Founder Members Depart The season started with the departure of two of the founder member clubs, Brentwood Athletic, formerly Manor Athletic, and Bowers United. Both clubs moved upwards into the Essex Senior League. For less pleasant reasons, the league also lost E.C.C. Staff. The club unfortunately folded as it was unable to find anybody to replace retiring club officials. Joining the league as replacements for two of the above, were Standard (Harlow) and R.H.P. Sports. Both of these clubs entered teams in both the Senior and Reserve Divisions, and with Sawbridgeworth once again entering a reserve side, whilst the Senior Division had a nett loss of one team, the Reserve Division maintained it previous total of fifteen teams. The season proved to be another successful one for Chadwell Heath who, for the third season running, ended up as Senior Division Champions. Runners-up in this division were Collier Row Motor Gear. In the Senior Division Cup the positions were reversed, with Collier Row Motor Gear beating Chadwell Heath in the final. Old Chelmsfordians won the Reserve Division, with last seasons champions Runwell Hospital finishing in second place just two points behind and with an almost identical league record and goal average. For the third time in four seasons Herongate Athletic won the Reserve Division Cup, this time overcoming Chadwell Heath in the final. As in two of the previous four seasons, the Challenge Cup was shared, with the Chadwell Heath and Benfleet match ending up as a draw. Despite once again finishing near the bottom of the Reserve Division, Dunmow Reserves won the Sportsmanship Award. Once again the League played a representative match against the Southend Borough Combination League, but the result was a 3 - 1 defeat. Tailpiece
In winning the Senior Division title, Chadwell Heath recorded a higher percentage of wins against matches played, than any other club had managed in previous seasons and a record that was not beaten until the 1981/82 season. Their winning margin of eleven points was also a record which stood until the 1979/80 season. SENIOR DIVISION TABLE
P W D L F A PTS Chadwell Heath 30 26 1 3 98 24 53 Collier Row Motor Gear 30 20 2 8 68 42 42 Burnham Ramblers 30 17 6 7 62 35 40 Dunmow 30 16 5 9 52 44 37 Runwell Hospital 30 13 9 8 63 45 35 Ongar Town 30 15 4 11 50 37 34 Herongate Athletic 30 10 9 11 40 41 29 Sawbridgeworth 30 10 8 12 53 54 28 Old Chelmsfordians 30 10 8 12 40 43 28 Essex & Southend Police 30 9 9 12 53 59 27 Standard (Harlow) 30 11 4 15 57 53 26 Writtle 30 11 4 15 44 64 26 Bishops Stortford Swifts 30 9 5 16 49 68 23 Benfleet 30 7 6 17 34 55 20 Marconi Athletic 30 7 4 19 37 80 18 R.H.P. Sports 30 5 4 21 44 100 14 RESERVE DIVISION TABLE
P W D L F A PTS Old Chelmsfordians 28 20 3 5 73 28 43 Runwell Hospital 28 19 3 6 73 26 41 Writtle 28 17 6 5 48 22 40 Herongate Athletic 28 18 3 7 57 30 39 Ongar Town 28 18 2 8 62 41 38 Sawbridgeworth 28 15 3 10 53 40 33 Bishops Stortford Swifts 28 13 5 10 48 27 31 Chadwell Heath 28 13 4 11 65 53 30 Collier Row Motor Gear 28 11 5 12 46 45 27 Burnham Ramblers 28 8 5 15 44 51 21 Benfleet 28 8 4 16 36 58 20 Standard (Harlow) 28 8 3 17 35 77 19 R.H.P. Sports 28 5 5 18 37 77 15 Dunmow 28 5 4 19 30 68 14 Marconi Athletic 28 3 3 22 27 91 9 |