FOOTBALL'S coming back!

Sport, understandably, has been put on hold while the nation gets to grips with the coronavirus pandemic.

But with some competitive action slowly returning, the wait is finally over for those of us who enjoy our footy fix.

The Premier League will now restart on June 17, with two midweek fixtures before the first round of games the following weekend.

While our non-league, grassroots football won't be back until next season, clubs are now able to start some form of basic training.

The wheels are in motion after nearly three long months without playing.

To get you in the mood, we thought we'd take a trip down memory lane by sharing this amazing selection of vintage pictures, all featuring teams from Brightlingsea.

They were recently discovered by Brightlingsea Regent club secretary and digital media manager Tony Osborne.

As you can see, some of the pictures date back to pre-war, with one on this spread taken back in 1920.

There are others from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.

Can you see anyone you know - maybe a dad, grandad or uncle?

Brightlingsea United were founded in 1928 following a merger of Brightlingsea Athletic, originally established as Wesley Guild in 1908, before being reformed in 1921, and Brightlingsea Town, established as Brightlingsea Juniors in 1919.

They moved to the club's current home in North Road the following year, in 1929.

A stand with bench seating and dressing rooms was built and the local press funded the new press box, which was initially also used as dressing room for the referee and linesmen.

The opening match was played on September 7, 1929 against Parkeston Railway, with Brightlingsea winning 4-1.

The teams of this era enjoyed plenty of success, being runners-up in Essex and Suffolk Border League division one in 1929-30 before being promoted to the premier division in 1931.

In 1946-47, they won division one and were promoted back to the premier division.

After being relegated back to division one in 1954, they returned to the premier division as division one champions in 1961, also jointly winning the Division One Knockout Cup after a 1-1 draw with Silver End.

Other successes in the 60s including being division one runners-up in 1968.

The club became Brightlingsea Regent - their current guise - following a merger of Brightlingsea United and Regent Park Rangers in 2005.

n Have you got any old football or sporting pictures you'd like to share?

If so, we'd love to see them.

email matt.plummer@newsquest.co.uk