Newham (2018–21)
  • Lowestoft Town (1935–2009)
  • Maldon Town (1966–72, 1996–2004)
  • March Town United (1954–2022)
  • Mildenhall Town (1998–2017, 2019–2024)
  • Needham Market (1996–2010)
  • Newmarket Town (1937–1952, 1959–2024)
  • Norwich CBS (2017–2024)
  • Norwich CEYMS (1937–39)
  • Norwich City Reserves (1946–48)
  • Norwich City 'A' (1949–58, 1963–75)
  • Norwich United (1989–2016, 2018–23)
  • Norwich United Reserves (2017–18)
  • Peterborough North End Sports (2021–22)
  • Peterborough United Reserves (1954–60, 1972–73)
  • Romford Reserves (1959–63)
  • Saffron Walden Town (three spells)
  • Somersham Town (1988–2004)
  • Southend United 'A' (1961–62)
  • Spalding United (1955–60)
  • Sporting Bengal United (2022–23)
  • St Neots Town (1969–73)
  • Stanway Rovers (1992–2018, 2019–21)
  • Stowmarket Town (1952–2021)
  • Sudbury Town (1955–90, 1997–99)
  • Sudbury Town Reserves (1990–97)
  • Sudbury Wanderers (1991–99)
  • Team Bury (2009–18)
  • Tiptree United (1979–2009)
  • Tottenham Hotspur 'A' (1948–63)
  • University of East Anglia (2021–22)
  • Tower Hamlets (2022–2024)
  • Warboys Town (1988–2004)
  • Watton United (1986–2000)
  • West Ham United 'A' (1948–56)
  • White Ensign (2018–21)
  • Wisbech St Mary (2016–22)
  • Wisbech Town (three spells)
  • Wormley Rovers (2018–2024)
  • Wroxham (1989–2012, 2017–22)
  • Yaxley (1988–92)

Notes

Membership rejected

Between its inception in 1935 and the formalisation of promotion and relegation between the ECL and its feeder leagues in 1983, several clubs applied to join the Eastern Counties League but were rejected, or were approached by the league but turned the offer of admission down. These included:

{| class=wikitable

!Season

!Eastern Counties League

!League Cup

|-

|1935–36||Harwich & Parkeston/<br>Lowestoft Town (joint)||Harwich & Parkeston

|-

|1936–37||Crittall Athletic||Harwich & Parkeston

|-

|1937–38||Lowestoft Town||Great Yarmouth Town

|-

|1938–39||Colchester United Reserves||Lowestoft Town

|-

|1939–46||colspan=2|No competition due to World War II

|-

|1946–47||Chelmsford City Reserves||Colchester United Reserves

|-

|1947–48||Chelmsford City Reserves||Colchester United Reserves

|-

|1948–49||Chelmsford City Reserves||Tottenham Hotspur 'A'

|-

|1949–50||Tottenham Hotspur 'A'||Chelsea 'A'

|-

|1950–51||Gillingham Reserves||Wisbech Town

|-

|1951–52||Gillingham Reserves||Gillingham Reserves

|-

|1952–53||Gorleston||Colchester United Reserves

|-

|1953–54||King's Lynn||King's Lynn

|-

|1954–55||Arsenal 'A'||Lowestoft Town

|-

|1955–56||Peterborough United Reserves||Gorleston

|-

|1956–57||Colchester United Reserves||Peterborough United Reserves

|-

|1957–58||Tottenham Hotspur 'A'||Colchester United Reserves

|-

|1958–59||Colchester United Reserves||Tottenham Hotspur 'A'

|-

|1959–60||Tottenham Hotspur 'A'||Chelmsford City Reserves

|-

|1960–61||Tottenham Hotspur 'A'||March Town United

|-

|1961–62||Tottenham Hotspur 'A'||Bury Town

|-

|1962–63||Lowestoft Town||Abandoned due to severe weather

|-

|1963–64||Bury Town||Bury Town

|-

|1964–65||Lowestoft Town||Haverhill Rovers

|-

|1965–66||Lowestoft Town||Lowestoft Town

|-

|1966–67||Lowestoft Town||Lowestoft Town

|-

|1967–68||Lowestoft Town||Chatteris Town

|-

|1968–69||Great Yarmouth Town||Lowestoft Town

|-

|1969–70||Lowestoft Town||Sudbury Town

|-

|1970–71||Lowestoft Town||Wisbech Town

|-

|1971–72||Wisbech Town||Wisbech Town

|-

|1972–73||Gorleston||Hertford Town

|-

|1973–74||Sudbury Town||Clacton Town

|-

|1974–75||Sudbury Town||Great Yarmouth Town

|-

|1975–76||Sudbury Town||Lowestoft Town

|-

|1976–77||Wisbech Town||Sudbury Town

|-

|1977–78||Lowestoft Town||Lowestoft Town

|}

{| class=wikitable

!Season

!Town & Country League

!League Cup

|-

|1978–79||Haverhill Rovers||Cambridge United reserves

|-

|1979–80||Gorleston||Ely City

|-

|1980–81||Gorleston||Great Yarmouth Town

|-

|1981–82||Tiptree United||Tiptree United

|}

{| class=wikitable

!Season

!Eastern Counties League

!League Cup

|-

|1982–83||Saffron Walden Town||Sudbury Town

|-

|1983–84||Braintree Town||Lowestoft Town

|-

|1984–85||Braintree Town||Tiptree United

|-

|1985–86||Sudbury Town||Tiptree United

|-

|1986–87||Sudbury Town||Sudbury Town

|-

|1987–88||March Town United||Braintree Town

|}

{| class=wikitable

!Season

!Premier Division

!Division One

!League Cup

|-

|1988–89||Sudbury Town||Wroxham||Sudbury Town

|-

|1989–90||Sudbury Town||Cornard United||Sudbury Town

|-

|1990–91||Wisbech Town||Norwich United||Histon

|-

|1991–92||Wroxham||Diss Town||Norwich United

|-

|1992–93||Wroxham||Sudbury Wanderers||Wroxham

|-

|1993–94||Wroxham||Hadleigh United||Woodbridge Town

|-

|1994–95||Halstead Town||Clacton Town||Wisbech Town

|-

|1995–96||Halstead Town||Gorleston||Halstead Town

|-

|1996–97||Wroxham||Ely City||Harwich & Parkeston

|-

|1997–98||Wroxham||Ipswich Wanderers||Woodbridge Town

|-

|1998–99||Wroxham||Clacton Town||Sudbury Wanderers

|-

|1999–2000||Histon||Tiptree United||Wroxham

|-

|2000–01||AFC Sudbury||Swaffham Town||Lowestoft Town

|-

|2001–02||AFC Sudbury||Norwich United||Clacton Town

|-

|2002–03||AFC Sudbury||Halstead Town||Wroxham

|-

|2003–04||AFC Sudbury||Cambridge City reserves||Maldon Town

|-

|2004–05||AFC Sudbury||Ipswich Wanderers||Halstead Town

|-

|2005–06||Lowestoft Town||Stanway Rovers||AFC Sudbury

|-

|2006–07||Wroxham||Walsham-le-Willows||Lowestoft Town

|-

|2007–08||Soham Town Rangers||Tiptree United||Needham Market

|-

|2008–09||Lowestoft Town||Newmarket Town||Leiston

|-

|2009–10||Needham Market||Great Yarmouth Town||Needham Market

|-

|2010–11||Leiston ||Gorleston ||Wisbech Town

|-

|2011–12||Wroxham ||Godmanchester Rovers ||Stanway Rovers

|-

|2012–13||Dereham Town||Cambridge University Press||Wisbech Town

|-

|2013–14||Hadleigh United||Whitton United||Newmarket Town

|-

|2014–15||Norwich United||Long Melford||Norwich United

|-

|2015–16||Norwich United||Wivenhoe Town||Mildenhall Town

|-

|2016–17||Mildenhall Town||Stowmarket Town||Mildenhall Town

|-

|2017–18||Coggeshall Town||Woodbridge Town||Brantham Athletic

|}

{| class=wikitable

!Season

!Premier Division

!Division One North

!Division One South

!League Cup

|-

|2018–19||Histon||Swaffham Town||Hashtag United||Long Melford

|-

|2019–20||colspan=4|Season abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic

|-

|2020–21||colspan=4|Season curtailed due to anti-COVID-19 lockdown regulations

|-

|2021–22||Gorleston||Sheringham||Ipswich Wanderers||Not held

|-

|2022–23||Ipswich Wanderers||Heacham||Frenford||Lakenheath

|-

|2023–24||Mildenhall Town||Great Yarmouth Town||Benfleet||Harlow Town

|-

|2024–25

|Brantham Athletic

|Haverhill Rovers

|Harlow Town

|Hackney Wick

|-

|2025–26||Mulbarton Wanderers||Kings Park Rangers||Hutton||Mulbarton Wanderers

|}

Records

Clubs

  • Longest membership: Great Yarmouth Town – 1935 (founder members) to date
  • Most wins in a season
  • Wroxham – 34 in 44 matches in 1996–97
  • Chelmsford City reserves – 16 in 18 matches in 1946–47 (89% victory rate)