Formed in 2009, Chingford Harriers FC began as a crazy idea amongst a close group of friends in late 2008, by the time the 2009/10 season rolled around that dream had become a reality. Following some low key friendlies, the club was officially born on September 19th 2009 as the club made it's competitive debut in the Ilford and District Football League Division 2. An over-cast Saturday afternoon saw the Harriers travel to Bethnal Green Celtics on the opening day of the season; with a bare bones squad and the manager in foreign climbs, the Blues recorded a 4-0 victory and the club has not looked back since.

 

The Harriers debut season saw the club immediately claim promotion to Division 1, finishing as League 2 Runners-Up to Castle United Reserves despite ending a strong campaign with a final day slip up as they drew 2-2 with Melbourne Reserves. The Blues also made an impact in the divisional cup in their first season, making it to the St Mary's Cup Final where they endured a heartbreaking extra time defeat, going down 2-1 to RYPSA. The club built a strong reputation amongst it's fellow clubs and through out the league in it's first season, this was enhanced as Manager Trevor Diner scooped the Secretary of the Year award for 2009/10.

 

Following a less than ideal pre-season, the Harriers started life in Division 1 in the best possible way as they romped to the top of the league with 5 back to back wins. The Blues also made their debut in the IDFL Fenton Cup where they met Premier League high flyers Supreme Athletic. With the score 3-3 in exra time and the game just seconds from penalties a late strike dumped the Harriers out of the competition despite one of their best performances to date. After the club's fantastic start to the season, in-different form and a number of key injuries eventually saw the Blues end the season in 5th place in the league. There was also the distraction of yet another divisional cup run, this time the Harriers met league rivals FC Golazo in the Spartak Cup Final at Cricklefield Stadium in Ilford. After finding chances hard to come by in the first half, the Harriers dominated the second period with only the post (twice!) and the Golazo goal keeper keeping the score at 0-0. However with the game 87 minutes old the Harriers again suffered cup heartache, a late break away goal was enough to end the Blues dreams of silverware for another season with the game ending 1-0.

 

The Blues are now going through the process of preparing for the 2011/12 season, everyone at the club is looking forward to what will undoubtedly be another tough and exciting season in Division 1. The club are desperately hoping to push on in 2011/12 with the lessons from the last two seasons well learned, we all hope the coming season will see the Harriers heavily involved in a promotion battle, and finally after several near misses, bring home some silverware!

We would also like to say a massive thank you to Chris Zetter who put his time and skills into setting up the website (lauch date 27/09/2009) for our football team. We would also like to thank anyone who has done anything to support the team over the course of it's short history.