Wormley Rovers FC vs. Haringey Borough FC

Welcome to our opponents

Few senior clubs can have such a convoluted background as Haringey Borough. A club first took the field under that name 55 years ago when Wood Green Town, which had played at Coles Park in the Spartan League from 1930 until, at the end of season 1966/67, finishing bottom of the table and was not re-elected and so became an intermediate Club playing in the long gone Northern Suburban League, name changed to Haringey Borough in 1970. Admission to Reserve Division 2 of the Greater London League was granted and following a merger with the Metropolitan League a year later that led to a year in the Metropolitan – London League.

But Haringey Borough’s roots actually go back to 1907 when Tufnell Park FC was created and joined Division One of the London League, switching to the Spartan League in 1909/10 before becoming founder members of the Athenian League in 1912, winning it in1913/14. The reserve team broke away in 1911 to play as Tufnell Spartans and name changes to Wood Green in 1920 and Wood Green Town in 1930 followed. With Tufnell Park FC having established itself as one of the top amateur sides in the South, after the Great War an invitation to join the Isthmian League was accepted in 1919/20 and the FA Amateur Cup Final was reached in that same season but Dulwich Hamlet triumphed by the only goal. It was a slow mostly downhill trajectory after that and having finished bottom of the Isthmian League for four consecutive seasons re-election at the end of end of 1951/52 was not forthcoming. For the last two seasons the club had played under the name of Tufnell Park (Edmonton) having merged in 1950 with Edmonton Borough, a short-lived London League Club formed in 1947. After then rejoining the Spartan League and playing under that name for two seasons a switch to the Delphian League was made in 1954 and, having dropped the Tufnell Park part of the name to become Edmonton FC, the Club stayed in that League until becoming Athenians again when that League absorbed the Delphians in 1964. Having lost its Barrass Stadium Ground it merged with Haringey Borough (i.e. Wood Green Town until 1970) in 1973, and the name was changed to Edmonton & Haringey FC and the merged club played at Coles Park under that name for three seasons before becoming Haringey Borough again in 1976/77. Athenian League membership continued until, following its demise in 1983, the club was accepted back into the Isthmian League spending four seasons in Division 2 North until it was unable to field a team in 1988/89 because of the mass departure of management and players shortly before the start of that season. After a year out of senior football the club was admitted to the Spartan League Premier Division for 1989/90. One further name change occurred as the Club reverted to its original name of Tufnell Park in 1995 only to change back to Haringey Borough after just one season.

Membership of the Spartan League continued in its Premier Division until its merger in 1997/98 with the South Midlands League and then in the Premier Division of the Spartan South Midlands League until being relegated to Division One after finishing bottom in 2006/07. Having bounced straight back to the Premier Division as runners up and Divisional Cup winners in the following season, Premier Division status was maintained until ended by an FA sideways move into the Essex Senior League for season 2013/14 in which a 2nd placed finished was followed by the Championship in 2014/15 thus earning promotion to Step 4 and being allocated to the Isthmian League by the FA. The club remained Isthmians until this season when relegation to Step 5 was the result of finishing 19th out of 22 in the North Division and allocation back to the Spartan South Midlands League was the FA’s decision. Success attended this third spell in the Isthmian League after a worrying start to season 2015/16 which seemed to suggest relegation might be the outcome but much improvement as that season wore on secured mid table safety. Then began the Club’s glory years as a semi-final defeat in the 2016/17 play offs was followed by promotion to the Premier Division as play off winners in the following season. In 2018/19 we came within touching distance of becoming a National League Club but having finished 3rd in our first season a defeat in the play off semi final denied us that honour. Covid caused the abandonment of the following two seasons and after that it was downhill all the way culminating in relegation into the North Division in 2023/24 followed by a second relegation last season.
During its 118 years of existence the Club has repeatedly faced crises, both on and off the field and financially. That it has survived is testament to the passionate devotion and perseverance (and the wallets) of so many wonderful people who were determined it should do so. Two in particular must be mentioned. The current Manager Tom Loizou who was appointed in March 2009 when we were a struggling Spartan South Midlands team in danger of relegation again, and has since led us to the very brink of National League status. The other is Aki Achillea, Chairman since 2004, after ten years or so as a committee member without whose boundless enthusiasm for the club, legal expertise – he is a Solicitor – and his cheque book we would probably not have successfully negotiated some very choppy waters. Three of his decisions in particular have changed us from the poorly supported, little known club we then were to the vibrant family oriented club we now are, attracting gates of several hundreds and with a solid core of committed supporters for whom no journey to an away match is too daunting. Firstly in 2012 he replaced the rather decrepit club house with the superb replacement we now have. Secondly, In the summer of 2016 he converted the pitch to 3G. Thirdly, for2016/17 he introduced his “Free Season Ticket” offer which was eagerly taken up and still continues this season hence the aforementioned attendance increase, Relegation was a bitter disappointment but it will not derail the upward momentum of the Club under the stewardship of Tom and Aki, backed as they are by such a sizeable band of dedicated helpers. Of course, a football Club is more than just its First Team and we have three others. Our very successful Women’s Team was formed in 1999 and has already won the Championship of the Eastern Region Women’s League as a Premier Division member, also the League Cup and League Plate knock-out competitions, and two seasons ago was runner up in the Capital Women’s Senior Cup. A Men’s Reserve team to play in the Isthmian Development League was formed in 2017 becoming North Division Champions in 2021/22 and, after another season, at the end of which the Isthmian Development Section was discontinued, admission to the top Division of the Essex Alliance was granted with a third place finish being attained last season. An Under 18 team was entered into the Southern Counties Floodlit Youth League in 2003 and won a Divisional Championship and a League Cup before withdrawing in 2010 and then after rejoining for 2016/17 promptly won a Divisional Championship for a third time