Clapton F.C.
File:Clapton FC logo.png | |||
Full name | Clapton Football Club | ||
---|---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | The Tons | ||
Founded | 1878 as Downs FC | ||
Ground | The Old Spotted Dog Ground, London | ||
Capacity | 2,000 (100 seated)[1] | ||
Chairman | John Murray-Smith | ||
Manager | Michael Walther | ||
League | Essex Senior League | ||
2014–15 | Essex Senior League, 8th | ||
Website | Club home page | ||
|
Clapton Football Club is a football club in Forest Gate, London, England, who are members of the Essex Senior League. They play at The Old Spotted Dog Ground.
Contents
History
Established in 1878 as Downs Football Club and initially based at Hackney Downs, Lower Clapton, the Hackney club originally played in dark blue shirts and white shorts with a distinctive white Maltese cross on the left breast.[2] The following year the club adopted its current name.[2] First based in headquarters at the Downs Hotel,[2] In 1880 the club moved to a pitch adjacent to nearby Lea Bridge Road in Leyton, but moved on again shortly afterwards to a ground at Elm Farm. In 1888 The Tons made their last switch to the historic sports grounds at The Old Spotted Dog in Forest Gate after it was vacated by St Bartholomew's Hospital. The first game at their new home drew a crowd of over 4,000 to see a 1 - 0 victory over Old Carthusians 1–0.[2]
Clapton began competing in the FA Cup in 1888–89,[3] and in 1890 became the first club from Great Britain to play in continental Europe, defeating a Belgian XI in Antwerp.[2] In 1894 the club became founder members of the Southern League, alongside Luton Town, Millwall and Reading,[1] and were placed in Division One. Finishing eighth in a nine-club league they were forced to play test matches to avoid relegation, defeating Sheppey United 5–1. The following season saw them finish eighth again. Despite winning this round of test matches against 1st Scots Guards, the club left the league at the end of the season as several of the other clubs turned professional.[2]
In 1904–05 the club reached the final of the FA Amateur Cup for the first time, losing 3–2 to West Hartlepool. 1905 also saw Clapton become founder members of the Isthmian League, finishing as runners-up in the inaugural season. The following campaign The Tons won their first Amateur Cup, defeating Stockton 2–1. Three years on, In 1908–09, they won the Amateur Cup again, thrashing Eston United 6–0. In subsequent years Clapton's stock continued to rise and 1910–11 they won their first Isthmian League title. However, growing stature in the league didn't affect their pedigree as a cup team, as in 1914–15 the club won a third Amateur Cup with a 1–0 victory over Bishop Auckland.[3]
In 1922–23 Clapton won another Isthmian League title, and in 1924 celebrated their fourth Amateur Cup success, defeating Erith & Belvedere 3–0 in the final. They remarkably went on to retain their title as Cup holders in the following season by edging out Southall FC 2 - 1 at The Old Den. In 1925–26 a strong Clapton team, containing two full England Internationals, qualified for the first round of the FA Cup after wins against Norwich City and Ilford in the first and second round. They were eventually knocked out, losing 3–2 at 'home' to Swindon Town, a match that was played at West Ham's Boleyn Ground due to massive local interest. The club would reach the first round of the FA Cup in 1926–27, 1927–28 and 1957–58, losing each to Brentford, Luton Town and QPR.[3]
In season 1975–76 the club finished bottom of Division One of the Isthmian League, dropping down to Division Two, (renamed Division One in 1977). In 1981–82 Clapton were relegated once more to Division Two, but bounced back at the first time of asking as champions. The club won the Essex Senior Cup for a third time in 1984, but were relegated again at the end of the 1984–85 season sinking to Division Two North. In 1991 the club was placed in Division Three after league reconstruction, which later became Division Two due to further reorganising. In 2005–06 Clapton finished in last place in the league for the second consecutive season,[3] and subsequently joined the Essex Senior League after Division Two was disbanded altogether.
In 2014/15 a resurgent Clapton crowned their first consecutive top half league finish since the 1920s by appearing in the final for both The Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy and The Essex Senior League Cup, losing out to Barking and Bowers & Pitsea respectively.[4][5]
The Tons in Europe
Recognised by The Football Association as the first English club to play outside of the UK, Clapton traveled to Antwerp in 1890 winning 8-1 against a Belgium XI. The Tons returned to Belgium three years later, recording another emphatic victory, beating Antwerp F.C 7-0.[6]
Following a visit to Germany in 1912,[7] where a 3-0 victory was recorded against Duisburger SV, Clapton famously embarked on an extended tour of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1913. The trip included a win against Wiener SC and a defeat to SK Slavia Prague
Another excursion to Belgium followed in 1924 prior to The Tons playing a doubleheader against Dutch giants, Ajax,[8] recording a 4-2 win, as well as a 1-0 loss to SC Feyenoord. Ajax later traveled to face Clapton at The Old Spotted Dog, the Amsterdam club getting the better of their hosts at the second attempt, winning 2 - 0 in front of a crowd of 5,000.[9]
Clapton returned to the Netherlands in 1962 playing four games in total including a match against HVV Laakkwartier.[7]
Notable players
Walter Tull
Widely acknowledged as the first black professional outfield player in English football, Walter Tull joined Clapton in 1908 as a trialist and was established in the first team within 3 months. He won an F.A. Amateur Cup winners medal, a London County Amateur Cup winners medal and a London Senior Cup winners medal in the 1908/09 season. In 1909 Tull's outstanding form in a successful debut year earned him a move to Tottenham Hotspur, making his first appearance, away to Sunderland, just 12 months after leaving his orphanage team in Bethnal Green to join Clapton.[10]
Vivian Gibbins
Playing Amateur football for Clapton while he trained as a school teacher, Viv Gibbins was part of the great Clapton team of the 1920s and won the FA Amateur Cup in 1924 & 1925, the latter in front of 25,000 spectators at The Old Den.[11] As a Ton, Gibbins won 2 full England caps, both against France, scoring three times. After a career which saw him play for West Ham United, Southampton and Brentford, Viv retired to become headmaster at nearby Harold Road School in West Ham.[12]
Billy Wise
Following a youth career which saw him registered at Leyton Orient, QPR, and Chelsea, as well as Clapton, Wise went on to represent England at the 2012 Homeless World Cup in Mexico after finding himself without a home aged 17.[13] Having returned to his local club, Clapton, in 2013, Billy continues now as a coach and fundraiser for the Homeless FA and has featured in articles for The Big Issue and The Morning Star.[14]
England players
In 1924–1925, three Clapton players were selected for the England national team.[15]
Other international players
- Benjamin Odeje The first black footballer to represent England at any level. He played in five schoolboy internationals, making his debut against Northern Ireland at Wembley in 1971.[16]
- Clyde Purnell, represented the Great Britain football team at the 1908 Olympic Games, scoring four goals on the way to winning a gold medal.
- Charlie Rance, played alongside Walter Tull in the Clapton FC forward line, capped by England at Amateur level.
- Sam Gillam Goalkeeper who was capped five times for Wales. Made his final international appearance for Wales on 24 March 1894 while on the books of Clapton.[17]
- Roger Evans Capped once for Wales in a 3 - 0 home defeat to Ireland at Cardiff Arms Park in 1902[18]
- Price Foulkes White Centre-half who represented Wales in a 6 - 1 win over Ireland at the Racecourse Ground in 1896. He joined Clapton in 1898.[19]
- Craig Heskey Capped twice for the Antigua and Barbuda U20 team while a Clapton player.
- Charlie McGahey Selected by the England cricket team for a test match tour of Australia in 1901/02.
Clapton & West Ham United
Separated by less than a mile, there had been a long-standing relationship between the two clubs who together have shared a London borough since 1965. The first meeting between Clapton and West Ham United took place in 1900, The Hammers needing a replay to knock Clapton out of the FA Cup, winning 2-3 at The Old Spotted Dog.
Clapton were again eliminated from the FA Cup by their professional opponents in 1903. Following these meetings, the two clubs would continue a neighbourly partnership that saw both regularly feature at 'The Dog' and The Boleyn Ground; most frequently between the years 1938 – 1990. Notably, the two East London clubs also met for an exhibition match as part of The Festival of Britain in 1951.
During this period West Ham also used The Old Spotted Dog Ground to host their youth and ‘A’ team matches, which saw many Hammers, including a young Bobby Moore, start their careers. Moore would return to Clapton, along with fellow World Cup winners, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters shortly after their triumph in 1966 to face The Tons in the club's inaugural home match under floodlights. The legendary West Ham side turning out a 6 - 0 Victory.
Throughout the 1980s Clapton regularly hosted West Ham in a decade-long run of annual friendlies, usually in front of capacity crowds of up to four thousand. This period saw the likes of Billy Bonds, Tony Cottee and Paul Ince turn out for West Ham, with Clapton recording their last victory against their Newham counterparts in 1984. Due to damage and disrepair at 'The Dog', The Irons' last visit to Forest Gate was on 21 August 1990.[20]
Supporters
Clapton's support includes the "Clapton Ultras". Started in 2012, the group follows the European ultras tradition and has developed around local fans disengaged with modern professional football, migrants to East London and those with an opposition to discrimination and far-right politics within football.[21][22]
Attendance figures have also risen sharply in recent years. In the 2012/13 season Clapton had an average attendance of 43 with the highest gate at 83.[23] In the 2013/14 season their average attendance nearly doubled to 86 and had a highest single attendance figure of any club in the league at 246.[23] For the 2014/15 season the figures again rose substantially with an average attendance of 186 and a highest gate of 519.[24] Clapton's home attendance of 761 occurred in a match against local rivals Ilford on 10 October 2015. This represents the second ever highest attendance figure for an Essex Senior League match of any club.[25]
Honours
- Isthmian League
- FA Amateur Cup
- Winners 1907, 1909, 1915, 1924, 1925
- London Senior Cup
- Winners 1889, 1909, 1911
- Essex Senior Cup
- Winners 1891, 1925, 1926, 1955, 1984
- Middlesex Senior Cup
- Winners 1889
- Essex Senior Trophy
- Winners 1989
- Essex Thames Side Trophy
- Winners 1983, 1984
- AFA Invitational Cup
- Winners 1966, 1971
- London Charity Cup
- Winners 1899, 1900, 1902, 1903, 1924
- West Ham Charity Cup
- Winners 1890, 1903, 1904, 1907, 1908, 1925
- London Junior Cup
- Winners 1888, 1893, 1908
- London County Amateur Cup
- Winners 1909
Records
- Best FA Cup performance: Third round, 1925–26
- Best FA Trophy performance: Second qualifying round, 1980–81, 1983–84
- Best FA Vase performance: Second round, 1989–90, 1992–93, 2003–04
- Attendance: 12,000 vs Tottenham Hotspur, FA Cup, 1898–99[1]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) Non-League Club Directory 2013, p658 ISBN 978-1-869833-77-0
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Club History Clapton Football Club History
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Clapton at the Football Club History Database
- ↑ http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/sport/football/clapton_assistant_admits_barking_scored_at_the_right_time_in_final_1_4060876
- ↑ http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/sport/football/tons_thrashed_by_bowers_and_come_runners_up_in_another_final_1_4068028
- ↑ http://metro.co.uk/2013/04/22/forget-chelsea-englands-first-club-in-europe-plots-bumper-crowd-3661751/
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://claptonfchistory.co.uk/ontour.html
- ↑ http://www.afc-ajax.info/match.php?matchnameid=1927-4-17-Ajax-Clapton-FC&languageid=English#tab=basic
- ↑ http://www.afc-ajax.info/match.php?matchnameid=1927-4-26-Clapton-FC-Ajax&languageid=English#tab=basic
- ↑ http://claptonfchistory.co.uk/waltertull.html
- ↑ http://claptonultras.tumblr.com/post/52957891681/if-yer-know-yer-history-clapton-fc-2-1-southall-fc
- ↑ http://claptonfchistory.co.uk/vivgibbins.html
- ↑ http://www.bigissue.com/features/2854/homeless-world-cup-uk-teams-pitched-against-best
- ↑ http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-378c-Ex-homeless-footballer-rallies-behind-E15-mums-to-stop-evictions#.Vhux6KLIaWU
- ↑ Club Affiliations – Clapton England Football Online
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://wfda.co.uk/international_details.php?id=52
- ↑ http://claptonfchistory.co.uk/clapton&thehammers.html
- ↑ Here’s why the Clapton Ultras have more fun than Arsenal fans Dalstonist
- ↑ Independent, http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/football-revolution-as-disillusioned-fans-head-for-the-nonleague-9810932.html
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/sport/football/clapton_ilford_in_six_goal_thriller_1_4266720