Erith & Belvedere

Erith & Belvedere Football Club is a football club based in the London Borough of Bexley, England. They are currently members of the Southern Counties East League Premier Division and play at Park View Road, a ground shared with Welling United.

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 retur