Advent Calendar 2015: Day 11 – Purfleet 2-6 Leyton Pennant

It would be fair to say that the history of Leyton Pennat/Waltham Forest hasn’t exactly been crowned in glorious cup final victories.

Save for a couple of Eastern Floodlit Cup wins, and an Essex Senior Trophy win (by default), Forest have found success lacking.

But Leyton Pennant’s inaugural season in 1995-6 after the merger between Leyton and Walthamstow Pennant was probably the club’s best season to date.

Between January 1996 and the end of April, the club lost only four times in 30 games in all competitions. This lead them to finish forth in the Icis Division 1, and to the Essex Thameside Trophy and London Challenge Cup finals.

They would lose both. 2-1 to Bromley in the London Challenge Cup and Millwall’s Den, and 3-1 to Witham Town in the Essex Thameside Trophy.

To get to the final of the Thameside, Pennant came up against Purfleet (now Thurrock) at Ship Lane.

Looking at the team that day, it was clear to see why Pennant did so well at the end of that season.

Tim Cole would go on to make 150 appearances for Dagenham and Redbridge. Paul Salmon and Billy Read had great spells at Ford, helping them to repeated promotions. And Sid Nelson, making his debut that evening – and scoring – would go on to make over 150 appearances for Pennant and Forest.

The trophy itself – which Pennant never got their hands on* – is without a doubt one of the most beautiful in football. A solid silver clipper, which winning captains were only allowed to hold for a photo opportunity before it had to be returned to the safety of a bank vault.

Pennant’s last involvement in the Trophy was in the 2002-3 season – 2-1 defeat to Brentwood Town.

The Competition appears to have last been played in 2007-8, meaning that someone, somewhere most likely has a very valuable silver clipper (or not, as the case may be).

Went on to better things

There could only be one person to take this crown today. Tim Cole was sold to Dagenham and Redbridge for a four-figure fee in March 1997, after being watched by a number of non-league scouts.

Tim was instrumental in The Daggers gaining promotion to the Football Conference, and was a mainstay in their first team for many years, before working his way down the non-league pyramid.

Tim is still playing, however, running out for Debden Sports veterans on a Sunday, where he top scored last season.

* Editor’s note: I believe we may have won this as Leyton, I’m sure some of the older, wiser supporters will be able to correct me!