Ship Lane
(Thurrock's final home match before folding)
Bostik League Premier Division
April 21, 2018
Ground No 207
IT was rather appropriate that one of the large advertisements displayed at Ship Lane was for Saint Francis Hospice.
Because here we were, gathered together to led our support to a terminally ill patient before it slipped away, leaving us with nothing but memories.
Formed as Purfleet in 1985, Thurrock soon rose up from the Essex Senior League to Isthmian League level.
There, save for a flirtation even higher up the pyramid with the Conference South, they became a permanent fixture until, with no buyer coming forward, owner and chairman Tommy South - who had been with the club throughout their journey - was forced to consign them to the history books having announced he was stepping down to ill health.
It's hard to comprehend that Thurrock are no more. On paper they're a club that did everything right.
When they first started out the changing rooms were in the adjacent Thurrock Hotel, which looms up behind the main stand like a parent looking over a child.
But they showed ambition on and off the pitch, swivelled the playing surface 90 degrees and built up the ground into a stadium any club at Isthmian League level would be proud to call home.
Opened in 1988, the 300-seat grandstand is the main feature of Ship Lane. With its gable roof and seats in Thurrock club colours, it has a traditional rather than modern look. One in the eye for those who think new stands should be bland and boring, for sure.
To the right are the neat brick-built changing rooms which stand adjacent to a covered terrace.
Opposite is a long covered area, running the length of the pitch. This mainly houses terracing but there are 200 seats at the end closest to the M25, which runs behind the ground.
There's more covered terracing in the remaining end with an ample sized bar and function room in the corner.
But all of that is kind of irrelevant now. Thurrock were never able to attract particularly large crowds - the fact that fewer that 200 turned out to say goodbye demonstrates that - and with no-one willing or able to take them over, Ship Lane will become an ex football ground once a Thurock XI v Purfleeet XI match has taken place in June.
RIP Thurrock FC.
