Harlow Town F.C.

Harlow Town Football Club is an English football club based in Harlow, Essex. The club is a member of the and plays at The Harlow Arena.

The club is best known for the 1979–80 FA Cup, in which it reached the fourth round, eliminating two Football League sides Southend United and Leicester City before losing to Watford at Vicarage Road.

History

The club was originally formed in 1879, Due to Harlow's facilities at the Sportcentre, the club attracted well-known teams to the area during this period. In July 1966, Harlow Town arranged a friendly match against Uruguay, who were staying nearby in preparation for that summer's FIFA World Cup. Uruguay defeated Harlow 6–1. In 1968, S.L. Benfica reached the European Cup final against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium, and prepared for the final at the Sportcentre; their team included the 1966 World Cup Golden Boot winner Eusébio.

In 1971–72, the club won Division One and was promoted to the Premier Division of the Athenian League. In 1973, the club switched to Division Two of the Isthmian League, renamed Division One in 1977. In 1978–79, they won Division One and were promoted to the Premier Division.

The 1979–80 season saw the club make its best-ever run in the FA Cup. They entered at the preliminary round, beating Lowestoft Town, Hornchurch, Bury Town, Harwich & Parkeston and Margate to reach the first round proper for the first time, where they defeated Leytonstone/Ilford 2–1. In the second round, they drew 1–1 away at Football League side Southend United before winning the replay at the Sportcentre 1–0 in front of 5,000 spectators. The club were then drawn away to Second Division leaders Leicester City. After a 1–1 draw at Filbert Street, Harlow famously won the replay at the Sportcentre 1–0, watched by a club-record attendance of 9,723. In the fourth round Harlow were drawn away to Watford, losing 4–3. In May 2023, the club announced that the problems had been resolved and that they had negotiated a return to the league pyramid for the 2023–24 season, being placed in the Eastern Counties League Division One South.

Harlow Town entered administration on 9 January 2026. The club was deducted ten points for going into administration. They were no longer in administration by 20 April 2026 when the club was purchased by Melody Media and PSM Pension Scheme.

Club officials

{| class="wikitable"

!Role

!Name

|Chairman||

|Director of Football|

|Managers|| John Mackie and Jason Geraghty

|Club Secretary|| Ray Dyer

|President|| Ron Bruce

Managerial history

{| class=wikitable

!Years

!Manager

|1957–1958|| Rick Barrett

|1958–1959|| Dennis Bow

|1959–1964|| Jack Kavanagh

|1964–1966|| Ralph Wetton

|1966–1967|| Ken Driver

|1967–1969|| Bryan Atkinson

|1969–1971|| Brian Somers

|1971–1973|| Roy Thomas

|1973–1974|| Jack Price

|1974–1975|| Gordon Sedgley

|1975–1976|| Len Gamblin

|1976–1982|| Ian Wolstenholme

|1982–1985|| Gwyn Walters

|1985–1994|| Dave Edwards

|1994–1995|| Len Glover

|1995–1997|| Dave Greene

|1997–1999|| Eddie McCluskey

|1999–2002|| Ian Allinson

|2002–2003|| John Kendall

|2003–2006|| Tommy Cunningham

|2006–2008|| Ryan Kirby

|2008–2009|| Glen Alzapiedi

|2009|| Ant Anstead

|2009–2010|| Marvin Samuel

|2010–2011|| Kevin Warren

|2011–2020|| Danny Chapman

|2020|| Mark Holloway

|2020|| Dave Collis

|2020–2026|| Danny Chapman

|2026|| Syrus Gordon (interim)

|2026–

|John Mackie and Jason Geraghty

Recent history

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center

!Season

!Division

!Step

!Position

!FA Cup

!FA Trophy/FA Vase

!League Cup

|2015–16

|Isthmian Division One North

| bgcolor="#ddffdd"|3rd (promoted)

|4th qualifying round

|2nd qualifying round

|First round

|2016–17

|rowspan=3|Isthmian Premier Division

|rowspan=3|3

|10th

|2nd qualifying round

|Second round

|First round

|2017–18

|21st

|3rd qualifying round

|First round

|2018–19

| bgcolor="#ffdddd"|22nd (relegated)

|1st qualifying round

|2nd qualifying round

|First round

|2019–20

|rowspan=2|Isthmian Division One South Central

|rowspan=4|4

|14th

|Preliminary round

|Extra preliminary round

|Group stage

|2020–21

|20th

|1st qualifying round

|2nd qualifying round

|Not held

|2021–22

|rowspan=2|Southern League Division One Central

|7th

|Preliminary round

|3rd qualifying round

|Third round

|2022–23

| bgcolor="#ffdddd"|Withdrew (demoted)

|1st qualifying round

|First Round

|Withdrew

|2023–24

|rowspan=2|Eastern Counties Division One South

|rowspan=2|6

|3rd

|Did not enter

|2nd qualifying round

|bgcolor=Gold|Winners

|2024–25

| bgcolor="#ddffdd"|1st (promoted)

|Did not enter

|2nd qualifying round

|bgcolor=Silver|Runners-up

|2025–26

|Spartan South Midlands Premier Division

|16th

|Preliminary Round

|2nd qualifying round

|2nd Round

Stadium

thumb|right|The Harlow Arena ground

{| class="wikitable"

!Years

!Ground

|1879–1960|| Green Man Playing Fields

|1960–2006|| Harlow Sportcentre

|2006–present||The Harlow Arena

In their long history, Harlow Town have had three home venues. From the club's formation right up until 1960, the club played their home games at the Green Man Playing Fields, with its first competitive game coming against Bishop's Stortford Nonconformist Grammar School. Harlow Town's last game at its original home was against East Ham United on 30 April 1960, with Harlow winning the game 2–1.

For the start of the 1960–61 season, Harlow had moved to a new home on Hammarskjold Road, to the newly built Harlow Sportcentre, the first Sports Centre in England. The Town's first competitive game in their new home was against Epping Town in the London League on 27 August 1960, with the game finishing in a 1–1 draw. The Sportcentre hosted some of Harlow's greatest moments, including the FA Cup giant-killings of Southend United and Leicester City in the 1979–1980 season. Harlow's final full season at the Sportcentre came in 2005–06, with their last scheduled game against Spalding United in the 2006 East Anglian Cup final, but due to delays at the new ground, the final game at the Sportcentre was on 2 September 2006 in an FA Cup preliminary-round match against Saffron Walden Town, the team Harlow faced in their first ever match.

Eventually, Harlow moved to their new home at Barrow's Farm in October 2006, with the opening match at the new ground on 18 October with Harlow defeating Ware 2–0. The official record attendance at the stadium is 2,149, against Macclesfield Town, then of League Two in the FA Cup first round proper on 8 November 2008; Macclesfield won the game 2–0. In the summer of 2013, following investment from the owners, a brand new 3G playing surface was laid to allow regular use of the pitch by the local community without impacting the turf. This coincided with the re-branding of the ground to The Harlow Arena, as a primary venue for Harlow and its residents.

Honours

Isthmian League
Division One Champions: 1978–79
Division One North Play-Off Winners: 2006–07, 2015–16
Division Two North Champions: 1988–89
Athenian League
Division One Champions: 1971–72
Eastern Counties Football League
Division One South Champions: 2024-25
League Cup Winners: 2023–24
Essex Senior Cup
Winners: 1978–79
East Anglian Cup
Winners: 1989–90, 2001–02, 2005–06
London League Cup
Champions: 1959–60
West Essex Border Charity Cup
Winners: 1923–24
Spartan League
Division One Cup Winners: 1952–53
East Herts League
Division One Champions: 1911–12, 1922–23, 1928–29, 1929–30
Challenge Cup Winners: 1929–30, 1930–31, 1931–32
Stansted & District League
Division One Champions: 1923–24, 1924–25, 1927–28, 1928–29
Rolleston Cup
Winners: 1924–25
Epping Hospital Shield
Winners: 1938–39, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49

Records

Record Victory: 14–0 vs Bishop's Stortford, 11 April 1925
Record Defeat: 0–11 vs Ware, 6 March 1948
High-Scoring Draw: 5–5 vs Southall, 1 February 1975
Highest Attendance (Sportcentre): 9,723 vs Leicester City, 8 January 1980
Highest Attendance (Harlow Arena): 2,149 vs Macclesfield Town, 8 November 2008
Highest League finish: 10th in Isthmian Premier Division, 2016–17
Most Appearances: Norman Gladwin (639), 1951–70
Most Goals in a Season: Dick Marshall (64), 1928–29
Most Goals in a Season (Post-War): Alex Read (52), 2013–14
Consecutive League Wins: 12 (19 December 2015 – 13 February 2016)
Consecutive League Defeats: 11 (1 January 1977 – 5 March 1977)
Most Wins in a Season: 31 out of 42 (1978–79)
Most Draws in a Season: 16 out of 42 (1987–88, 2000–01, 2005–06)
Most Defeats in a Season: 29 out of 42 (2009–10)
FA Cup best performance: Fourth round, 1979–80