Enfield Town are very proud to be partnering with The Big Step this season to support their campaign to remove gambling advertising in football. The Big Step are part of the Gambling with Lives Charity. More information on their campaign can be found here. 

the-bigstep.com/home

Our Chairman, Paul Reed said: “We know that gambling can and does have a huge detrimental impact on individuals and family life and as a community club we are proud to be associated with Gambling with Lives and the Big Step. “

Enfield Town 2 Berkhamsted 0

Enfield Town’s final pre-season friendly resulted in a low-key 2-0 victory over a well-organised Berkhamsted side, writes Martin Bentley.

The stifling heat resulted in a slow-paced game that will undoubtedly bear little resemblance to next Saturday’s opening league fixture against Folkestone, although Town’s overall performance was encouragingly efficient.

Neither side succeeded in troubling the goalkeepers in the opening half hour, although Lewis Taaffe shot narrowly over, and Marcus Wyllie missed inexplicably from five yards after being set up by Ryan Kirwan.

The first on-target efforts came from the visitors, both being dealt with well by Nathan McDonald, but Town got their noses in front after 41 minutes, with Lyle Della Verde curling a trademark sublime freekick past visiting keeper Craig Hill.

The second half continued in similar soporific vein, not helped by the inevitable procession of substitutions. Taaffe had a shot well saved after being set up by Wyllie, and Della Verde shot narrowly over before Town scored a second after 79 minutes. Once again the assist came from the industrious Wyllie, his pass being converted by a triallist from close range.

Town line-up: McDonald, Spencer, Kirwan, Thomas, Bray, Richmond, Taaffe, Youngs, Wyllie, Triallist, Della Verde.

Subs: Braithwaite, Connolly, Marfo, Sayoud, Smith, Wihongi, Wilkes, Triallist

The club continue to get the QEII ready for the eagerly awaited start of the season. Back in May we were joined by first-year players from Spurs Academy.  The under 18s teamed up with our band of volunteers to help out with a range of jobs, from sweeping the terraces to weeding.

After meeting volunteers and getting to grips with a range of jobs across the stadium site, the players met with Vice-Chairman Paul Millington and his team to learn more about the important role the community plays in supporting grassroots football. 

Speaking after meeting the players, Paul Millington, Vice-Chairman of Enfield Town FC, said: “It was fantastic to welcome the boys to Enfield Town FC and great to see them getting stuck into their jobs with such enthusiasm. 

“Clubs like ours depend on the incredible support we’re lucky to receive from a committed band of volunteers within the community. It was great to show the boys first-hand the work that goes into running a Club at this level.” 

Anton Blackwood, Senior International Football Development Manager at Tottenham Hotspur, said: “The boys were a credit to the Club and showed a huge amount of willingness to help out and work together with volunteers.  

“We have long been a Club embedded within our community – both in Tottenham and Enfield – and it was brilliant to see the players enjoy playing an active and important role in the local area”.  

Our thanks to Spurs and we look forward to welcoming them to the QEII again soon.

(picture produced with the permission of THFC)

We are pleased to announce another three additions to Town’s squad for this season, who you may have seen in recent pre-season action:

Centre-back James Richmond has joined us for 2022-23. The 27-year-old had been skipper at Merstham for the last three seasons and was previously at Burgess Hill Town, where he was voted their Player of the Season in 2017. He’s also had stints with Carshalton, Kingstonian and Leatherhead.

Another central defender to sign with us for 22-23, who will likely be familiar to a number of you, is Rian McLean. 23-year-old Rian started out with Leyton Orient’s academy and enjoyed an initial stint with us in 2018 following an impressive trial period, before signing a deal to join Doncaster Rovers. He has also represented Hendon, Margate, Sheffield FC and most recently Witham Town.

The third signing to bring you is young midfielder Kian Wilkes, who has progressed from Enfield Town’s U19 academy to the first team this pre-season. He has spent the past couple of seasons with Leverstock Green – winning their Young Player and Manager’s Player of the Season awards last term – and he came off the bench to set up our first goal on Saturday at Hayes & Yeading.

Welcome, lads!