Club Honours |
League: |
Essex Sunday Corinthian Football League |
Division Two: 3rd Place 2008/09 |
Division Three: Joint Runners-Up 2003/04 (Promoted) |
Corinthian Sunday League |
Division Three : 3rd Place 1999/2000 (Promoted) |
Cups Competitions: |
Creative Printers Cup |
Winners 2004 & 2005
|
League Cup |
Bill Nolan Memorial Cup Winners 2009
|
Trophyland Cup Finalists 2010 |
Munday Cup Winners 2011 |
Beiter Cup Finalists 2012 |
West Essex Sunday Charity Cup |
Semi Finalists 2009, 2010 & 2011 |
Sportsmanship Trophy (Joyce Walker Memorial Cup) |
Winners 2008 & 2009 |
All-Time Records |
Record Results : | |
Record Win : | 15 - 0 vs King George (N) 3rd Sep 2000 |
Record League Win : | 15 - 1 vs Larron (H) 12th March 2017 |
Record League Defeat : | 3 - 11 vs Patriots (A) 26th Jan 1997 |
Record Cup Win : | 6 - 1 vs Birkbeck Orient (H) 18th Oct 2009 |
Club Sequences : | |
Longest Winning Streak : | 6 matches (16th Nov 2003 - 4th Jan 2004) |
Longest Unbeaten Run :: |
8 matches (9th Feb 2004 - 5th Sep 2004) |
Consecutive League Wins : |
6 matches (12th Dec 1999 - 19th Mar 2000) |
Longest Losing Run : |
12 matches (24th Nov 1996 - 16th Mar 1997) |
Consecutive Drawn Games : |
2 matches (15th Mar 1998 - 22nd Mar 1998) |
Longest Run Without Drawing : |
36 matches (23rd Aug 2015 - 30th Oct 2016) |
Consecutive Clean Sheets : | 4 matches (21st Feb 2010 - 14th Mar 2010) |
Consecutive Games Scored In : | 32 matches (2nd Oct 2005 - 17th Dec 2006) |
Longest Goalless Run : | 3 matches (18th Jan 1998 - 8th Feb 1998) |
Start of Season Undefeated : | 4 matches (2006 / 2007) |
Start of Season With No Wins: | 9 matches (2006 / 2007) |
League Records : | |
Highest Finish : | 3rd , Division 2 (2008/09) |
Most Clean Sheets In Season : | 5 clean sheets (1999/00) |
Most Goals Scored : | 61 goals (2001/02) |
Fewest Goals Conceded : | 19 goals (2008/09) |
Most League Wins | 12 wins (2003/04) |
Most Draws | 7 draws (2006/07) |
Most Defeats | 14 defeats (1996/97) |
Least Wins | 2 wins (1996/97) |
Least Defeats | 3 defeats (2008/09) |
Highest League Points : | 38 Points (2003/04) |
Player's Records : | (Correct as of end of 2015-16 season) |
Most Appearances : | Olgun Gokdemir - 437 Games |
Most League Appearances : | Olgun Gokdemir - 310 Games |
Most Club Goals : | Olgun Gokdemir- 66 Goals |
Most League Goals For Club : | Olgun Gokdemir - 43 Goals |
Most Assists For Club : | Olgun Gokdemir - 44 Assists |
Highest Scorer In A Season : | Gareth Foot - 27 Goals (1999/00) |
Most Assists In A Season : | Ricky Blanks - 14 Assists (2001/02) |
Most Clean Sheets In A Season : | Stuart Greenhill - 9 Clean Sheets (2008/09) |
Worst Discipline For Club : | Phil Lewis - 25 cautions / 2 dismissals |
Oldest Player : | Ron Creed (8th April 2012 - 48 yrs 8 mths) |
Youngest Player : | Ricardo Braganza (28th Aug 2005 - 16 yrs 2 mths) |
Club Background |
The idea of Esprit Football Club came about in the mid 1990's when a group of school boys, having started higher education were leaving behind their usual weekly kickabout in the local parks of East London. Onur Gokdemir, one of those boys wanted to create a football club so that they could carry on playing the beautiful game with a formality towards it. He set up the club, and with his student loan hired a pitch, purchased a kit, and invested in some equipment.
In the summer of 1996, Esprit F.C. joined the Football Association and replaced the jumpers for real goalposts as they entered a local league and were duly elected into the Sunday Corinthian League.
The first couple of seasons were difficult but enjoyable as Esprit established themselves into the league and started to recover financially. It was a very young side and it was just a matter of gaining experiance. Having survived many relegation battles, once with the last kick of the season, the players gradually improved and the club started to take things a bit more seriously. In 1999, the club debts were cleared so a new club account was opened.
Settled with key players, they finally gained promotion on the last day of the season in 2000 from Division Three by finishing third, their best finish in the Sunday Corinthian League. The following two seasons brought mid table finishes and 2 cup semi-finals. Finally after 7 years in the Sunday Corinthian and some good memories, Esprit decided to move to the more competitive Essex Sunday Corinthian Football League.
It was a dream debut season in 2003, as Esprit gained promotion by finishing joint runners-up from a tough division at the first time of asking, even though the new league represented a higher standard of football. Promotion was quickly followed by their first piece of silverware as the club won the Creative Printers Cup in 2004 which led to a sponsorship deal with the Creative Printers Of London Company. Esprit's 10th season also started promisingly as they retained the Creative Printers Cup in 2005.
The club continued to improve and became more competitive yet still keeping their honest fair play attitude, which paid dividends as the club won back to back Sportsmanship Awards in 2007 and 2008. The icing on the cake however was winning the prestiage League Cup in 2009 at Thurrock FC, the club's first real major honour. The following season, Esprit made another cup final appearance, in the all divisional Trophylands Cup at the same venue and then repeated the feat the year after that, winning the Munday Cup in 2011. Proving to be a successful cup side, Esprit then reached yet another major cup final at Ilford FC to make it four finals in a row! Hopefully this will be the beginning of better things for the purple panthers. Esprit Forever !
Club Details |
Home Ground : | Hainault Recretation Ground, Forest Road, Fairlop, IG6 3HN |
Nearest Tube Station : | Fairlop (central line), Turn left , 10 mins walk |
Team Colours : | Home Kit : Purple shirts and socks, Navy shorts, |
Away Kit : Orange shirts, Navy shorts and socks | |
Club Chairman : | John "Bubble" Diola |
Player Manager : | Onur Gokdemir |
Assistant Manager : | Olgun Gokdemir |
Club Secretary : | Onur Gokdemir |
Club Captain : | Stuart Greenhill |
Club Vice Captain : | Paul Burton |