1986-87 Thames Ironworks

For the 1896/97 season the club entered the London League and new players arrived in the form of Edward Hatton, Johnny Morrison, Fred Chalkley and Frank Dandridge. The campaign started well as Vampires were beaten 3–0 at home in the opening game. Another home win followed when the 1st Scots Guards were beaten 2–0. This was the last match played at Hermit Road; the club had found a new ground at Browning Road, East Ham.
The FA Cup brought a trip to Kent where the Ironworks were overwhelmed, losing 8–0 to Sheppey United, although an injury to Hatton caused them to play with ten men for most of the game.
In the West Ham Charity Cup first Claremont Athletic were beaten 2–0, followed by another 2–0 victory over Manor Park in the semi-final. Thames were then paired with West Ham Garfield in the final. As current holders, Thames were the favourites, but they relinquished their hold on the trophy after losing 1–0. A further competition entered was the London Senior Cup, where they scored victories over West Norwood, Marcians, Wandsworth and Barking Woodville. Up next were Bromley and after two draws the Kent club came through, winning 2–0 on their ground.
In the league, Thames were doing well after wins against Vampires and Ilford but this all changed on 1 April following a 5–0 defeat against 3rd Grenadier Guards. The Guards eventually won the league while Thames finished as runners-up. It was announced by owner Arnold Hills that he would help fund the building of a new ground, which would also be used for athletics and cycling. The work was soon completed and in June 1897 the company held a gala day for the opening. There were 8,000 present to see the enclosure, which was named the Memorial Grounds.

1895-96 Thames Ironworks

In that first season of 1895/96 the Ironworks' did not enter a league but played friendly fixtures instead. They did, however, enter the West Ham Charity Cup and the FA Cup. The first friendly was a home game at the Hermit Road ground against Royal Ordnance 'A' on 7 September 1895. The game ended at 1–1 with the distinction of scoring the first ever goal for the club going to Arthur Darby. Three successive victories followed, before the team traveled to Kent to play Chatham in the FA Cup. There was an attendance of 3,000 to see the more experienced Kent side proceed to the next round by beating the Ironworks 5–0. A unique experiment took place in December as Thames decided to play a game under electric light. The lights were provided by dynamo machines, which were powered by batteries, and the game was played on 16 December against Old St Stephen’s, who were beaten 3–1. Ten lights were suspended on poles around the pitch and at various times play had to be halted as the generator failed. Undeterred, the club tried again in January when Barking Woodville were the visitors. This time there were no generator breakdowns and the experiment was voted a success. The Ironworks were easy 6–2 winners, with Charlie Dove scoring a hat-trick. Two more games were played under lights and the attendances of up to 3,000 suggested the experiment was a success. The success of the matches under lights prompted Thames to play two further games in this way and an excited crowd came along to see Football League sides Woolwich Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion. Although both games were lost, the club had benefitted from extra revenue and the players had gained valuable experience. In the West Ham Charity Cup, Park Grove were beaten in the semi-final and, following two drawn games, Barking were defeated 1–0 in the final. It had been a successful first season with them winning the majority of their friendly fixtures and being rewarded with some silverware as well.

ROYAL ORDNANCE 'A'

Hermit Road Ground

7 September 1895

1 - 1 (Darby)

6 known players: McCulloch, Woods, Stewart, Parks, Sage, Darby

The Ordnance reserves journeyed to Hermit Road, Canning Town to meet the Thames Ironworks club which is now composed to a large extent of players from Old Castle Swifts, St Lukes and Anchor, among them being Stewart, Parks, Sage, Wood, McCulloch and other well know players.

They have entered the English Cup and are drawn to meet Chatham at Canning Town in the Qualifying competition. The home team won the toss and elected to play with the sun and the wind at their backs. Despite this advantage however it was not until about 30 minutes from the start when their outside left (Darby of Plumstead) received the ball just upon the 12 yard line and promptly sent it passed Henshall who had no chance whatever of saving the shot.

After this play became warmer but half-time arrived without any addition to the score. About 25 minutes after the recommencement a combined run by the Ordnance forwards took the ball down to their opponents goal where a bully took place. At length the ball came out to Hart who scored the only goal of the second half. The remainder of the game was full of excitement but the pace slackened in the last ten minutes and the result was a draw.

Royal Ordnance 'A'

Henshall F., Trigg, Ransom G., Ritchie, Crawford, Hogben, Cossar, Gray, Hart, Benn, Berry.

DARTFORD 'A'

Hermit Road Ground

14 September 1895

4-0 (Unknown)

MANOR PARK

Away

28 September 1895

8-0 (Unknown)

STREATHAM

Streatham

5 October 1895

3-0 (Unknown)

CHATHAM : FA Cup (First Round Qualifying)

Maidstone Road Ground

12 October 1895

0-5

Att: 3,000

Watson, Tull, Williams, Stewart, French, Parkes, Woods, Sage, Lindsay, Freeman, Darby

After the Ironworks were initially drawn at home, Chatham suggested that the Hermit Road enclosure, with its cinder-based pitch, was 'unsuitable' and requested that the tie be played on their ground. The Ironwork's committee may have been swayed by the prospect of a much bigger gate and extra revenue and they agreed to the change. After all, they had no real support at this early stage. As it turned out, the attendance of 3,000 justified their decision from a financial viewpoint but it was no surprise that Chatham went through to the next round.

As for the match itself, the visitors played fairly well in the middle of the park, but they were generally lost when near to goal. With Chatham 2-0 up at half-time, the home side wore the inexperienced Ironworkers down in the second half. Watson, in goal, misjudged the ball for the third goal, although he played well overall, whilst the rest of the defence had a torrid time keeping the score down. The only forward who did well for Thames was their most experienced player, Jamie Lindsay.

Chatham:

Jones, Robertson, Brockwell, Fletcher, Humphrey, Lewis, Enfield, Lawrence, Millar, Dickenson, Stanford.

ERITH UNITED

Hermit Road Ground

19 October 1895

1-2 (Unknown)

OLD St. STEPHEN'S

Away

26 October 1895

4-0 (Unknown)

READING 'A'

Hermit Road Ground

2 November 1895

2-3 (Chapman, Lindsay)

Att: 800

Gibson, Taylor, Stevenson, Gillies, Williams, Woods, Gresham, Chapman, Lindsay, McArthur, Barnes

2nd GRENADIER GUARDS

Hermit Road Ground

9 November 1895

4 -0 (Unknown)

Gibson, Taylor, French, Gillies, Williams, Woods, Chapman, Gresham, Stevenson, Barnes, Sage

THAMES IRONWORKS FOOTBALL CLUB

Although Dave Taylor, a foreman in the shipbuilding department, undertook the task of forming a football club within Thames Ironworks in the summer of 1895, the idea was not his alone nor was it a 'spur of the moment' decision. With the demise of the Old Castle Swifts there were a number of its former players who were employed at the Ironworks and now found themselves without a club.

Arnold Hills, who had been involved in a bitter industrial dispute with his employees that year, thought that the formation of a football club might help improve the mood of his workforce. On 29 June, 1895, Dave Taylor announced in Hills Thames Iron Works Quarterly Gazette, that he intended to establish a football club.

Mr. Arnold Hills

The information appeared under the headline: "The importance of co-operation between workers and management". He referred to the dispute that had just taken place and insisted he wanted to "wipe away the bitterness left by the recent strike". Hills added: "Thank God this midsummer madness is passed and gone; inequities and anomalies have been done away with and now, under the Good Fellowship system and Profit Sharing Scheme, every worker knows that his individual and social rights are absolutely secured."

The article asked workers interested in joining the Thames Iron Works Football Club to contact Francis Payne, a senior clerk at the company.

Charlie Dove, an apprentice riveter with the Thames Iron Works, was one of those who paid an annual subscription of 2/6 (12.5p) to join the club. He was joined by about fifty other colleagues in this new venture. Training took place on Tuesday and Thursday nights in a gas-lit schoolroom at Trinity Church School in Barking Road. Training mainly consisted of Army physical training exercises. They also went for runs along the Turnpike Road (Beckton Road).

Other employees who played in the team included Thomas Freeman (ship's fireman), Johnny Stewart (boilermaker), Walter Parks (clerk), Walter Tranter (boilermaker) James Lindsay (boilermaker), William Chapman (mechanical engineer), George Sage, (boilermaker), George Gresham (ship's plater) and Fred Chamberlain (foreman blacksmith).

The club was financed by members' subscriptions and a generous contribution from the Thames Iron Works. It was run by a club committee made up of "clerks, foreman or supervisors at the Iron works". As over 50 men had joined the club, it was necessary to find enough matches for two teams.

Home games took place at Hermit Road, Canning Town. It had previously been used by Old Castle Swifts, a company club sponsored by Donald Currie, the owner of the Castle Shipping Line. Old Castle Swifts had been the first professional football club in Essex but it went out of business at the end of the 1894-1895 season.

Francis Payne was appointed as club secretary. The local newspaper praised Arnold Hills for forming a football team: "If this example were only followed by other large employers, it would lead to much good feeling."

Robert Stevenson became captain of the team. He was the Thames Ironworks most experienced footballer and had previously played for Woolwich Arsenal. Other players included John Woods, who also played cricket for Essex and George Gresham, who had been a regular scorer with Gainsborough Trinity. However, the star player was the 17 year old William Barnes.