History & Honours

East Thurrock United Football Club was founded on Sunday 27th April 1969 by a group of devoted football enthusiasts who felt that the expanding area around the Thameside towns of Corringham and Stanford-Le-Hope should have a senior non-league football club.

The foundation for the clubs formation was the very successful Corringham Social Sunday League side, which had enjoyed much local fame in the sixties. An early problem faced by the club was finding a suitable ground, so their first season as members of the Southern Essex Combination, in 1969/70, home matches were played at Corringham Recreation Ground. The manager in that initial season was Brian Payers, a key figure in the formation of the club. He guided the ‘ROCKS’ to third place and the following season they moved up to the intermediate section of the Old Greater London League.

Now playing at the Billet in Stanford-Le-Hope, the ‘ROCKS’ enjoyed much success. In successive seasons the side won Division Two then Division One of the League, prompting an application to the Essex F.A for senior status in order to achieve this the club moved in with nearby Grays Athletic, and it was admitted to the Senior Division Two of the Metropolitan London League. East Thurrock gained its third championship in arrow and won promotion to the Premier Division. However, fortunes then took a turn for the worse, and a ten-year period of struggle began.

During this time various managers came and went, followed by several of the founding fathers. This period also brought ground problems and East Thurrock shared with Tilbury and Grays again to mention a few. Then finally with the help of the F.A., Thurrock Council and brewers Greene King the club acquired some land and built Rookery Hill.

In 1985/86, and for the following two seasons East Thurrock United Finished in a very commendable fifth place in the Essex Senior League but managed to achieve an even more impressive second place in 1988/89 when the team also went onto win the League Cup, it’s first ever Senior trophy. In 1982 the League Cup was back at Rookery Hill and the team reached the final of the Essex Senior cup. In also achieving second place in the league, an application was put in to join the Isthmian League and East Thurrock became members of Division Three for the following season.

After seven up and down seasons in the basement division, United appointed Lee Patterson as their manager for the start of the 1999-2000 campaign. After a slow start, his side went on to take the title and earned promotion to division two. Patterson left during the clubs first season in division two with The Rocks sitting top of the table. Along with him went many of the players after his budget was cut. The club slid down the table still finishing in the top half .

2002/03 saw the forming of division one north and also new owners at Rookery Hill. Patterson returned as manager and fortunes eventually turned. After a poor start to the season the Rocks picked up an impressive 45 points after Christmas and secured some silverware in the form of the East Anglian Cup.