It’s a battle for points at the bottom end of the ESL as 17th placed Hullbridge visit 19th placed Stansted with 12 points separating the two teams, although Stansted do have three games in hand over The Bridge. So this one is a real classic six-pointer!

As mentioned above, our opponents, Stansted, are 19th in the ESL table. They have 14 points from 26 matches, with 3 wins, 5 draws, and 18 defeats. The goal difference is a nasty-looking -39, with 25 scored and 64 conceded. Home form, not surprisingly, is poor, with 2 wins, 1 draw, and 5 defeats from their 8 matches. 11 for and 15 against gives The Airportmen a not too bad -4 home GD.

Here’s what Stansted have been doing in their last six matches…
STANSTED – season 24/25 – The Last Six
(most recent results first)
Stansted 0 White Ensign 1
Just the one goal needed by Ensign to inflict another home defeat on The Airportmen on Tuesday night. Ensign captain Nathan Wilson gets the solitary goal in the 75th minute.

Sawbridgeworth Town 1 Stansted 1
A bottom of the table clash at Sawbo, sees Stansted in front after 7 minutes with Charlie Adams the scorer. Sawbo salvage a point with an 86th minute Elijah Grant equaliser.

Woodford Town 2 Stansted 0
A not-surprising away defeat for Stansted at Championship-chasing Woodford. Ex-Bridge man Bruno Tavares did the damage with both goals, one in each half as Joe Pullen sees red for Stansted in the 58th minute.

Stansted 3 West Essex 3
The Airportmen have the points snatched from them after leading with a George O'Connor goal after 2 minutes, and then 3-1 after Matt McDowell equalises for Essex, and then Jammie Luke Bennett and Archie West put the home side 3-1 up. Yemi Adelani and Harry Norman level it with goals on 68 and 74 minutes.

Romford 3 Stansted 0
A comprehensive home win for Romford who lead 2- 0 at half time through Scott Doe and Charlie Morris goals. Shermandin Artmeladzde adds a third in the second half.

Takeley 4 Stansted 1
Takeley win the local derby with ease after ex-Bridge man Callum Fitzer puts the visitors one up in the 5th minute. An Olly Miles hat-trick (45’, 45+3’ & 74’) and one from Jack Mitchell (45+7’) leave Stansted pointless and probably complaining about that first half added on injury time.

First Team Squad & appearances:
Details as per Football Web Pages
Player Appearances
1 James Baughurst 21
2 George O'Connor 21
3 George Pullen 21
4 Ashaan Siddik 21
5 Thando Moyo 20
6 Joe Pullen 20
7 Charlie Adams 17
8 Callum Leggatt 17
9 Charlie Turner 16
10 Luke Skinner 15
11 John Clarke 13
12 Carl Conway 13
13 Joshua Darby 13
14 George Spillane 13
15 Finley Gregory 12
16 Correy Davidson 11
17 Dominic Locke 11
18 Dan McCullock 11
19 Jamhal Godword 10
20 Isaac Long 10
21 Tom Millett 10
22 Charlie Portway 10
23 Jamie Luke Bennett 9
24 Callum Fitzer 8
25 Joseph Nardelli 8
26 Jacob Noble 8
27 David Limber 6
28 Jack Martin 6
29 Jack Mitchell 6
30 Jack Stone 6
31 Evan Goodfellow 5
32 Psaul Henry 5
33 Matthew Smith 5
34 Archie West 4
35 Jack Dixson 3
36 Ryan Ramsay 3
37 Aaron Thomas 3
38 James Askew 2
39 Ross Gill 2
40 Makhosini Khanye 2
41 Charlie Mann 2
42 George Pulham 2
43 Luis Shamshoum 2
44 Sam Uwandu 2
45 Toib Adeyemi 1
46 Joseph Manchett 1
47 Jake Morland 1
48 Fotsing Pitoula Wabo 1
49 Edwin Plackett 1
50 Jordan Robertson 1

Links: Not too many from the squad listed above; Fin Gregory, who played a few games for The Bridge a couple of seasons ago, Callum Fitzer, who has played for The Bridge a few times, I believe, and Luis Shamshoum who played a couple of games for Stansted after leaving The Bridge earlier this season when Laurence Whymark came in.

Founded: 1902
Nickname: The Blues, The Airportmen
Ground: Hargrave Park, Stansted (Capacity 2,000, 200 seated)

Chairman: Glyn Warwick
First Team Managers: Paul Pittuck & John Watters
First Team Assistant Manager: Dave Limber

CLUB HONOURS
LEAGUES
East Herts League:
Champions 1934–35

Essex Senior League:
Champions 2009–10

CUPS
FA Vase:
Winners 1983–84

League Cup:
Winners 1983–84

East Herts League:
Champions 1934–35

East Anglian Cup:
Winners 1983–84

Eastern Floodlit Cup:
Winners 1983–84

Stansted & District Challenge Cup:
Winners 1913–14, 1921–22

CLUB RECORDS
MATCHES
Highest victory:
15-0 v Coggeshall Town

Attendance
828 vs Whickham, FA Vase, 1983–84

LEAGUE/CUPS
Highest League Position: First in Essex Senior League, 2009–10
Best FA Cup performance: Third qualifying round, 1996–97
Best FA Vase performance: Winners, 1983–84

Since 1971/72, Stansted have been members of the Essex Senior League apart from, controversially, season 2023/24 where they were allocated against their wishes to the Spartan South Midlands League Premier before being reallocated back to the ESL Premier for the current season. Best performance in recent seasons has been 4th in 2021/22 and Runners-up in 2018/19. The Bridge finished as Champions; five points clear of Stansted that season.

The Bridge and Stansted – recent meetings:

Season 2024/2025
Saturday 27th July 2024
The Bridge 5 Stansted 0
An emphatic win in the first game of the new season as The Bridge got off to a great start. Leading 4-0 at half-time thanks to two goals from Zayshaun Asamoah, and one each from Connor Hart and Mechack Asuka, The Bridge added one more in the second half when Jack Unwin found the net in the 85th minute and The Bridge finished day one of the season on top of the league!

Season 2023/2024
As mentioned above and against their wishes, Stansted were allocated to the Spartan South Midlands Football League Premier and finished the season in 14th spot with 40 points from their 36 games, whilst The Bridge finished in 12th in the ESL Premier with 49 from 38 games and therefore the two teams did not meet this season.

Season 2022/2023
Stansted finished in 9th in the ESL Premier with 60 points from 38 matches, Enfield were Champions with 92 points. With The Bridge competing in the Isthmian League North, the two teams did not meet this season.

Season 2021/2022
Stansted finished 4th in the ESL Premier with 75 points from 40 matches, Walthamstow were Champions with 92 points. Meanwhile, The Bridge were staging their “Great Escape” in the Isthmian League North and finished 16th with 39 points. With the two teams in different leagues, they didn’t meet this season.

Stansted This season:
League positions in brackets are current position
Home: Won 2, Drawn 1, Lost 5 (F11, A15 = -4) Pts 7 ESL 18th
The Airportmen have two home wins at home this season:
FC Clacton (20) 5-1
Frenford (12) 2-1
They’ve drawn one:
West Essex (14) 3-3
Leaving five defeats against:
Romford (8) 1-2
Woodford Town (2) 0-4
Barking (3) 0-1
Sawbridgeworth Town (18) 0-2
White Ensign (7) 0-1
Away: Won 1, Drawn 4, Lost 13 (F14, A49 = -35) Pts 7 ESL 20th
A high proportion of Stansted matches have been away (18 out of 26)
They have just one win on the road at:
Benfleet (16) 3-1
The four draws were at:
Little Oakley (9) 1-1
FC Clacton (20) 1-1
Frenford (12) 1-1
Sawbridgeworth Town (18) 1-1
Leaving thirteen defeats at:
Hullbridge Sports (17) 0-5 (yay!)
Stanway Rovers (1) 0-2
West Essex (14) 1-2
Halstead Town (15) 3-4
Athletic Newham (10) 0-1
White Ensign (7) 0-7
Ilford (13) 1-3
Buckhurst Hill (11) 0-4
Great Wakering Rovers (5) 0-5
Saffron Walden Town (6) 1-2
Takeley (4) 1-4
Romford (8) 0-3
Woodford Town (2) 0-2

Up for the cup!
In the FA Cup, Stansted exited at the Extra Preliminary Round Stage, losing a replay 1-2 at Biggleswade (Southern League Division One Central, Step 4, level 8) after a 0-0 draw in the first match.

In the FA Vase Second Qualifying Round, Stansted beat Burnham Ramblers of the Eastern Counties League Division One South (step 6, level 10) 2-0 at home, before losing at home to Clapton Community (Southern Counties East League Division One, step 6, level 10) 1-2 in the Second Qualifying Round.

In the BBC Essex Senior Cup First Round, Stansted drew 1-1 at home to May & Baker, losing 4-2 on penalties.

Little Oakley knocked Stansted out of The Errington Challenge Cup at the First Round stage, winning 4-0 at Hargraves Park. In the Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy, Saffron Walden Town won 4-0 at home to Stansted in the Preliminary Round.

The Bridge: 2 wins; 0 draws; 4 defeats; For 8; Against 12; GD -4; Points 6
Stansted: 0 wins; 2 draws; 4 defeats; For 5; Against 14; GD -9; Points 2

It’s safe to say that this is a match between two teams that are not in form, although The Bridge figures are slightly better than their hosts. Neither side has been scoring many and both sides are struggling to keep clean sheets so it could be an interesting encounter!

Not only that but it’s a classic six-pointer with Stansted hoping to close the gap to the teams above the bottom two, including The Bridge. Stansted’s position is probably slightly false due to having played 18 away games and only 8 at home and, as mentioned, they have 3 games in hand over The Bridge so a win for The Bridge is vital…it’s going to be a nervy day!

So, let’s see what happens…

The ESL kicks off on Friday again this week at Woodford. Teams in and around The Bridge all have tough games, although Sawbridgeworth might fancy a win against Frenford. That just makes our game even more important if there is such a thing. Anyway, if you can be there, I’m sure that the boys will appreciate all the support we can give them on Saturday and as always…