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
