We will be following the Tons, on-line, and a little in person - other commitments permitting - regularly from now on. Why not join us, and support your local club?
For a fixture list, and hopefully regular match reports, check out the Now - Sports page of this website.
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FA Cup Qualifying Round 1931: Clapton 1 vs Grays Thurrock 0 ( save by Gray's goalie Willoughby) |
In August 1877, a bare 14 years after the formation of the Football Association – W.R Davies invited his friends to his father’s house at 11 Queensdown Road, Clapton, London E5. From that meeting Downs FC was born.
A year later, the club was renamed Clapton FC, with Davies as the first honorary secretary and treasurer. For three years the club played on Hackney Downs with the Downs Hotel as its headquarters. Then a move was made to Lea Bridge Road where Clapton FC spent most of its early infancy.
Clapton won their first trophy in 1887-8, the London Junior Cup by beating Edmonton 5-0.
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Forest Gate Weekly News report of Clapton FC vs QPR November 1897 |
The next season the club replaced St Bartholomew’s Hospital as tenants on the enclosure in Upton Lane, now known as the Old Spotted Dog Ground. The yearly rental of £35, paid to Landlady Mrs Vause, was a considerable sum in those days.
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Four thousand spectators saw the first game on the new ground when Clapton defeated Old Carthusians, a strong and famous amateur team of the day. By the end of the season, Clapton had also won the London Senior Cup by defeating Casuals at Kennington Oval by 4 goals to 2. The Middlesex Senior Cup was lifted in the same season and a notable result was Clapton Reserves’ 4-2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Northumberland Park.
By now, the Tons were able to hold their own with the best teams in the south of England. In 1890 they crossed the channel and were the first English club to play a match on the continent when they beat a Belgian XI in Antwerp by 7 goals to nil.
At home, Clapton were instrumental in the formation of the Southern League (now Evo Stick League) in 1892 and the following season were one of the original entrants for the first season of the FA Amateur Cup.
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Heady days for Spurs! - Forest Gate Weekly News report of their game at the Old Spotted Dog ground to the Tons in December 1896 |
The first 25 years of Clapton’s history were the years of growth and leadership and spectacular success.
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Clapton FC Ultras, 1937 style! |
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1909 Clapton FC, Amateur Cup winning team. Walter Tull, front row. Second from right |
Decline, however, began to set in from the 1930's. Other than a seventh position held in 1936, Clapton started to regularly end up in the bottom half of the Isthmian League. The Second World War interrupted the Isthmian campaigns and, as a result, Clapton played in the South Essex Combination.
After Easter 1940, the Old Spotted Dog was used as a munitions store and Clapton moved into Ilford’s Newbury Park ground to play their matches. By co-incidence, Ilford had used the Old Spotted Dog for similar reasons during World War 1.
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Clapton FC, 1943 |
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Clapton FC home game 25 April 1940 - note size of crowd |
In the 1980s and 90s despite a lack of success on the field, Clapton stood by their amateur policy. But, sadly, after over 100 years of unbroken membership of the Isthmian League, the club dropped into the Essex Senior League in 2006.
The outstanding achievement of recent years was the establishment of the Clapton Trust which successfully secured a 99 year lease on the ground in 1992. The original members of the Trust, consisted of Clapton members and former Newham Mayor Arthur Edwards.
In securing the ground, against all odds, Clapton has survived, whilst other great east London clubs such as Walthamstow Avenue, Leytonstone, and Leyton are no more.
The club, which is now looking forward to its 136th year, now has every chance of continuing to flourish and it is incumbent upon the present officers and members of the club to encourage more community involvement so that Forest Gate can, once again, identify with their football club which, despite their name, have been resident in Newham, even before West Ham United (Thames Ironworks) were formed.