Canvey Island FC
Park Lane
Canvey Island
Essex
SS8 7PX
Official Website
Ground: 124
Date: Saturday 13th November 2021
Canvey Island 6-0 Yaxley
FA Trophy 1st Round
Attendance: 452 (official)
Canvey Island - History
Canvey Island were founded in 1926 and initially played in local leagues such as the Southend & District League and Thurrock Combination League before joining the Parthenon League in 1957. After finishing bottom in their first season, their fortunes improved and they finished as runners-up in the 1959/60 season.
In 1963, the club transferred to Division 1 of the London League, which became the Greater London League a year later. After winning both Division 1 and the League Cup in the 1967/68 and 1968/69 seasons, the Greater London League merged with the Metropolitan League and the club were placed in the newly-formed Division 1 of the Metropolitan-London League. In 1975, this league merged with the Spartan League, but the club instead decided to join the Essex Senior League.
The club remained in this league for almost twenty years, first finishing as runners-up in the 1978/79 season before winning the title for the first time in the 1986/87 season. The title was won again in the 1992/93 season and the club moved up to Division 3 of the Isthmian League two seasons later. At this point, progress up the pyramid was quick as the club finished as Division 3 runners-up to earn an immediate promotion to Division 2 and then winning the title at the first attempt to earn promotion to Division 1.
The club finished third-from-bottom in their first season in Division 1 and were relegated straight back to Division 2, but they won the title at the first attempt again to immediately return to Division 1. The 1998/99 season saw the club win the Division 1 title at the first attempt to earn promotion to the Premier Division for the first time.
After finishing 5th in their first season at this level, the club finished as runners-up for three seasons running before finally winning the title in the 2003/04 season and earning promotion to the Conference National in the process. The club spent two seasons at this level before taking voluntary demotion to the Isthmian League Division 1 North for the 2006/07 season. In the 2007/08 season, the club finished 5th and won promotion to the Premier Division through the play-offs, beating AFC Sudbury in the semi-finals and then Redbridge in the final.
The club spent a decade back in the Premier Division, recording a highest finish of 6th in the 2010/11 season before being relegated back to Division 1 North at the end of the 2016/17 season. They came close to bouncing straight back up in the 2017/18 season, but they lost to Haringey Borough in the play-off final after beating Bowers & Pitsea in the semi-finals. The club have remained in Division 1 North ever since.
The club's best FA Cup run came in the 2001/02 season when they reached the 3rd Round, beating Somersett Ambury V & E, Halesowen Town, Stafford Rangers, Wigan Athletic and Northampton Town before losing to Burnley. They also made it to the 2nd Round last season and in the 2000/01 season, and they have also reached the 1st Round on three other occasions.
The club won the FA Trophy in the 2000/01 season, beating Harlow Town, Northwood, Bilston Town, Stevenage Borough, Telford United and Chester City before beating Forest Green Rovers 1-0 in the final. They were also losing finalists in the 2003/04 season, losing 2-3 to Hednesford Town. As for the FA Vase, the club reached the semi-finals in the 1992/93 season, beating Peterborough City, Wroxham, Sudbury Town, King's Lynn, Harefield United, Clevedon Town and Bilston Town before losing 1-2 to Tiverton Town over two legs.
My Visit
After Yaxley's surprise but well-deserved victory over Lowestoft Town in the previous round of the FA Trophy, I was intrigued to see what the draw for the 1st Round would give us, not least because getting that far put us one round away from when the National League North and South teams (most notably Chester, Darlington, Hereford and York City) enter the competition.
As such, I was hoping for a draw that would give us the best possible chance of progressing and getting one of those ties.
On the Monday after the Lowestoft match, I eagerly awaited the draw to be announced and checked in on it as I was having lunch and saw that we had been drawn away at Canvey Island, rather than being drawn against one of the northern teams as I was expecting. After the draw released, the first thing I did was have a quick look at how Canvey were faring in their league, becoming slightly concerned about our chances upon seeing that they were both top and unbeaten in the league.
After that, it was then just a matter of waiting for confirmation that we would be putting a coach on again, as I was expecting to be the case. While I waited to hear anything on that front, I spent last Friday to Sunday down in Gravesend seeing some friends from University. I'd initially hoped to get a match in at Punjab United while I was down there, but I ultimately opted against doing so to stay with my friends instead; the football's not going anywhere, so I'm sure another chance to get there will arise in time.
In any event, confirmation of the coach came through on Sunday morning and I got myself a seat booked immediately. After that, there was little else to do but wait for the week to progress and keep an eye on the weather just to be safe. I did my usual pre-match research on Friday morning and got the club's history written up for the blog. Then, yesterday morning I woke up at around 8:30am and got my bag packed after having breakfast and getting dressed.
We left the house just before 10:30am and I was dropped off at our ground a few minutes later to get on the coach. The coach was busier than I've ever seen it be (including a fair few unfamiliar faces) and we left the ground at around 10:50am. I spent the journey there playing Pokemon Shield on my Switch and that made the time go by very quickly.
Just over two hours later, we arrived at the ground and got off the coach. Before going into the boardroom, I spent 15-20 minutes doing my circuit of photos around the empty ground before heading into the boardroom for a cup of tea and some biscuits. I then remained in here with our other club officials until around ten minutes before kick-off, at which point I headed out and found a seat in the stand with some of our other supporters.
At half-time, I headed back into a much-busier boardroom for another cup of tea, some sausage rolls and a couple more biscuits, before heading back outside shortly after the second half got underway. For the second half, we moved to some seats at the other end of the stand.
Even before knowing just how many players we had missing for this fixture, I had less hope of getting something out of this match than I did our match against Lowestoft in the previous round: no matter the level, playing a team in such good form is a very different prospect to playing against a struggling, out-of-form team.
Canvey Island took an early lead in this tie, Matthew Price scoring from the penalty spot in the 7th minute. Four minutes later, they doubled their lead as Conor Huble received the ball on the edge of the box and calmly placed a shot beyond Aaron Butcher in the Yaxley goal. After this, Canvey Island continued to dominate, playing the ball at pace both on the ground and in the air, and it felt like they would score every time they got forward.
The third goal came in the 22nd minute when Price was left unmarked inside the box for a free header. Thirteen minutes later, Canvey Island scored their fourth as Evans Kouassi finished off a rapid counter-attacking move. At the other end, Yaxley’s only shot in the first half was a hopeful effort from John-Paul Duncliffe from outside the box.
In the second half, Canvey Island eased off somewhat but still remained firmly in control, though Yaxley were able to carve out a few half chances here and there: these primarily stemmed from the hard work of winger Lewis Baughan, although keeper Bobby Mason was rarely troubled. The home side eventually added a fifth in the 74th minute when Harrison Chatting converted from close range. The sixth and final goal came seven minutes later as Callum Fitzer held the ball up inside the box before turning and shooting past Butcher.
Date: Saturday 13th November 2021
Canvey Island 6-0 Yaxley
FA Trophy 1st Round
Attendance: 452 (official)
Canvey Island - History
Canvey Island were founded in 1926 and initially played in local leagues such as the Southend & District League and Thurrock Combination League before joining the Parthenon League in 1957. After finishing bottom in their first season, their fortunes improved and they finished as runners-up in the 1959/60 season.
In 1963, the club transferred to Division 1 of the London League, which became the Greater London League a year later. After winning both Division 1 and the League Cup in the 1967/68 and 1968/69 seasons, the Greater London League merged with the Metropolitan League and the club were placed in the newly-formed Division 1 of the Metropolitan-London League. In 1975, this league merged with the Spartan League, but the club instead decided to join the Essex Senior League.
The club remained in this league for almost twenty years, first finishing as runners-up in the 1978/79 season before winning the title for the first time in the 1986/87 season. The title was won again in the 1992/93 season and the club moved up to Division 3 of the Isthmian League two seasons later. At this point, progress up the pyramid was quick as the club finished as Division 3 runners-up to earn an immediate promotion to Division 2 and then winning the title at the first attempt to earn promotion to Division 1.
The club finished third-from-bottom in their first season in Division 1 and were relegated straight back to Division 2, but they won the title at the first attempt again to immediately return to Division 1. The 1998/99 season saw the club win the Division 1 title at the first attempt to earn promotion to the Premier Division for the first time.
After finishing 5th in their first season at this level, the club finished as runners-up for three seasons running before finally winning the title in the 2003/04 season and earning promotion to the Conference National in the process. The club spent two seasons at this level before taking voluntary demotion to the Isthmian League Division 1 North for the 2006/07 season. In the 2007/08 season, the club finished 5th and won promotion to the Premier Division through the play-offs, beating AFC Sudbury in the semi-finals and then Redbridge in the final.
The club spent a decade back in the Premier Division, recording a highest finish of 6th in the 2010/11 season before being relegated back to Division 1 North at the end of the 2016/17 season. They came close to bouncing straight back up in the 2017/18 season, but they lost to Haringey Borough in the play-off final after beating Bowers & Pitsea in the semi-finals. The club have remained in Division 1 North ever since.
The club's best FA Cup run came in the 2001/02 season when they reached the 3rd Round, beating Somersett Ambury V & E, Halesowen Town, Stafford Rangers, Wigan Athletic and Northampton Town before losing to Burnley. They also made it to the 2nd Round last season and in the 2000/01 season, and they have also reached the 1st Round on three other occasions.
The club won the FA Trophy in the 2000/01 season, beating Harlow Town, Northwood, Bilston Town, Stevenage Borough, Telford United and Chester City before beating Forest Green Rovers 1-0 in the final. They were also losing finalists in the 2003/04 season, losing 2-3 to Hednesford Town. As for the FA Vase, the club reached the semi-finals in the 1992/93 season, beating Peterborough City, Wroxham, Sudbury Town, King's Lynn, Harefield United, Clevedon Town and Bilston Town before losing 1-2 to Tiverton Town over two legs.
My Visit
After Yaxley's surprise but well-deserved victory over Lowestoft Town in the previous round of the FA Trophy, I was intrigued to see what the draw for the 1st Round would give us, not least because getting that far put us one round away from when the National League North and South teams (most notably Chester, Darlington, Hereford and York City) enter the competition.
As such, I was hoping for a draw that would give us the best possible chance of progressing and getting one of those ties.
On the Monday after the Lowestoft match, I eagerly awaited the draw to be announced and checked in on it as I was having lunch and saw that we had been drawn away at Canvey Island, rather than being drawn against one of the northern teams as I was expecting. After the draw released, the first thing I did was have a quick look at how Canvey were faring in their league, becoming slightly concerned about our chances upon seeing that they were both top and unbeaten in the league.
After that, it was then just a matter of waiting for confirmation that we would be putting a coach on again, as I was expecting to be the case. While I waited to hear anything on that front, I spent last Friday to Sunday down in Gravesend seeing some friends from University. I'd initially hoped to get a match in at Punjab United while I was down there, but I ultimately opted against doing so to stay with my friends instead; the football's not going anywhere, so I'm sure another chance to get there will arise in time.
In any event, confirmation of the coach came through on Sunday morning and I got myself a seat booked immediately. After that, there was little else to do but wait for the week to progress and keep an eye on the weather just to be safe. I did my usual pre-match research on Friday morning and got the club's history written up for the blog. Then, yesterday morning I woke up at around 8:30am and got my bag packed after having breakfast and getting dressed.
We left the house just before 10:30am and I was dropped off at our ground a few minutes later to get on the coach. The coach was busier than I've ever seen it be (including a fair few unfamiliar faces) and we left the ground at around 10:50am. I spent the journey there playing Pokemon Shield on my Switch and that made the time go by very quickly.
Just over two hours later, we arrived at the ground and got off the coach. Before going into the boardroom, I spent 15-20 minutes doing my circuit of photos around the empty ground before heading into the boardroom for a cup of tea and some biscuits. I then remained in here with our other club officials until around ten minutes before kick-off, at which point I headed out and found a seat in the stand with some of our other supporters.
At half-time, I headed back into a much-busier boardroom for another cup of tea, some sausage rolls and a couple more biscuits, before heading back outside shortly after the second half got underway. For the second half, we moved to some seats at the other end of the stand.
Even before knowing just how many players we had missing for this fixture, I had less hope of getting something out of this match than I did our match against Lowestoft in the previous round: no matter the level, playing a team in such good form is a very different prospect to playing against a struggling, out-of-form team.
Canvey Island took an early lead in this tie, Matthew Price scoring from the penalty spot in the 7th minute. Four minutes later, they doubled their lead as Conor Huble received the ball on the edge of the box and calmly placed a shot beyond Aaron Butcher in the Yaxley goal. After this, Canvey Island continued to dominate, playing the ball at pace both on the ground and in the air, and it felt like they would score every time they got forward.
The third goal came in the 22nd minute when Price was left unmarked inside the box for a free header. Thirteen minutes later, Canvey Island scored their fourth as Evans Kouassi finished off a rapid counter-attacking move. At the other end, Yaxley’s only shot in the first half was a hopeful effort from John-Paul Duncliffe from outside the box.
In the second half, Canvey Island eased off somewhat but still remained firmly in control, though Yaxley were able to carve out a few half chances here and there: these primarily stemmed from the hard work of winger Lewis Baughan, although keeper Bobby Mason was rarely troubled. The home side eventually added a fifth in the 74th minute when Harrison Chatting converted from close range. The sixth and final goal came seven minutes later as Callum Fitzer held the ball up inside the box before turning and shooting past Butcher.
To put things simply, I have to give credit where it is undoubtedly due: Canvey Island were far too good for us (depleted squad or not, I think they'd have beaten us) and dominated from start to finish. I was impressed with their pace across the park and their flexibility in approach: they were more than happy to alternate between playing a quick passing game on the floor and punting the ball forwards depending on the situation, and we simply could not handle it. They are comfortably the best side I've seen us play this season and I will be very surprised if they aren't promoted to Step 3 at the end of the season. For us, this was a disappointing end to our cup run, but we can be proud of having got this far and can now focus on our battle to stay up in the league.
After the full-time whistle blew, we headed back into the boardroom for one last cup of tea and some more biscuits, before heading into the spacious bar as we waited to leave. Eventually, we left the ground not long after 6pm and it was much quieter on the coach than it was after the Lowestoft victory. Having brought my laptop with me, I spent some time sorting out my photos and getting my match report written up before going back to Pokemon Shield again.
On the way, we stopped at some services again somewhere near Bishop's Stortford, and I got off to go to the toilet and pick up a small snack meal from KFC to tide me over until I got home. In the end, we got back to the Yaxley ground just before 9pm and I was back in the house ten minutes later, getting in a quick shower before relaxing for the rest of the evening.
Next week will be my first neutral groundhop in around a month, as I'll be heading to Whittlesey Athletic (my nearest unvisited ground in the top ten levels of English football) for their big FA Vase 2nd Round match against Worcester City. Beyond that, I've got two more Yaxley away matches planned before the New Year (our December visits to Spalding United and Stamford) and I think I'll try to fit in another neutral groundhop on the 18th of December: that'll either take me to Blackstones, Boston Town or somewhere in London, depending what my budget allows for after Christmas shopping is sorted.
The Ground
Park Lane is a characterful ground with some form of football furniture on all four sides and with everything in the club's blue and yellow colours. The ground's most impressive feature is the extensive uncovered terracing behind the near goal: this extends the full length of the pitch and provides great elevated views of both the pitch and the nearby Thames Estuary. There is also a small amount of uncovered terracing behind the far goal in two separate areas (one consisting of two steps and the other consisting of three).
The only seated cover at the ground is a long, shallow stand on the near side that extends most of the length of the pitch. This contains 500 seats and views are decent, though people walking in front of the stand to get to the nearby tea bar for food and drink means that your view is regularly obscured if you sit in there. Directly across from this is two small areas of covered standing, one on each side of the dugouts.
The ground is more than good enough for Step 4 and would probably be good enough for Step 2 should the club ever climb above Step 3 again. The official capacity is 4,100 and the record attendance at the ground was 3,553 for an Isthmian League match against Aldershot Town in the 2002/03 season. The ground is also currently shared by Step 6 side Benfleet.
Photos
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