Senrab F.C. is a

Sunday League football Sunday league football is a term used in Britain, Ireland and Australia to describe the amateur association football competitions which take place on Sunday rather than the more usual Saturday. The term ''pub league'' may also be used, owing to ...

club, based at

Wanstead Flats Wanstead Flats is the southernmost portion of Epping Forest, in Leytonstone and Wanstead, London. The flats and by extension the forest ends at Forest Gate directly to the south. It now falls wholly within the boundaries of the London Boroughs o ...

in the

Forest Gate Forest Gate is a district of West Ham in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England. It is located northeast of Charing Cross. The area's name relates to its position adjacent to Wanstead Flats, the southernmost part of Epping Forest. ...

district of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. It is noted for the high number of professional players who played for the club in their youth.

History

The club takes its name from Senrab Street in

Stepney Stepney is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name was applied to ...

; the club's players trained at Marion Richardson School on Senrab Street (which is close to Barnes Street, and is 'Barnes' spelt backwards). The club was founded in 1961 by then 15-year-old Jimmy Tindall (later a youth development officer for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

), playing eight-a-side at first before progressing to 11-a-side within two years. Tindall's son,

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...

was a 1990s product of Senrab, playing in midfield with Lee Bowyer before later moving to

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

. The club had three 11-a-side teams to begin with, all playing in the Regent's Park Youth League. Tindall's recruitment policy was to pick up only the best young players, stipulating that to play for Senrab, a player must have previously played for his district or county. In the early 1970s, so many Senrab players signed for Chelsea that former player Ray Lewington nicknamed Senrab "Chelsea Juniors". In 1980 Senrab's senior team won the title in the Division Two of the Hackney and Leyton Sunday Football League and earned promotion. In 2014 Senrab were shortlisted for the Daily Mirror Pride of Sport Awards in the Local Team of the Year Category.

Operation

Senrab operates 15 teams for age groups ranging from 5 to 17 years old. The club has produced a great number of players who have gone on to have successful professional careers, including

Sol Campbell Sulzeer Jeremiah "Sol" Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player. Widely regarded as one of the best centre-backs of his generation, he spent 20 years playing in the Premier League and had a ...

Jermain Defoe Jermain Colin Defoe (born 7 October 1982) is an English football coach and former professional player. He was most recently the under-18s coach at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. Defoe was a striker and began his career with Charlto ...

Ledley King Ledley Brenton King (born 12 October 1980) is an English former professional footballer. A one-club man, he spent his entire career with Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and played 323 competitive matches for them from 1999 to 2012. He is ...

Bobby Zamora Robert Lester Zamora (born 16 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. Zamora began his career at Barking Abbey School. Then he moved to Football League club Bristol Rovers, but was soon signed by Brig ...

and

John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional Coach (association football), football coach and former Association football, player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, the En ...

. Zamora,

Jlloyd Samuel Jlloyd Tafari Samuel ( , 29 March 1981 – 15 May 2018) was a professional footballer who played as a defender and midfielder. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, he was raised in England and played for England up to under-21 level. He played 3 seaso ...

, Ledley King and Terry were teammates featuring in the 1993–94 Cup Final against Waltham Forest in the U-13 Echo Junior Football League. A number of professional coaches have also started out at Senrab, most notably

Dario Gradi Dario Gradi (born 8 July 1941) is an Italian-English former football player, coach and manager. He was associated for more than 36 years with Crewe Alexandra, where he was variously manager, director of football and director of the Academy, unt ...

, who, until June 2007, was the longest-serving football manager in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

. In April 2011, former Senrab player John Terry donated an undisclosed sum to the club to keep it running.

Former players

The following players and coaches have all gone on to play for or coach a professional football club after leaving Senrab FC.

Players

Ade Akinbiyi Adeola Oluwatoyin Akinbiyi (born 10 October 1974) is a football coach and former professional footballer. As a player he was a forward who notably played in the Premier League for Norwich City, Leicester City and Sheffield United, as well as ...

Adebayo Akinfenwa Saheed Adebayo Akinfenwa (born 10 May 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed " the Beast", he was renowned for his physical prowess and goalscoring ability, in a career where he amassed more than 2 ...

Cliff Akurang Cliff Danquah Akurang (born 27 February 1981) is a former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Barnet. Early life Akurang was born in Accra. Career After prolific spells at Heybridge Swifts and Thurrock, he joined D ...

* Lee Bowyer *

Scott Canham Scott Walter Canham (born 11 November 1974) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League as a midfielder for Torquay United, Brentford and Leyton Orient. He went on to play for several years in non-League footba ...

Gary Chivers Gary Chivers (born 15 May 1960) is an English former footballer who played as a defender in the Football League for Chelsea, Swansea City, Queens Park Rangers, Watford, Brighton & Hove Albion, AFC Bournemouth, and in the Norwegian Premier Leag ...

Alan Curbishley Llewellyn Charles "Alan" Curbishley (born 8 November 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a midfielder for West Ham United, Birmingham City, Aston Villa, Charlton Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion. He became ma ...

Ugo Ehiogu Ugochukwu Ehiogu (; 3 November 1972 – 21 April 2017) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-back from 1989 to 2009. He was the coach of the Tottenham Hotspur U23 team until his death in April 2017. He played in the Pr ...

Simon Ford Simon Gary Ford (born 17 November 1981) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender from 2001 to 2013. Having started his career with Charlton Athletic as a youngster, he transferred to Grimsby Town in 2001. He moved on to Bri ...

* Jonathan Fortune * Leo Fortune-West *

Fitz Hall Fitz Benjamin Hall (born 20 December 1980) is an English former professional footballer and current football agent. He played as a defender during his professional career and as a striker in amateur football. Club career Early career Hall bega ...

* Vince Hilaire * Terry Hurlock *

Kemal Izzet Kemal "Kem" Izzet (; born 29 September 1980) is an English football coach and former professional player. He most notably played for Colchester United between 2001 and 2013, where he made over 400 league appearances. He was previously on the bo ...

Muzzy Izzet Mustafa Kemal "Muzzy" Izzet (; ; born 31 October 1974) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Chelsea, Leicester City, Birmingham City. Born in England, he played for the Turkey national team internationally. He ...

* Jodi Jones *

David Kerslake David Kerslake (born 19 June 1966) is an English association football, football coach and former player. He is currently assistant manager of Ebbsfleet United F.C., Ebbsfleet United. As a player, Kerslake was a right-back who notably played in ...

* Leon Knight *

Paul Konchesky Paul Martyn Konchesky (born 15 May 1981) is an English Association football, football coach and former professional player who most recently was manager of West Ham United W.F.C., West Ham United Women of the FA WSL. During a 21-year playing ca ...

* Ezri Konsa * Tommy Langley * Ray Lewington * Teddy Maybank *

Kevin Nicholls Kevin John Richard Nicholls (born 2 January 1979) is an English former footballer who played in midfield. He most recently played for Luton Town, a club where he spent eight years at in two separate spells. At the beginning of his second stint ...

Darren Purse Darren John Purse (born 14 February 1977) is an English former professional footballer who now coaches the Cardiff City U23s. A centre-back, he began his career at Leyton Orient before winning a £100,000 move to Oxford United in July 1996. H ...

* Terry Skiverton * John Sparrow *

* Jason Tindall * Sanchez Watt *

Ray Wilkins Raymond Colin Wilkins (14 September 1956 – 4 April 2018) was an English football player and coach. Born into a footballing family with his father and three brothers involved in the game, Wilkins played as a midfielder. He began his career a ...

Coaches

Tony Carr Anthony Carr Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 5 September 1950) is an English sports coach and former Director of Youth Development at the West Ham United F.C., West Ham United football club's West Ham United F.C. Reserves and Academy, yo ...

* Ray Lewington * Lee Bowyer *

References

Sources

* * *{{cite news , first=Nick , last=Szcezepanik , title=Doors still open at fame academy; The battle for survival at the Senrab Boys Club in East London , url=https://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article806633.ece , work=

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

, publisher=Times Newspapers , date=30 December 2002 , access-date=14 August 2009

External links

Regents Park Youth LeagueEcho Junior Football League
Youth football clubs in England Football clubs in London Association football clubs established in 1961 1961 establishments in England Football clubs in England