Stansfeld

Stansfeld - A Brief History of the Club

Stansfeld, Oxford and Bermondsey Club formed in 1897, when Dr. John Stansfeld an Oxford graduate visited Bermondsey and seeing the poverty decided to form the Club to keep the waifs and strays off the streets. At one time the organisation ran five Clubs in the Docklands, Southwark and Bermondsey areas, when the population was far greater than it is today.   

Thankfully the need is not as great today. The Club's headquarters are now to be found in Webb Street, Bermondsey, where over 200 members enjoy various sections, i.e. football, golf, snooker, athletics, circuit training and drinking. Currently the club fields four football teams on a Saturday, one in the SCEFL First Division and two in the Kent County League and a one in the in Bromley and South London Alliance League; as well an under 23s side in the SCEFL Development League.  

In 1958 Stansfeld joined Division Two of the Western Section of the Kent County League and went on to win the division at the first attempt, as well as the Division Two Challenge Cup. The club were promoted into the Premier Division, skipping Division One. They were Premier Division runners-up and won the Premier Division Cup in 1961–62. They went on to win back-to-back Premier Division titles in 1962–63 and 1963–64 before being promoted to the Senior Division, in which they were runners-up in 1964–65.  

Stansfeld finished as Senior Division runners-up again in 1969–70, but were later relegated to the Premier Division, which they won for a third time in 1977–78. They were Senior Division runners-up in 1980–81 before winning the division in 1984–85. They were league champions again in 1986–87 and then won back-to-back titles in 1988–89 and 1989–90, before finishing as runners-up in 1990–91. When the league was reorganised in 1992 the club were placed in the Premier Division.  

Stansfeld were Premier Division champions in 1994–95 and runners-up in 2002–03. Despite finishing fourth in 2006–07 the club were relegated to Division One West. However, they were runners-up in the division in 2007–08, earning an immediate promotion back to the Premier Division. The club won the Premier Division for a second time in 2009–10 and subsequently finished as runners-up in 2011–12 and 2014–15. In July 2016 Stansfeld took over Southern Counties East League Division One club Eltham Palace. The team continued playing under the Eltham Palace name until the end of the 2016–17 season, when they adopted the present name of Stansfeld.   

In the 2016-17 Season Stansfeld finished in 15th place before improving to 13th for the 2017-18 Campaign. Another improvement occurred in 2018-19 as the side finished 8th while in 2019/20 we were joint 4th when the Coronovirus Pandemic came along and ended football for the season.   

Covid again cut short the 2020/21 campaign; however, it was a record year for the club as they entered the FA Cup for the first time in their history and making it into the Second Round (Proper) of the FA Vase.  

The 2021/22 campaign was a successful one; becoming SCEFL First Division Champions. And also getting to the last 16 of the FA Vase, where we were knocked out on penalties.  

Our first season at Step 5 resulted in a top half league finish and with Billy Shinners now leading the side we look forward to our second campaign at this level.