It’s official. On Bank Holiday Monday afternoon, Harlow Town defied the odds and lifted the Thurlow Nunn Division One South title in front of 1247 supporters. Just a week before, it seemed almost impossible for the Hawks to end the season as champions, with rivals Hackney Wick in relentless form and refusing to drop points. Harlow were two points behind the ‘Wick’ at the time.

But in a shocking turn of events, Hackney Wick dropped points in their penultimate league game of the season, falling short at home to 19th position and already relegated Newbury Forest, letting a 2-0 lead slip and being forced to settle for a 2-2 draw in a key moment of the season. Harlow Town were victorious away at FC Baresi last Saturday, and moved top of the Thurlow Nunn Division One South with one final hurdle in their way, St Margaetsbury at home.

The tension was building, an unchanged squad from their win over FC Baresi with a completely identical lineup. The Pardus Wealth Stadium was rocking, and the Hawks were ready. They knew not to be complacent and that the magnitude of the game was huge, with one simple goal; to win the game.

As Danny Chapman, First Team Manager, instructed them to ‘Go out with a bang’, that is exactly what they did, destroying St Margaretsbury 6-1 and allowing them to have practically no chances all game.

Harlow almost found their lead in the very first minute of the game, with James Love’s header being denied by Alfie Brennan, but it was a sign that the Hawks were starting as they meant to go on.

This proved effective as in the second minute of the game, they found their lead and sent the 1247 supporters into a state of celebration as Dan Heald launched a throw into the box, Teddy Jones headed it on and Jared Small touched it past Brennan to grab an early lead.

From the first minute, the Hawks were adamant to pile relentless pressure on the away side and this continued as Terrell Egbri was played down the right-hand side by Jared Small. The winger saw a chance to whip it towards the left corner of the goal and, from the tightest of angles, he beat Alfie Brennan in awesome style, doubling the lead in the first four minutes of the game. Harlow Town were on fire and the league was seemingly on the way.

James Love came ridiculously close to adding insult to injury for the away side as the ball fell excellently for him on the edge of the box. On the half-volley, the midfielder struck it with panache goalwards but Brennan produced a top quality save to deny him and deny Harlow of their third of the game.

Syrus Gordon almost found the scoresheet on the end of a cross, looping the ball towards Brennan’s goal but the goalkeeper clinched hold of the ball and came out on top on this occasion.

However, it didn’t matter as the Harlow midfielder would soon find his goal, with Terrell Egbri delivering a superb ball into the box, which found the head of Syrus Gordon and found the St Margaretsbury net, Syrus Gordon’s first headed goal of his entire career. Harlow were in dreamland, and were running away with the game.

Malik Shofolahan attempted to claw some hope back for St Margaretsbury after a battering in the opening fifteen minutes, but his shot lacked any real conviction and drifted well high of the target.

In a top-class move, Jesse Ansen (from left-back) stormed up the pitch and played a return pass with Jared Small to put him in on goal, but Brennan denied him, with the Hawks searching for a fourth goal in the first-half.

A few half-chances followed, one of which coming for St Margaretsbury midfielder Toby Church who has played for Harlow this season, his shot was a good effort but brushed the roof of the net from twenty-five yards out.

The next major chance came from a Harlow Town corner, with Teddy Jones hitting the top of the bar with a header, after Arley Barker’s delivery.

It really should have been 4-0 to Harlow after Terrell Egbri struck an effort from close-range after finding himself one-on-one with Alfie Brennan. With Jared Small running to his left, Egbri chose to shoot but Brennan came out on top with a big save.

Terrell’s effort was the final major action of the half, with the Hawks having to settle for three goals at the break, but they looked comfortable throughout the entire half and were 45 minutes from glory.

The second half was not dissimilar to the first in that Harlow Town played with intent and conviction, and continued to pile the pressure on to their local rivals. Teddy Jones added to the tally early on in the second-half, scoring with his chest from a free-kick delivery from Arley Barker and at this stage, chants of ‘We’re gonna win the league’ and ‘The Hawks are going up’ could be heard around the stadium. Harlow Town were so close to achieving a two-year goal of regaining promotion, it was within touching distance now.

In a rapid sequence of events, Jared Small almost found the net again after the ball fell for him following an Arley Barker shot, but the acting striker could not hit the target this time.

Moments after being introduced, Jack Haley added a further one to Harlow Town’s growing tally after Denzel Effah whipped it to him at the back-post. The wing-back cut onto his left-foot and curled it into the top-left corner; a terrific goal that really acted to hammer the nail into the coffin of St Margaretsbury.

Hackney Wick could only continue to battle, ahead in their game against May & Baker, with the reality setting in that playoffs were on the way for them.

From the stands, the title party was already beginning, with Harlow Town 5-0 up, but St Margaretsbury did grab themselves a consolation goal through Joshua Kaikai, who capitalised on James Pellin spilling the ball and hit it home.

Despite this, literally seconds later, Harlow Town scored a kick-off goal, with James Pellin assisting Korede Da Silva with a ball over-the-top that fell for him in an excellent position. Da Silva passed it home into the bottom-left corner, grabbing his first goal of the season and third goal in his competitive club career, since joining Harlow at the start of the 2023-24 season.

There was not much left to do, and Harry Demo blew his whistle for the final time, confirming the new champions of the Thurlow Nunn Division One South, Harlow Town Football Club.

The players and supporters erupted, with a pitch invasion shortly following. Feelings of elation, relief and celebration filled the ground as ‘Harlow are Massive’ and ‘Champione Champione Ole Ole Ole’ could be heard everywhere.

After a long, tough season with plenty of twists and turns along the way, a moment of pure joy occurred. A moment that will live long in the memory of all Harlow Town FC players, staff and supporters for the rest of their lives. A first league title win for Danny Chapman as a manager, whose other promotion as manager came in the form of a playoff win in the 2015-16 season.

We give our heartfelt congratulations to Hackney Wick after a superb season for them in which they battled until the very last moment and only fell short on goal difference, a tough way to lose. We wish them the very best of luck in their playoff campaign, as they deserve promotion following an amazing season for themselves.

To all the supporters of Harlow Town, we thank you so much. We simply could not have done this without your impeccable support, which has been present home and away, rain or shine all season and on almost all games, you become the 12th man and boost the side to go on and win.

A crowd of 1247 is quite simply unbelievable and factually is record-breaking. It is the highest ever attendance in the history of the Thurlow Nunn Division One South and is the highest Harlow home league crowd since 1980.

We hope to see you all at the League Challenge Cup final, as our eyes remain fixed on winning a League and Cup double. The game will be played at the Parkside Stadium, home of Aveley Football Club on bank holiday Monday 5th May 2025. Tickets are on sale now as well as coach tickets for supporters of the club, so grab them before they’re gone.