{"id":1998,"date":"2019-06-30T21:11:40","date_gmt":"2019-06-30T19:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/footballcampagne.com\/?p=1998"},"modified":"2023-02-17T17:52:43","modified_gmt":"2023-02-17T16:52:43","slug":"worst-team-on-the-marshes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/footballcampagne.com\/index.php\/2019\/06\/30\/worst-team-on-the-marshes\/","title":{"rendered":"WORST TEAM ON THE MARSHES"},"content":{"rendered":"
Freshly crowned Champions of the 3rd<\/sup> Division of Hackney & Leyton Football League, the infamous Sunday League team Boundary Estate FC finished the season with a pretty intense celebration (even a bit too intense) of its second promotion in three seasons. The thing is there\u2019s never been a clear path to the top for that team, often qualified as \u2018the worst team on the Marshes\u2019 by opponents clearly frustrated about the results of the games. Founded in 2007, named after a Council Estate in Shoreditch, the club was renowned for the intensity of the pub sessions on every Sunday afternoon after the games, \u00a0much more than for the performance on the pitch. A team that didn\u2019t win nothing on the field, but was losing all its money in countless rounds of beer. But thanks to a great team spirit on and off the pitch, and a smart recruitment, Boundary Estate FC changed the course of its history. With this photo series in immersion with the players for the last four seasons, we aim to document the main moments of the team from the bottom of Division 4 to the glorious days of title celebration. Let\u2019s find out how a very middle class team managed to defy all odds while keeping its worst habit: leaving the pitch as fast as possible on the morning without having a shower to spend the entire day at the pub before the missus call to complain for dinner.<\/div>\n
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 <\/p>\n

Season 2015 \u2013 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

Better tomorrows
\n<\/strong>2015 was that defining moment when Boundary Estate FC limits appeared at the surface to start shaping the glorious future of the club. \u00a0Not enough players, a season without any particular highlight in the 4th<\/sup> Division, with losses, draws and some victories. Not much to celebrate, but weekend after weekend, the team started to discover more and more the large choice of lagers and ales of the local pub, Adam & Eve.<\/p>\n

The gaffer words<\/span>:
\nHigh hopes, low attendance<\/em>
\n<\/strong>\u201cWe had high expectations going into the 2015-16 season: a new league and experienced players ready to challenge for the top. As it was, we were quite happy that the Hackney & Leyton Football League didn’t fine us \u00a35 when our shorts and socks didn’t match . We were somewhat relieved to finish safely in mid-table, though safe in the knowledge that there is no Division 5. Mainly, though, we were delighted if 11 players showed up on a Sunday morning – we averaged just 10.4 players per game that season!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Season 2016 \u2013 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

A taste of success
\n<\/strong>The very first promotion in the club\u2019s history. A season controlled by Boundary that ended up in a bloody duel with the enemies of Eastside. At the end of the season, Boundary players don\u2019t have much to share with that team but the top spot on the table. The title will be decided in a play-off game, a big final, which will see Boundary collapse and blow a 1-0 advantage to lose 4-1 and say goodbye to the title.<\/p>\n

The gaffer words<\/span>:
\nWe are going up
\n<\/strong>“Summer 2016 saw a significant proportion of the club’s veterans step aside – injuries, girlfriends and all around laziness set in with some of the club’s 2007 founding players. Some shrewd summer transfers more than made up for the departing players as we went on to pick up our first promotion in the club’s history (and our second ever runners-up medal). The return of Brazilian superstar, Marcio, turned out to be a wonderful piece of business on transfer deadline day as the striker went on to score 35 goals in 21 appearances. It was also the season that the current focus of spending too much of a Sunday in the pub and the song – Adam & Eve (the pub), top of the league – were born. It was slightly upsetting, though, to lose out to the title on goal difference.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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Season 2017 \u2013 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lost in transition
\n<\/strong>Never really threatened by relegation, some podium ambitions were born at the beginning of the season before gently letting it go and finishing the season painfully. Several games played with only 10 men which damaged the moral of the team more than the opponents\u2019 nets. A transition season which led Boundary Estate on the road to success for the next year.<\/p>\n

The gaffer words<\/span>:
\nBoundary reborn
\n<\/strong>“Our focus for the 2017-18 was simple: stay up and win one of the 4 (FOUR) cup competitions available. Safe to say we succeeded on only 50% of our aims, by avoiding relegation. We reasonably comfortably avoided it too – I mean, we only won one of our last six games. The key to the\u00a0new season, though, was the recruitment of young striker, Callum Drage and his defensive partner in crime, Stuart ‘Myra’ Hindley. Not because these two are anything special but because they opened the door to a whole plethora of young talent (including Cal’s younger and better brother). There was also an increase in commitment across the board – we were now almost regularly fielding 11 players a game. As for the cup, yeh, let’s not talk about those.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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Season 2018 \u2013 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Boundary vs the world
\n<\/strong>From 9 to 21 players in only four years. From the bottom of Division 4 to the title of Champion. A strong performance from the entire team on the pitch and at the pub for the whole season. A title decider match with lots of drama against the only team of the League Boundary never managed to defeat. Boundary players went wild to celebrate the first title of the club and wrote history in the pubs of Homerton High Street. A season and a day to be remembered.<\/p>\n

The gaffer words<\/span>:
\nWorst team on the Marshes
\n<\/strong>“In 2018-19, we won the Hackney and Leyton Division 3 title – my proudest moment in my 24-year footballing career. Somehow, the Boundary I know and love had been replaced by this team of utter shithouses, who defended doggedly and won ugly. It was an absolute dream. We managed to win the title by failing to beat an immensely younger and more talented squad in both league games. And even when we were comfortably beating teams in our division, they would still tell us we were the worst team on Hackney Marshes. The stand out player was Jack Bullock – in 26 appearances, JB picked up 12 goals and 22 assists – but the whole squad was immense. Averaging over 11 players per game, we had a squad of 21 for the title decider, when a 79th minute equaliser from Tom Braybrooke secured us the point we needed, and won him the top scorer prize. Have I ever been prouder? Of course not.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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Stefan Swift, Boundary Estate FC gaffer and player, in his proudest moment.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Photography by Jeremie Roturier who broke an ankle, his nose, and sprained the other ankle playing with that team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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