Club History
29 May 2011

The club was previously part of our rivals "Basildon United" whose ground adjoins ours, but in 2004 a small contingent of players plus Robert Gower and Paul Clark left and formed Basildon Town Ladies FC as a part of the men�s club.

Basildon Town FC is the oldest football club in Basildon, having been formed in 1946, thus in 2006 it celebrated its 60th Birthday.

For the 2004-05 Season we operated a single Ladies team that despite some good performances, finished second from bottom of the 2nd division.

In the next season the Ladies side (2005�06) after a very good start when we topped the League and were initially never out of the top 3 positions, a difficult run of results after Christmas saw us fall to 5th a position we ended up occupying at the seasons end. We also established an Under 15�s side that played friendly�s throughout the season.

For the season 2006-07 we again operated a single Ladies team plus the Under 15�s. The Ladies team played in the 2nd Division of the Essex County Women�s League and the Under 15�s played a season of friendly�s.

Season 2007 - 08 was a season that initially was one of major upheaval, but which proved a catalyst to move the club forward. Shortly after the season began, Director of Football, Paul Clark, decided to leave the club to persue other interests. As a result, Alain Job, who had been helping out in a coaching role, became 1st team coach, and in Christmas 2007, he was joined by another coach Alan Richards.

The transformation was spectacular. From the 1st January until the end of the season, the first team played eight league matches, winning five and drawing two. The last game of the season saw the 1st team at home to Hannikins who boasted a 100% league record. In front of a heathy crowd, the match finished 0 - 0 and as a result, the 1st team finished the season as runners-up and with it gained promotion to division one.

Season 2007 - 08 also saw the establishment of a reserve team that was placed in the Essex County League Division 3. At times, it was a very tough season, but the reserve team persevered and finished the season strongly, ending the season with three wins and ten points.

At the end of the 2007 - 08 season, Alain Job decided to stand down as 1st team coach, and Alan Richards stepped up as his replacement. Realising that life in division one would be a lot harder than life in division two, a decision was made to make a substantial investment in training facilities and equipment. The club decided to move away from the school sports hall where winter training had previously been carried out, and into a brand new 3G astrotuf facility which boasts a full size football pitch and goals. The club felt that in order to attract and keep players of the quality that were required to move the club forward, the club needed to train on such excellent facilities.

The objective of season 2008 - 09 was simple. Stay in division one and to continue to develop the reserve team and what was now the u15s. However, I don't think that anybody could have possibly imagined what an incredible season was to come.

The season started well with both the first and reserve team winning their opening league matches. Then came the clubs first ever FA Cup win. Drawn away against Sawbridgeworth, who play in the Eastern Region, a level above where the first team play, the ladies raced into a four goal league, before two late goals saw the match finish 4 - 2. In the next round we faced Dagenham and Redbridge who were top of the Eastern Region Premier Division, which is two levels above where the first team play. Lylie Frost stunned the "daggers" with a third minute twenty five yard volley and for the next thirty five minutes C&K Basildon held the lead, and had two very good chances to increase their lead, But Dagenham and Redbridge came back strongly, and eventually secured a 5 - 2 win. However, as Dagenham and Redbridge went onto win their league and gain promotion to the South Eastern Combination (the third tier of ladies football), the ladies can be proud of their performance.

After a rain interrupted winter, when many games were lost fron November to February, the season seemed to start again in early March. The first team then produced an incredible run of results, winning eleven consequtive league and cup matches, enabling them to finish runners up in division one and to reach their first ever cup final.

The reserve team also put together a steady string of results which lifted them up the table to finish in a very good fifth place with nineteen points.

Not to be outdone the u15s finished third in their leagua and also reached their first ever cup final.

And so to MaldonTown FC on 17th May, the proudest moment in the clubs history and a reward for all the hard work that had been put in over the previous five years. With both the u15s and the ladies first team playing their cup finals on the same day, a coach was hired and around one hundred and twenty supporters were there to cheer on the teams (armed with very load horns!).

First up were the u15s kicking off at 10am against Writtle, who had already beaten them twice in the league. Despite being 1 - 0 down at half time, the u15s turned it around to run out worthy winners 3 - 1.

The ladies kicked off at 3pm against a Hannikins side who had already won the league, and had only dropped one league point (against C & K Basildon) in the previous three seasons. In a major cup upset the ladies won 2 - 1 to secure the league cup.

Season 2009 - 10 saw the ladies teams playing in divisions one and two, and the u16s moving to eleven a side football.

After finishing as runners-up in Division One, the first teams objective for the season was to win the league championship, and with it promotion to the Womens Eastern Region Football League. Despite having to endure a terrible run of injuries, which included three broken bones (including two in successive weeks) the first team succeeded in their objective, and became league champions and were promoted to the Womens Eastern Region Football League.

After finishing in a mid table position in Division Three in 2008-09, the Reserves found themselves in Division Two in the following season, which was due to a number of new clubs joining the league and being placed in Division Three. The Reserves had a predicably tough season, but managed to stay clear of the bottom two positions, eventually finishing third from bottom.

With West Ham being allowed to enter the u16s league, it was clear before a ball had even been kicked that all the other teams were competing for the runners up spot. With West Ham predictably winning the league with a 100% record, it was the u16s who managed to secure the runners up spot.

Season 2010-11 was a season of change. After finishing as league champions, the first team left the Essex County League and were placed in the Eastern Region League Division One South. The Reserve team was placed in Division One of the Essex County League, which had been reduced to two divisions, and now included a Premier League.

It was also decided that the u16s were ready to make the step up to ladies football, and were integrated into the two ladies teams.

The Eastern Region was a step into the unknown, and the initial hopes were to simply stay out of the relegation places. However, the close season signings of Stacy Whitehead and Carly Eagles from FA National Premier League side Millwall Lionesses was to prove to be the catalyst for a wonderful season.

After winning their opening three games of the season, the first team went on to win the league championship with two games of the league season remaining, their only league defeat of the season coming in the final league match. In all they won thirteen and drew two of their sixteen league matches, dropping just seven points all season. The first team also won the League Plate to complete a league and cup double in their first season in the Eastern Region League.

Joining the first team during the season were former England internationals Tina Lindsay and Claire Lacey, who became the first former international players to play for C & K Basildon.

The 2010-11 season also saw two players, Carly Eagles and Lylie Frost, become the first players from C & K Basildon to gain Essex County representative honours, when they were selected to represent the Essex womens team against the Hertfordshire womens team.

Not to be outdone, the Reserve team also enjoyed their best season since being formed. Barry Knight, who had managed the u16s for the previous two seasons, stepped up to take charge of a new look Reserve team.

The integration of the previous seasons u16s proved to a good decision as the Reserves had an excellent season that saw them finish in third place as well as reaching the quarter finals of the league cup, which was even more impressive when considering that half of the team were aged either sixteen or seventeen.

The club is continuing in its policy of steady and sustainable growth as it seeks to recruit committed and reliable ladies and girls into its structure. The long term objective continues to be to consolidate its position in the Eastern Region Premier League, together with developing its reserve team, and possibly seeking a stadium in which to play their matches,