Buckhurst Hill

Buckhurst Hill sits on the edge of Epping Forest in Essex, and that is exactly where this club began. Richard Brand and Alfie Sacre set it up in 1985 to give local children somewhere to play, and it took nearly two decades before a senior side followed, entering the Hertfordshire Senior County League in 2004.

The rise since has been steady rather than sudden. A move to the Essex Olympian League in 2008 was followed a decade later by back-to-back title wins — Division One in 2017–18, then the Premier Division in 2018–19 and again in 2020–21, the latter decided on points-per-game after the pandemic cut the season short. Admission to the Eastern Counties League in 2021 brought a first FA Cup entry within two years, and by 2025–26 the Stags were winning a play-off final against Barking to reach the Isthmian League North Division.

Roding Lane has grown alongside the team rather than ahead of it: planning permission granted in 2020 added a 100-seat stand and standing space to a ground that had made do with a single small metal stand. Games there against Woodford Town carry their own name, the Roding Valley Derby, and their own edge.

What the club points to more readily than any of its recent trophies is who has come through its youth ranks. Joe Lumley went on to play for QPR, and George Moncur made the same journey to Luton Town — proof, as far as Buckhurst Hill is concerned, that the academy Brand and Sacre started in 1985 was never just about keeping children busy on a Saturday morning.

Roding Lane holds 500.