The Club

Harlow’s first match at the Sportcentre took place on 24th August 1960 when local rivals Bishop’s Stortford provided the opposition for a pre-season friendly. The first competitive game came just three days later when Epping Town were the visitors for a London League match. The match ended 1-1 and the honour of scoring the first competitive goal at the Sportcentre went to goalkeeper Norman Gladwin who launched a drop kick into the opposition’s net.
The official opening of the ground didn’t come until 1st October 1960 when F.A. Secretary Sir Stanley Rous was the visiting dignitary, witnessing a 2-0 wins against Saffron Walden Town in the F A Amateur Cup.
The original ground had a single wooden stand along one side of the pitch which was to be replaced by the current stand during the 1971-72 season. On the 15th March 1972 Tottenham Hotspur sent a side to officially open the stand and the Harlow public responded with a crowd reported as 6,000. The previous season had seen an even bigger crowd turn out to see a West Ham United side, featuring World Cup Final hat-trick hero Geoff Hurst,
win 1-0 in a match to celebrate the switching on of the club’s floodlights.
The first actual match played under the lights was between Harlow Town Reserves and Stansted Reserves in a Waltham Hospital Cup Tie on 5th January 1971. Harlow ran out 3-0 winners in front of a crowd of 177.
Further improvements were made to the facilities in August 1978 when the popular singing duo Peters and Lee opened the newly extended clubhouse.
The club’s finest hour was to come during the 1979-80 season when a fantastic run in the FA Cup saw the club reach the competition proper for the first time in it’s 100 year history. 5,000 fans witnessed a 1-0 win in a second round replay against Southend United, but better was to come as the club held Leicester City at their old Filbert Street ground, setting up a home replay on 8th January 1980. 9,723 crammed into the ground to witness a sensational 1-0 win, when John Mackenzie scored the most important and memorable goal ever to be scored at the Sportcentre.
Unfortunately the ground was neglected as the club started looking at the possibility of moving away from the Sportcentre and in 1992 the club were forced to play their remaining four league fixtures away from home as the league felt that the facilities no longer met the required standard.
The club was due to move into a new ground in Roydon Road. Unfortunately the proposed move fell through, and with a new backer, a large investment was made to bring the facilities back up to standard, which allowed the club to recommence playing in the Isthmian League from the start of the 1993-94 season.
In the last decade a covered standing area was added opposite the main stand but it was always felt that the club could not progress until they had a purpose built football stadium. The dream finally became a reality in October 2006 when the first match was played at Barrows Farm against Ware in a Ryman League Division One North fixture.

The club was originally formed in 1879, playing its first match in October of that year against Saffron Walden Town. It is one of the oldest Clubs in the County of Essex. In those early days the club, just known as Harlow, played friendly matches against local opposition until the formation of East Herts League in 1896. As with most clubs around this time Harlow had their fair share of amalgamations with other local clubs, and was known as Harlow & Burnt Mill before later becoming Harlow Town.

Over the years Harlow, which became a New Town in the early 1950’s, expanded beyond recognition, and the Club grew with the town. The club moved into the Spartan League in 1932 and were granted Senior Status in 1937, competing in the F.A.Cup and Essex Senior Cups for the first time. At this time Harlow had one of the smallest populations for clubs competing at this level, a far cry from today where the population is around 80,000.

After the Second World War, Harlow continued to compete in the Spartan League until moving into the London League in 1953. Six seasons were spent in the London League before a move into the Delphian League. In 1960 the club moved away from its roots in Old Harlow, moving into the Sportcentre ground in the new town, which is currently still the club’s home ground today.

With the reorganisation of the amateur game in the early 1960’s Harlow found themselves playing in the newly formed Athenian League Division Two for the start of the 1963-64 season, winning promotion at the first attempt after finishing in third place. After eight seasons in Division One, Harlow finally won their first senior championship by winning the Athenian League Division One title. The following season saw the club finish fourth in the Premier Division before joining the Isthmian League for the start of the 1973-74 Season.

After joining the Isthmian League Harlow had more than their fair share of ups and downs. Promotion was achieved five times, including lifting the Division One and Division Two (North) titles, whilst the club suffered four relegations and had to sit season 1992-93 out after severe financial problems threatened the club’s very existence. Five seasons were spent in the top flight of the Isthmian League with an 11th place finish in season 1979-80 being the best to date.

The Club made a name for itself in season 1979-80 with a terrific F.A.Cup run, which saw the club progress to the fourth round proper, having started out in the preliminary round. Wins against Lowestoft, Hornchurch, Bury Town, Harwich & Parkeston, Margate, Leytonstone-Ilford, Southend United and finally Leicester City, gave the club a fourth round tie away to Watford. The BBC “Match of the Day” cameras were at Vicarage Road as Harlow eventually bowed out of the competition, although they went down fighting, losing 4-3 to Graham Taylor’s side.

Since that time Harlow have appeared in the Competition proper on three further occasions, the last of which was twelve seasons ago when a depleted side lost 7-0 at Peterborough United.

In recent times the Club have got back on their feet following the problems of the early 1990’s. Having been relegated two divisions by the League for the season that the Club could not compete; the Club worked their way back to where they were before the enforced break. After a few near misses the “Hawks”, as they are now known, won back-to-back promotions from Division Three and Division Two of the Ryman League and after a poor first season back in Division One, managed to establish itself in the Division until the end of the 2003/2004 Season when the re-structuring of the non-league game saw the club switch to the Southern League. The Hawks finished 15th in the Southern League Division 1 East League table in Season 2004/2005 and 9th in Season 2005/2006.

The Hawks haven’t had much success in recent years in the FA Trophy or League Cup Competitions but lifted the prestigious East Anglian Cup in Seasons 1989/90, 2001/02 and in season 2005/2006 when Spalding United were beaten 1-0 in the Final.

Ryan Kirby is the 1st Team Manager having taken over the role before Christmas 2006.

The Club moved last September to a new ground at Barrows Farm, a mile and a half to the west of their old Sportcentre location, and after awaiting clearance from the Ryman League to start playing at the new Stadium played their first senior match in a Division 1 North fixture versus Ware on 18th October. A highly successful first term at Barrows Farm was complete when the Hawks gained promotion to the Premier Division of the Ryman Football League at the end of the season by clinching runners-up spot and then beating AFC Sudbury on penalties in the Division 1 North “Play-off” Final.