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Thurrock Football Club was founded in April 1985 but until the start of 2003-04 season had played under the name of Purfleet Football Club.

At the end of the 2002-03 season the decision was made to change the name of the Club from Purfleet to Thurrock.

The Club want to attract a wider audience and extra sponsorship and believe that by having a name that represents the whole borough will help. The change of name paid dividends as the Club gained its highest ever League placing, by finishing third and thus qualifying for the Nationwide Conference South following the Football Association’s restructuring of the Non-League game.

For the first time in its history the Club reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup when in front of live Sky Television cameras they held Second Division Luton Town to a 1-1 draw at Ship Lane. In the replay they gave a good account of themselves before going down 3-1.

play-offs

Another first for the Club was the winning of the Essex Senior Cup, defeating Aveley 3-1 at Roots Hall to take the converted trophy. Also into the Thurrock trophy cabinet went the Bryco (Isthmian League) Cup in which they defeated Dunstable Town in the Final 5-1.

The following season the Club finished third in the new Conference South and thus qualified for the Play-offs but were defeated by Eastbourne Borough in the Regional Semi-final. For the second consecutive season the club made it through to the First Round proper of the FA Cup and were once again chosen for live television.

This time the BBC were at Ship Lane for Match of the Day Live when League One Oldham Athletic were the visitors. In an undistinguished game a single goal just after half-time saw Oldham to victory.

The Essex Senior Cup was retained, when in the final a 1-0 victory was gained over Halstead Town. In the traditional Champions v League Cup winners the Club defeated Canvey Island 3-2 to take the Isthmian League Charity Shield. The following season the Club finished in 10th place in Nationwide South.

new manager

At the end of the season the Club parted company with its long serving manager Colin McBride and appointed Hakan Hayrettin in his place. Hayrettin had to find a completely new team as most of last season’s squad followed McBride to AFC Hornchurch.

The club struggled for most of the season and did not secure its Conference South status until the last day of the season when a 3-0 win over Sutton United and results elsewhere going their way  gave a final place of 18th.