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History
Tiptree United Football & Social Club was founded back in 1933 with the club beginning life playing in the North Essex League before moving on into the Essex and Suffolk Border League. There the club enjoyed moderate local success winning a number of junior cups as they continued to progress both on and off the field.
In 1971/72 they became founder members of the Essex Senior League, finishing the season in fourth place. As the decade progressed the team achieved two runners up spots, in 1975/76 and 1977/78, before electing to compete in the Eastern Counties League from the beginning of the 1979/80 season.
In the first season in their new league the club won more games than any other side, but had to be content with the runners up spot, finishing one point behind Gorleston. This was followed up the next season with a third place, behind Sudbury Town and Gorleston.
However, the 1981/82 season saw the club lift the Eastern Counties League title for the only time. Manager Edgar Rumney saw his side finish five points clear at the top of the table to clinch a notable double, having already won the League Cup earlier in the season.
Despite this, the 1980s saw a side often finishing in a mid-table position, but they again demonstrated their cup pedigree when Richie Powling, in his first managerial role, steered them to back to back League Cup wins. In 1984/85, the team beat Histon 2-0 in the final, whilst a year later they overcame March Town United by a single goal.
During the 1990s success on the pitch was hard to come by with more mid-table mediocrity often being the story of the season. Manager Steve Sutton brought with him many players from the dominant Braintree Town team of the 1980s who could comfortably hold their own amongst the younger teams of the Eastern Counties League, but who were never seriously challenging for top honours.
The departure of Sutton saw the all-too-familiar exodus of players en masse and led to a period of unrest within the club. Several managers came and went during a troubled time, which inevitably concluded with Tiptree being relegated for the first time in their history, at the end of the 1997/98 campaign, having won just three league matches all season and finishing nine points adrift at the bottom of the table.
Local man Keith Newman was appointed as manager at the start of the 1998/99 season after he had enjoyed success with Tiptree Heath in the Essex and Suffolk Border League and brought with him several new faces to the football committee.
He implemented a side that included many youngsters along with a few older and more experienced heads and the club just lost out on promotion in the final weeks of the season, with striking partners Kris Lee and Terry Warwick amassing 70 goals between them.
Newman unfortunately resigned due to family commitments, but the future was looking bright once more and the club moved swiftly to appoint ex-Tiptree player Steve Parnell as player-manager after he had left Halstead Town towards the end of the previous season.
"Parnie" enjoyed a successful period in charge, with Tiptree winning the Jewson First Division in 1999/2000, having topped the table continuously from September onwards.
The first season back in the Jewson Premier (2000/01) began with optimism, but results took a downturn through the autumn months which led to the club struggling at the foot of the table for much of the year. During this period, the club also had to deal with the resignation of Parnell for personal reasons, although he continued in his role as a player.
Club coach Neil Farlie took over the manager’s role and appointed another former Tiptree player, Alan Bailey, as his assistant. Gradually the team clawed its way out of relegation worries, and finished the season at a canter, ending up in a respectable 14th position.
After nearly 70 years, Tiptree United enjoyed their finest hour in the 2001/2002 season, when they turned their league form on its head and became the “shock side” of the FA Vase. Having nearly exited the competition in ignominious fashion in the Second Round, requiring two goals in the last four minutes to rescue a hopeless looking situation at home to Colney Heath, the side embarked on a fairytale cup run that ended at Villa Park.
Cowes Sports and Pickering Town were seen off before Tiptree drew current holders Taunton Town in the fifth round and, after a well-deserved 1-1 draw at home, did the unthinkable; beat the holders 2-1 on their own ground, courtesy of a Steve Parnell winner three minutes into injury time.
An extra time winner from Andy Brady defeated Burgess Hill Town in the Quarter-Finals after Parnell had given Tiptree the lead from the penalty spot, although another “Alamo” display was required for over five, long, minutes of injury time.
The two-legged semi-final against AFC Sudbury saw ground attendance records set at both matches, with 1,912 spectators cramming into Chapel Road in the second leg to see Tiptree hold on to the 2-0 lead they had gained at the Kings Marsh Stadium a week earlier through Steve Daly and Steve Wareham.
Although the final against Whitley Bay at Aston Villa was a fairly dire spectacle, with Tiptree finally losing to a single extra time goal, the club were proud of the achievement of reaching a national senior cup final, with hopes high for the future.
However, after the highs of that year, it was perhaps inevitable that what remains a village club would struggle to come anywhere close to enjoying such success again, with early exits from both the FA Cup and FA Vase and the league being a continual struggle to compete with teams with far higher playing budgets than themselves.
A mid-table finish in 2002/03 was not enough to prevent the squad fragmenting over the summer and Farlie was left with just a handful of first choice players at the start of the 2003/04 season.
A new team was assembled, but it struggled to gel on the pitch, and after a difficult year they lost 2-1 to Gorleston on the final day of the season, which saved the Norfolk club from the drop, but condemned Tiptree to relegation back to the Ridgeons First Division, and saw Farlie resign as manager after the game.
Reserve team manager Jody Brown was offered the first team manager’s post at the age of 25, having achieved promotion to the Premier Division of the Border League and reached the final of the Chell Trophy after just one year in charge of the second string.
After accepting the job, he surprised many doubters by assembling a new squad that looked capable of challenging for promotion however, despite narrowly missing out on two occasions, Brown and the club eventually parted company during March 2007.
With plans well advanced for the sale of Chapel Road and work starting on the development of a new stadium on the edge of the village, the club signalled their ambitions to progress up the football pyramid by securing the services of Colin Wallington from local Ryman League neighbours, Maldon Town.
It is hoped that with his vast experience and proven track record Colin will be able to steer the club back to once again hosting Premier league opposition at its new home for season 2008/09.
In 1971/72 they became founder members of the Essex Senior League, finishing the season in fourth place. As the decade progressed the team achieved two runners up spots, in 1975/76 and 1977/78, before electing to compete in the Eastern Counties League from the beginning of the 1979/80 season.
In the first season in their new league the club won more games than any other side, but had to be content with the runners up spot, finishing one point behind Gorleston. This was followed up the next season with a third place, behind Sudbury Town and Gorleston.
However, the 1981/82 season saw the club lift the Eastern Counties League title for the only time. Manager Edgar Rumney saw his side finish five points clear at the top of the table to clinch a notable double, having already won the League Cup earlier in the season.
Despite this, the 1980s saw a side often finishing in a mid-table position, but they again demonstrated their cup pedigree when Richie Powling, in his first managerial role, steered them to back to back League Cup wins. In 1984/85, the team beat Histon 2-0 in the final, whilst a year later they overcame March Town United by a single goal.
During the 1990s success on the pitch was hard to come by with more mid-table mediocrity often being the story of the season. Manager Steve Sutton brought with him many players from the dominant Braintree Town team of the 1980s who could comfortably hold their own amongst the younger teams of the Eastern Counties League, but who were never seriously challenging for top honours.
The departure of Sutton saw the all-too-familiar exodus of players en masse and led to a period of unrest within the club. Several managers came and went during a troubled time, which inevitably concluded with Tiptree being relegated for the first time in their history, at the end of the 1997/98 campaign, having won just three league matches all season and finishing nine points adrift at the bottom of the table.
Local man Keith Newman was appointed as manager at the start of the 1998/99 season after he had enjoyed success with Tiptree Heath in the Essex and Suffolk Border League and brought with him several new faces to the football committee.
He implemented a side that included many youngsters along with a few older and more experienced heads and the club just lost out on promotion in the final weeks of the season, with striking partners Kris Lee and Terry Warwick amassing 70 goals between them.
Newman unfortunately resigned due to family commitments, but the future was looking bright once more and the club moved swiftly to appoint ex-Tiptree player Steve Parnell as player-manager after he had left Halstead Town towards the end of the previous season.
"Parnie" enjoyed a successful period in charge, with Tiptree winning the Jewson First Division in 1999/2000, having topped the table continuously from September onwards.
The first season back in the Jewson Premier (2000/01) began with optimism, but results took a downturn through the autumn months which led to the club struggling at the foot of the table for much of the year. During this period, the club also had to deal with the resignation of Parnell for personal reasons, although he continued in his role as a player.
Club coach Neil Farlie took over the manager’s role and appointed another former Tiptree player, Alan Bailey, as his assistant. Gradually the team clawed its way out of relegation worries, and finished the season at a canter, ending up in a respectable 14th position.
After nearly 70 years, Tiptree United enjoyed their finest hour in the 2001/2002 season, when they turned their league form on its head and became the “shock side” of the FA Vase. Having nearly exited the competition in ignominious fashion in the Second Round, requiring two goals in the last four minutes to rescue a hopeless looking situation at home to Colney Heath, the side embarked on a fairytale cup run that ended at Villa Park.
Cowes Sports and Pickering Town were seen off before Tiptree drew current holders Taunton Town in the fifth round and, after a well-deserved 1-1 draw at home, did the unthinkable; beat the holders 2-1 on their own ground, courtesy of a Steve Parnell winner three minutes into injury time.
An extra time winner from Andy Brady defeated Burgess Hill Town in the Quarter-Finals after Parnell had given Tiptree the lead from the penalty spot, although another “Alamo” display was required for over five, long, minutes of injury time.
The two-legged semi-final against AFC Sudbury saw ground attendance records set at both matches, with 1,912 spectators cramming into Chapel Road in the second leg to see Tiptree hold on to the 2-0 lead they had gained at the Kings Marsh Stadium a week earlier through Steve Daly and Steve Wareham.
Although the final against Whitley Bay at Aston Villa was a fairly dire spectacle, with Tiptree finally losing to a single extra time goal, the club were proud of the achievement of reaching a national senior cup final, with hopes high for the future.
However, after the highs of that year, it was perhaps inevitable that what remains a village club would struggle to come anywhere close to enjoying such success again, with early exits from both the FA Cup and FA Vase and the league being a continual struggle to compete with teams with far higher playing budgets than themselves.
A mid-table finish in 2002/03 was not enough to prevent the squad fragmenting over the summer and Farlie was left with just a handful of first choice players at the start of the 2003/04 season.
A new team was assembled, but it struggled to gel on the pitch, and after a difficult year they lost 2-1 to Gorleston on the final day of the season, which saved the Norfolk club from the drop, but condemned Tiptree to relegation back to the Ridgeons First Division, and saw Farlie resign as manager after the game.
Reserve team manager Jody Brown was offered the first team manager’s post at the age of 25, having achieved promotion to the Premier Division of the Border League and reached the final of the Chell Trophy after just one year in charge of the second string.
After accepting the job, he surprised many doubters by assembling a new squad that looked capable of challenging for promotion however, despite narrowly missing out on two occasions, Brown and the club eventually parted company during March 2007.
With plans well advanced for the sale of Chapel Road and work starting on the development of a new stadium on the edge of the village, the club signalled their ambitions to progress up the football pyramid by securing the services of Colin Wallington from local Ryman League neighbours, Maldon Town.
It is hoped that with his vast experience and proven track record Colin will be able to steer the club back to once again hosting Premier league opposition at its new home for season 2008/09.