Erith & Belvedere

Erith & Belvedere - A History

The club was established in 1922 as part of a restructure of Belvedere & District, which had been formed in 1918. Belvedere & District had joined Division Two West of the Kent League in 1919, but left the league at the end of the 1920–21 season. The new club joined the Kent League for the 1922–23 season and were placed in Division One. In 1923–24 they reached the final of the FA Amateur Cup, losing 3–0 to Clapton at the Den. However, the season also saw them win the Kent Amateur Cup.

After finishing third in 1928–29, Erith & Belvedere joined the Premier Division of the London League, the club's reserves having played in Division One of the league since 1923. However, both teams left the league at the end of the 1929–30 season, with the first team returning to Division One of the Kent League. In 1937–38 they reached the FA Amateur Cup final again, losing 1–0 to Bromley at the Den. During World War II they played in the South-East Combination, winning the league and League Cup double and the Kent Senior Cup in 1941–42.

After the war Erith & Belvedere won the London Senior Cup in 1945 and were founder members of the Corinthian League for the 1945–46 season. They won the league's Memorial Shield three times in row between 1947–48 and 1949–50 and were league runners-up in 1962–63 but the league disbanded at the end of the season and together with most other teams in the league, they became members of the new Division One of the Athenian League. They were Division One runners-up in 1970–71, missing out on the title on goal average, and were promoted to the Premier Division. They went on to win the League Cup in 1973–74. After finishing second-from-bottom of the (now single division) Athenian League in 1977–78, the club returned to the Kent League.

Erith & Belvedere were Division One champions in 1981–82, earning promotion to the Southern Division of the Southern League. They remained in the division until being moved to the Eastern Division in 1999. After several seasons of struggling, the club dropped back into to the Kent League in 2005. In 2012–13 they were league champions; going into the final match they needed to win and better VCD Athletic's result by a margin of five goals. A 7–1 win secured the title and promotion to Division One North of the Isthmian League. However, the following season saw them finish bottom of the division, resulting in relegation back to the Kent League, now renamed the Southern Counties East League. In 2016–17 they finished bottom of the league's Premier Division and were relegated to Division One.

2017-18 saw the club come runners-up in the London FA Senior Cup and end in 4th place in a League Table which saw the top three promoted.

In 2018-19 the Deres would finish as runners-up in the SCEFL second tier under Owen Jones, winning the London Senior Trophy, setting a 17-match club record unbeaten run and with Harry Harding scoring a club record 45 goals in the season.

Their first season back in the SCEFL top flight, 2019-20, was patchy and got worse in the opening weeks of 2020 when Jones and most of his team left and the club’s future was in doubt due to resignations from the board. A group of former players led by Paul Springett took over as directors virtually on the eve of the coronavirus pandemic, which left the Deres at the bottom of the incomplete table.

2020-21 saw improved results and encouraging cup runs as Del Oldfield started to build a team, but the second lockdown ended the season in November.

Danny Murphy, former player with QPR, Motherwell and Cork City, took over for 2021-22 after Oldfield stepped down for family reasons. Danny, who was also in charge of Welling United’s women’s team, took the Deres to 6th, their highest placing in seven seasons, and has now returned to Cork City to manage their women’s team. New manager Tony
Beckingham had a stellar start to 2022-23 before leaving Andy Constable in charge.