Champions at Last After finishing as runners-up in two of the previous three seasons, Chadwell Heath at last won the Senior Division title finishing just two points ahead of Benfleet who had joined the League at the beginning of the Season. It proved to be a good season for the new clubs who joined the League as, not only did Benfleet finish as runners up in the Senior Division, but they went one better in the Reserve Division and ended as champions, five points clear of Brentwood Athletic. The other new team Runwell Hospital, also made an impression when they carried off the Senior Division Cup by beating Writtle in the final, and were runners-up to Herongate Athletic who won the Reserve Division Cup final for the second year in succession. With the Essex Senior League forming a Reserve Division, Billericay Town finally left us completely, and British Mathews also resigned from the League. With two new clubs joining and both entering teams into the Reserve Division, the league were able to increase the Senior Division to seventeen teams whilst maintaining the Reserve Division at sixteen teams. Once again the Challenge Cup match ended in a draw, so the trophy was jointly held by Chadwell Heath and Sawbridgeworth. The League also instigated the Sportsmanship Award, which was based on the sportsmanship marks awarded to teams by referees. The inaugural winners of this new trophy were Old Chelmsfordians Senior XI. The representative team had new opponents this season when they played the Southend Borough Combination League. The match finished in a 2 - 2 draw. Tailpiece
This seasons oddity comes from the Reserve Division, where Dunmow managed to go a whole season without one single draw, while Sawbridgeworth drew over a third of their matches. SENIOR DIVISION TABLE
P W D L F A PTS Chadwell Heath 32 22 6 4 82 36 50 Benfleet 32 22 4 6 85 39 48 Sawbridgeworth 32 21 4 7 81 43 46 Runwell Hospital 32 18 5 9 66 35 41 E.C.C. Staff 32 17 5 10 71 44 39 Old Chelmsfordians 32 15 9 8 59 48 39 Writtle 32 15 7 10 58 52 37 Bowers United 32 14 7 11 60 49 35 Burnham Ramblers 32 14 7 11 64 63 35 Collier Row 32 16 3 13 52 49 35 Herongate Athletic 32 14 5 13 63 54 33 Brentwood Athletic 32 13 4 15 50 55 30 Essex & Southend Police 32 9 2 21 54 92 20 Marconi Athletic 32 6 7 19 36 79 19 Ongar Town 32 4 7 21 40 69 15 Bishops Stortford Swifts 32 6 1 25 46 85 13 Dunmow 32 3 3 26 43 118 9 RESERVE DIVISION TABLE
P W D L F A PTS Benfleet 30 22 6 2 76 25 50 Brentwood Athletic 30 20 5 5 87 37 45 Bowers United 30 19 7 4 74 44 45 Bishops Stortford Swifts 30 18 4 8 78 56 40 Old Chelmsfordians 30 17 5 8 62 40 39 Herongate Athletic 30 15 7 8 69 39 37 Chadwell Heath 30 13 8 9 67 42 34 Ongar Town 30 12 8 10 66 53 32 Runwell Hospital 30 10 8 12 65 66 28 Writtle 30 10 6 14 56 52 26 Collier Row 30 11 4 15 49 55 26 Marconi Athletic 30 7 9 14 46 76 23 Sawbridgeworth 30 5 11 14 34 57 21 Burnham Ramblers 30 6 6 18 48 76 18 E.C.C. Staff 30 3 4 23 26 92 10 Dunmow 30 3 0 27 30 123 6 |