Football Review – A Non-League Football Review

Then-named Woodford East, Halil Hassan had agreed an important ground-share with Essex Senior League side Barking FC, giving them the foundations needs to try and achieve their goals. Those targets included competing for promotion from Step 7 and doing well in the domestic cups.

“After acquiring the ground share at Barking for the 2023/24 season, there was a few agendas from the management team. This was to do our best to win the Essex Alliance League Senior Division and possibly reach even more cup finals.”

The season finished with Woodford East in second place, 13 points behind champions FC Baresi. A defeat to Sporting Hackney had made it a bad start to the season, but the club had found their feat with a run of four consecutive wins: beating Chingford Athletic, Priory Park Rangers, Rapid Chingford and Walthamstow Reserves before they faced defeat to Aveley U23’s. Two wins over Haringey Borough U23’s and Bakers693 and another two victories against Kit Out London and Frenford Development had come either side of a defeat to FC Baresi before they were on the losing side of a 8-goal thriller with Lymore Gardens.

The Peacocks returned to winning ways against CSM London before recording a further nines games unbeaten with seven wins and 2 draws but a defeat to Borough had ended that run. Five of the last six games had seen the club remain unbeaten: winning against Rapid Chingford, CSM London and Chadwell Heath Spartans, drawing against Stow Reserves and Bakers693 and losing to Lymore Gardens. It hadn’t been the outcome they had hoped for, but it had been an improved from the previous two seasons which had seen them finished 3rd and 4th respectively.

“In terms of trophies, it wasn’t the best of seasons as our goal was to win the league and cups, but we came up short. It was a different season from two seasons ago when I took over, but player turnover was a major factor in us falling apart in my opinion” said Hassan before continuing, “FC Baresi had the same squad to choose from all season and that’s a major factor in why they won the division. It’s something that I have to deal with as a manager and try my best to improve because our ability within the ranks are fantastic but availability cost us dearly.”

Despite finishing second and not achieving their targets for the season, Halil remained optimistic that the club were still on course for his long term plans. The thoughts of doing anything differently hadn’t really cross his mind.

“I actually wouldn’t change a thing. It’s a road we went down and as a group, this is where it has brought us. In hindsight, of course you might of done certain things different, but it don’t work like that as we all know. Ultimately, I love every game I’m involved in [whether that’s winning, drawing or losing]. It’s what I look forward to every week.”

With the new season already in focus, Halil took the decision to rebrand the team. In doing so, he renamed the club from Woodford East to Waltham Forest Borough. The change came with future seasons in mind, with the club’s chairman and manager targeting a slightly smaller borough in Waltham Forest than that of Redbridge.

“It was a difficult decision because I loved the name but going forward it made sense [to change it]. If I’m honest, we would never have been the biggest team in Woodford as the borough already has Woodford Town. They are a club with their own ground and one that is going places. It is a team I played for back in the 90s at Snakes Lane and have fond memories of. The name change takes my ambitions away from Woodford and across east London to try and take Waltham Forest Borough as high as possible, something I believe I can achieve with hard work.”

He continued, “I think the name change will take time to digest but in time, I think it will be required to help the club grow [with the possibility of getting a ground share or our own ground in Waltham Forest one day, who knows]. There was no doubt a definite factor in changing the name was Woodford Town being the biggest club in that area.”

Before FC Baresi went onto win the division, they had finished 2nd behind Brimsdown, losing out on the title by nine points during the 2022/23 season, and while that gave the club a path for winning the title and getting promoted, Halil Hassan didn’t believe it would be achieved at the end of next season, even if they took top spot. It didn’t change his ambitions, but meant the club might not have been able to take the next step.

“Every year, we go into the league campaign with the ambition of winning it. Presently, we have decided to play our football at Parsoles Park, a fantastic new venue, but to get promoted, you must win the league in the stadium you’re going up with so getting up to Step 6 won’t be an option this season [2024/25] unless I acquire a new stadium to play at.”

“I’m expecting the toughest season since I’ve took over three years ago,” he said when asked about his 24/25 target. “The teams have all improved and the Essex Alliance League is getting stronger each season. Let’s just see what the new season brings and hopefully we will be challenging on all fronts once again.”