Not wishing to spend part of my Christmas in front of a laptop screen as I would rather be in the pub drinking wine with my lovely wife, this is a double preview of the upcoming festive period games. This time round you get two for the price of one, White Ensign away on Boxing Day and Frenford away on Saturday 4th January 2025. Also note that the reviews are written before the games at the weekend so, this time, they are not totally up to date if you see what I mean. Starting with the visit to White Ensign...

Sitting comfortably in 9th place, White Ensign have 24 points from their 18 games. 7 wins, 3 draws, and 8 defeats have produced 29 goals for and 32 against for a -3 GD. From their 10 home matches, they have 3 wins, 3 draws, and 4 defeats, with a –1 GD (15 for, 16 against) which is quite average, so there’s every reason to hope that The Bridge can get something from this one without relying on Christmas miracles...Ho, Ho, Ho!

Here’s what they have been doing in their last six matches…
White Ensign – season 24/25 – The Last Six
(most recent results first)
White Ensign 4 Thetford Town 3
FA Vase Round 3
Ensign keep the ESL flag flying in the Vase with a last gasp 91st minute winner from Taylor Jacobi.
Midfield maestro Jon Evans, Ellis Devereux and Harry Kateley give the home side a 3-0 lead before Thetford fight back to make it 3-3 by the 75th minute and then comes the late drama that keeps Ensign Wembley hopes alive.

Barking 3 White Ensign 2
Despite a red card for Henry Mabassa in the 63rd minute, Barking hold out to defeat Ensign with goals from Geneiro Maragh, Juwon Akintunde and Sam Shaban. My favourite midfield player, Jon Evans, gets the Ensign goals from two penalties but The Blues take the points.

Athletic Newham 1 White Ensign 2
A decent away win at Newham as Ensign recover from going behind to a 20th minute Leonardo Luis De Carvalho Pedro penalty to win 2-1 with goas from Ellis Devereux and midfield maestro, Jon Evans.

White Ensign 0 Takeley 2
Takeley have been decent this season, so this one is not a surprise but still damaging for Ensign's home record. John Clarke and Charlie Allum do the damage.

Romford 1 White Ensign 3
An excellent away day for Ensign who take the win with goals from Riley Weir and two from Ellis Devereux. Kennedy Feyi scores a penalty for Romford who have goalkeeper Harry Girling sent off in the 41st minute.

White Ensign 2 West Essex 0
FA Vase Round 2
A victory in the FA Vase Second Round sees Ensign continue their FA Vase run with the goals coming from Taylor Jacobi and Riley Weir.

Sawbridgeworth Town v White Ensign
This preview was written before this game took place, so I can’t tell you about it but if you check FWP, they can!

First Team Squad & appearances:
Neither FWP nor FA Full Time (my usual source of team stats) list White Ensign player appearances correctly, so here is the list of registered players from the FA Full Time website which is the best I can do!
Iyiola El-Ameen Adebayo
Zakaria Ahmed
Robbie Allen
Joseph Atoki
Billy Bonham-Dare
Kian Bradshaw
James Brown
Bradley Thomas Davison
Ellis Alex Devereux
Chinedu Duru
Jonathan Evans
Ethan Evison
Callum Ferris
Daniel French
Albert Galbally
Alfie Gilbey
Alexander Gillespie
George Godfrey
Kofi Gyamfi
Trevor Harding
Taylor Jacobi
Harry Kateley
Albert Keith
Tyrone Kumi
Kyle McAlindon
Daniel Monk
Teddy Rumsby
Ben Sargent
Austin Spencer Smart
Kurt Smith
Alfred Ernest Terry
Riley Weir
Nathan Daniel Wilson
Benjamin Wood
Leo Wood
Harley Yates
Alfie Yeend

Last Season:
White Ensign finished 16th in the ESL last season. The Bridge finished in 12th.
The teams met twice during the season.

Game one was on the 24th of January 2024 and was a home win for Ensign with Ezekiel Bademosi and Austin Smart the Ensign scorers. Zayshaun Asamoah replied for The Bridge.

Game Two saw Ensign complete the double over The Bridge with a 1-0 win at Lower Road. Ethan Evison got the 18th-minute winner.

This Season:
The teams recently met in the Errington Challenge Cup 1st Round, and Ensign won the game 2-1 with goals from Robbie Allen and midfield maestro Jon Evans. Ollie Jenkins reduced the deficit in the 88th minute, but Ensign went through to the next round, and The Bridge crashed out.

Club Facts:
Founded: 1951
Ground: Burroughs Park, Great Wakering
Chairman: Josh Ferris
First Team Manager: Aaron Bloxham
Assistant Manager: Enrico Tiritera
First Team Coach: April Smith
First Team Kitman: David Chambers
First Team Physio: Josh Ferris

Club History
White Ensign Football Club are based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. They are currently members of the Essex Senior League and play at Burroughs Park in Great Wakering.

The club was formed in 1951, and is named after the British naval ensign of the same name, which is incorporated into the club's badge. They played in the Southend Borough Combination until joining Division Two of the Essex Intermediate League in 2002, going on to win the division at the first attempt, earning promotion to Division One. The season also saw them win the Capital Counties Feeder League Trophy and the league's Senior Cup. They were Division One champions the following season, as well as retaining the Senior Cup and winning the Senior Challenge Cup. In 2004–05 the club retained the league title and Senior Challenge Cup. The league was renamed the Essex Olympian League in 2005.

White Ensign won the Capital Counties Feeder League Trophy for a second time in 2005–06. The following season they were Division One champions for a third time, as well as retaining the Capital Counties Feeder Trophy. Division One was then renamed the Premier Division, and the club retained the league title in 2007–08, also winning the Essex Premier Cup. The following season saw them win the Senior Challenge Cup for a third time.

However, this marked the end of their period of success and the club finished second-from-bottom of the Premier Division in 2013–14, resulting in relegation to Division One. They were Division One champions the following season and were promoted straight back to the Premier Division. At the end of the 2017–18 season, the club moved up to the newly created Division One South of the Eastern Counties League.

In 2021 the club were promoted to the Essex Senior League based on their results in the abandoned 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons.

Ground
In 2002 White Ensign moved to the Len Forge Centre in Southend after being admitted to the Essex Olympian League. The centre had been the home of the Southend Borough Combination since 1981. A small stand was built in 1985 but was damaged in the Great Storm of 1987. A covered stand was later erected, with two uncovered stands with bench seating built on each side. After White Ensign moved into the ground, the three stands were replaced with two seated stands on either side of a new changing room block.

In order to move up to the Essex Senior League in 2018, the club relocated to Basildon Sporting Village, an athletics stadium originally known as the Gloucester Park Bowl. It had originally been planned as a 21,000-capacity stadium in the 1950s (9,000 seated, 12,000 standing), but eventually opened with only a 200-seat uncovered stand. Basildon United moved into the ground in 1967, and a roof was added to the stand. After Basildon United left in 1970, the ground was used by clubs playing in the Southend & District League, Olympian League club Herongate Athletic, and the Essex Eels rugby league club. In 2011 the ground was upgraded, with a 750-seat stand built.

Ahead of the 2019–20 season, White Ensign entered a ground-sharing agreement with Great Wakering Rovers at their Burroughs Park ground.

Honours
Essex Olympian League
Champions 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08
Division Two champions 2002–03
Senior Cup winners 2002–03, 2003–04
Senior Challenge Cup winners 2003–04, 2004–05, 2007–08
Essex Premier Cup
Winners 2007–08
Capital Counties Feeder League Trophy
Winners 2002–03, 2005–06, 2006–07

As mentioned, not totally the form guide going into the Boxing Day clash as this was put together before White Ensign played at Sawbridgeworth Town and The Bridge hosted Benfleet but still a good indication of how the two teams are doing coming into the game. Not an easy away day for The Bridge but not inconceivable that they will get some sort of result and a draw would be a good point.

Ensign’s season has been fairly good and their run in the FA Vase continues but The Bridge will be looking to add a green square or a yellow one to that list above. A chance to get out of the house after the Christmas Shenanigans and put on your best Christmas attire, and get behind the lads as they go in search of some festive points. As always…