Champions Move On After three exceptionally successful seasons, Chadwell Heath left the League to seek challenges elsewhere. Also leaving us at the beginning of the season were R.H.P. Sports who suffered the same fate as E.C.C. Staff did at the beginning of the previous season, in that they were unable to find people to fill the administration positions within the club and were subsequently forced to fold. No new clubs joined the League so the Senior Division was reduced to fourteen clubs and the Reserve Division to Thirteen. Essex & Southend Police changed their name back to Essex Police, their third name change since they joined the League. A name change once again proved to be a lucky thing, as Essex Police won the Senior Division Championship by one point from Runwell Hospital. The Reserve Division Champions were Benfleet with Herongate Athletic finishing as runners-up. The Senior Division Cup went Old Chelmsfordians who beat Burnham Ramblers, while in the Reserve Division Cup, Runwell Hospital overcame Bishops Stortford Swifts. With Chadwell Heath dropping out of the League, the Challenge Cup was fought out between Collier Row Motor Gear, who won the previous seasons Senior Division Cup and were runners-up in the Senior Division, and Burnham Rambler who finished third in the Senior Division. The previous seasons form prevailed and Collier Row Motor Gear were the victors. The Sportsmanship Award went to Dunmow for the second season running, only this time it went to their first team who once again proved that, despite having a poor season, the game can still be played in the right spirit. After eight seasons endeavour, the League finally won a representative match, when they overcame the South Essex Combination League by 3 - 1. Tailpiece
After 26 matches in the Senior Division, three teams still managed to finish with identical League records with their final league positions being decided on goal average. SENIOR DIVISION TABLE
P W D L F A PTS Essex Police 26 20 2 4 66 34 42 Runwell Hospital 26 18 5 3 49 16 41 Benfleet 26 16 3 7 50 25 35 Sawbridgeworth 26 15 4 7 72 42 34 Writtle 26 14 5 7 53 39 33 Ongar Town 26 11 6 9 41 41 28 Burnham Ramblers 26 9 6 11 47 34 24 Bishops Stortford Swifts 26 9 6 11 35 35 24 Old Chelmsfordians 26 9 6 11 39 44 24 Herongate Athletic 26 7 8 11 34 43 22 Collier Row Motor Gear 26 6 9 11 42 41 21 Standard (Harlow) 26 7 7 12 33 46 21 Marconi Athletic 26 3 3 20 22 85 9 Dunmow 26 1 4 21 16 74 6 RESERVE DIVISION TABLE
P W D L F A PTS Benfleet 24 14 6 4 51 23 34 Herongate Athletic 24 14 5 5 47 26 33 Old Chelmsfordians 24 13 7 4 40 25 33 Sawbridgeworth 24 10 8 6 47 39 28 Runwell Hospital 24 10 7 7 35 27 27 Ongar Town 24 8 9 7 40 36 25 Standard (Harlow) 24 10 4 10 52 38 24 Bishops Stortford Swifts 24 10 4 10 47 40 24 Collier Row Motor Gear 24 8 6 10 38 37 22 Burnham Ramblers 24 7 8 9 32 37 22 Writtle 24 4 10 10 33 35 18 Dunmow 24 7 4 13 32 46 18 Marconi Athletic 24 1 2 21 18 103 4 |