WELCOME TO TODAY’S VISITING BLOGGER
WWW.CLAPTONFC.INFO
THE FOOTBALL SPOON http://footballspoon.net/
FACEBOOK - facebook.com/claptonfc TWITTER - @Real_Clapton FC
Fold this programme in half twice
CLAPTON
ULTRAS An Alternate Approach to Modern Football http://claptonultras.tumblr.com/
MATCHDAY PROGRAMME - Donation 25p
138th Season 2015-16 Ground : Old Spotted ‘Dog’, Upton Lane, Forest Gate
President : Mr M.J. McShea Chairman - Mr P. Maybin Life Members : Mr M.J. McShea, Mr M.E. Fogg, Mr I. Hollowell Hon Secretary – Mr A. B. Barr, Les Chauvières, 53250 Javron les Chapelles, France Tel 0751 4518440 - email : secretary@claptonfc.info Club Office – Markham House, 35 Station Road, Chingford, London E4 7BJ WINNERS OF FA AMATEUR CUP -1906-07, 1908-09, 1914-15, 1923-24, 1924-25 LONDON AMATEUR SENIOR CUP – 1889-90, 1908-09, 1910-11 ISTHMIAN LEAGUE – 1910-11, 1922-23 LONDON CHARITY CUP -1898-9, 1899-1900, 1901-2, 1902-3, - Joint Holders 1923-34 ESSEX SENIOR CUP – 1890-1, 1924-25, 1925-26, 1954-55, 1982-83 MIDDLESEX SENIOR CUP 1888-89 ESSEX SENIOR TROPHY 1988-9 AFA INVITATION CUP 1965-66
The First English Club to play on the Continent (1890)
CLAPTON v BURNHAM RAMBLERS ESSEX SENIOR LEAGUE – Saturday 26TH September 2015, K.O. 3pm
Next Home Matches Tues 29th Sep 7.45pm Essex Senior League CLAPTON v TAKELEY
th
Tue 6 Oct 7.45pm Gordon Brasted Mem Trophy CLAPTON v NEWHAM
th
Sat 10 Oct 3.00pm Essex Senior League CLAPTON v ILFORD
WELCOME TO
THE OLD SPOTTED DOG GROUND No place for
WELCOME TO THE OLD SPOTTED DOG Good afternoon everyone and if you’ve stumped up to donate to Clapton FC for this match day programme, our heartfelt thanks. To those making their first visit to the Dog, welcome indeed. Things seem to be coming together nicely on the field and last Saturday’s draw at Sawbridgeworth Town came on the back of two victories against Greenhouse Sports and Southend Manor. There were a number of good points to take from the performance at Sawbo, primarily the resilience of the players who, after dominating proceedings, found themselves 3-1 down at half time. However, they recovered in fine fashion to grab a share of the spoils before the final whistle and give us our first competitive draw of the season. Someone also remarked on the higher level of prematch organisation that seems to have been instilled since the arrival of assistant manager Peter Harrington and his coach Dan Portsmouth. Whilst that is said, and with no disrespect to those who have gone before, there appears to be a definite tight unit emerging within the players, some of whom followed Peter from Sporting Hackney, and are acquitting themselves extremely well so far in the Essex Senior League. Keep it up lads! One surprise last Saturday was the re-appearance of Sam Haywood in goal. Sam played a few games for us at the beginning of last season. Welcome back Sam and also welcome to new signings Emyr Rowlands and Reece Hewitt, both of who have previously played for Sporting Hackney. Off the field you may have read on Mr McBean’s website that some idiot(s) have apparently broken into the changing rooms and caused damage. Notwithstanding the off the field issues, this sort of incident does not help anyone. The notion that its is a convenient distraction or excuse for continuing poor facilities is probably fanciful ‘Mr McBean’s club’ are unlikely to insure the buildings etc as their tenure, if any, is merely that of a licensee on certain days of the week. This would be the responsibility of the Trust who holds the Lease and who are not trading. If you have information that might assist the Police in tackling this criminality please contact them at Forest Gate ref:5394/19Sept15 Next Tuesday we are at home again when Takeley FC are the visitors, kick off 7.45pm. rd On Saturday 3 October we travel into Suffolk to take on Ipswich Wanderers in the th second qualifying round of the FA Vase and the following Tuesday, the 6 October (, (provided there is no repay of the Ipswich match) we entertain Newham FC in the Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy. Once again, thank you for your support of the team. As you know there are many issues with our club that require resolution and many people are working behind the scenes to return Clapton Football Club to the members club it was before Mr McBean “bought it off some friends” for less than £50k than they had paid for it. Join the real club and make this great club ours once again.
FORZA CLAPTON !
TODAY’S VISITORS - BURNHAM RAMBLERS F.C. The first record of football being played in Burnham dates back to 1895. Out of this Burnham Ramblers came to be formed in 1900. For 27 years the club used four different grounds until they moved to Wick Road. The ground was gradually improved and extended over the years and, after many successful seasons as a junior club, gained intermediate status in 1960. The club then progressed further to gain senior status in 1985. Prior to 1985, Ramblers played in many competitions and won several honours, including reaching the Essex Junior Cup Final on three occasions and the Essex Intermediate Cup Final in 1981, losing to Leytonstone & Ilford. The club’s greatest venture was completed when after years of preparation we moved to our current ten-acre complex. This includes three pitches and a training pitch. Over the last few years they have improved our facilities even more in preparation for promotion from Step 5 to Step 4. In 1988/9 Ramblers had their greatest success to date when they reached the last sixteen in the F.A. Vase, but lost 1-0 to Southern League Bury Town. In 1991/2 they reached the last 32, losing at Newport (l.o.W) 3-1. In 1997 the club won its first senior trophy when we beat Stansted 2-1 in the Harry Fisher Cup Final. Since then we have been runners up in E.S.L competitions eight times. Three players made it into full professional football, Fred Wolfe to West Ham in 1911, Gordon Brasted to Arsenal in 1953 and John Warner to Colchester in 1988. A major blow in 2000 was the untimely death of our Chairman Gordon Brasted. With the demise of the Harry Fisher Trophy, we were delighted to replace it with the Gordon Brasted Trophy in the Essex Senior League, a fitting memorial to Gordon. William (Billy) Hannan took over as Chairman in 2003, Billy remains as our chairman today. 2003 – 2006 On 11th April 2009 the Ramblers won their first Senior Trophy for 12 years winning the Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy beating Enfield 1893 2 – 1 and then repeated the feat the following season when beating Eton Manor 4-2 after extra time. In 2012 – 2103 Burnham Ramblers finally the club achieved it’s best ever season and finished as Champions of the Essex Senior League. They them completed a double by beating Enfield 1893 8 -2 in the Gordon Brasted Final. Having survived on season in the Ryman League, last term proved to be very hard indeed, winning just five games, conceding 138 goals and finishing 25 points from safety. They have made a steady start to this season’s campaign back in the ESL, recently recording a decent win over Takeley. This afternoon’s visitors will proved a stern test for the Tons. Our visit to their ground in the cup final last season demonstrated that Burnham Ramblers are geared up for better things and we wish them well in their efforts to achieve them
OUR CLUB
Over only a few seasons, Clapton FC has seen a huge rise in the number of supporters from around twenty in 2013 to over 500 in April this year. Already, since the start of the current season, attendance is consistently between 200 to 300 fans at home games, generating significant income for the ‘club’. However, exactly how much money and how it is spent is far less clear-cut – it is almost impossible for Clapton fans to have any say or influence in the running of the club, which is tightly controlled by its purported 'owner', Vince McBean. Imagine the difference if Clapton FC was owned and managed by its supporters? If income was completely transparent and ploughed back into improvements of facilities and the pitch? If we looked after our players and properly encouraged them to stay? If the skills and commitment of the club's fans was welcomed and encouraged, rather than treated with suspicion? In 2013, the three life members of the original Clapton FC re-established what we consider the 'real' club, which has an executive committee and a membership of over 150. The ongoing dispute over the ownership and control of both the club, and the Old Spotted Dog Ground, as well as the shambolic way that both are currently managed, is fairly complex – you can read the background here . What is absolutely clear, however, is that nothing will change and there is no prospect of Clapton FC flourishing under the control of its supporters until this dispute is finally settled.
Join Clapton FC Just £5 per season www.claptonfc.info/club/join/1.htm
ESL NAME GAME It’s the gift that keeps giving, the names of various ESL players. Last week we highlighted Prince William of Sporting Bengal United and I have seen recent reference to the unfortunately, and inaccurately, named Rhys Fatt, who plays for Southend Manor This week, step up Charlie Parker of Enfield 1893 FC. Yes, ‘Yardbird’ himself appears to be alive and well, and even banged in one of the E’s goals against Ilford last week.
THE OTHER STAN EARL Mention the name Stan Earle and Clapton FC to any amateur football enthusiast and they will probably assume that you are talking about S.G.J. (Stanley) Earle, a prolific goal scorer for the Tons and West Ham United, an England International at both full and Amateur level and a representative of the FA and Isthmian League However, thirty years after Stanley Earle left the Dog to sign professional forms for the Hammers, another Stan Earl (without an ‘e’) was making his mark at the Old Spotted Dog. Born in Plaistow on 21 st January 1940, Stan played as a goalkeeper for Clapton at both Youth and reserve level and was between the sticks when West Ham Colts hosted the Tons at Upton Park for an FA Youth Cup Preliminary Round match. The young Hammers had won the trophy the previous season and Stan had a busy evening as West Ham scored eleven times without reply. However, he must have impressed someone that evening because later in the season he helped the Hammers win the Southern Junior Floodlight Cup by beating Arsenal 5-1 in the final. Among his team mates at West ham in the youth team were John Lyall, Bobby Moore, Harry Cripps, Joe Kirkup and Geoff Hurst. Stan returned to Clapton and continued to play for the Tons, Margate and Romford before he migrated to Australia in 1965. Once in Australia he played for Marconi FC. It’s thought that Stan now lives in Alicante, Spain.
TONS ON TOUR One of the proudest achievements in the history of Clapton FC is that we are recognised as being the first English club to play on the continent and, in recognition of this, the FA presented the club with a commemorative scroll on its 75th anniversary. Clubs such as Clapton would often go on tour either to the continent or to the north of England. For example, the Easter Tours of 1890 and 1891 saw the Tons visit the north of England and play Newton Heath, those of the green and yellow shirts, and now known as Manchester United FC. Even the Forest Gate ‘Toffs’ team, Upton Park FC went on tour to Jersey in 1897 as this was then, due to the absence a regulated leagues for many clubs, a popular jaunt. Other regular tourists were Pilgrims FC who invited players from clubs such as Clapton to ‘join the party’. Clapton defender J.J. (Bill) Bayley was a member of the Pilgrims team that toured Scotland in 1900. Some years later in 1913 the Tons embarked on a trip to Austria where they played matches against WR Association FC and Wiener AC on the 23rd and 24th March respectively. As is frequently the case, football historians have confused our club with Clapton Orient FC (now Leyton Orient FC) In both matches the Clapton team included E. (Edwin) Sharpley, who was to be captain of the Clapton Amateur Cup winning team in 1915 and L.S.(Leslie) Dumbell a striker who died in action on 7th June 1916 and at who’s Commonwealth War Grave in Souchez, northern France, we laid a memorial in 2014. The first match was played in from of 6,000 spectators and saw the hosts run out as 2-0 winners. The following day, the Tons exacted some revenge in a 3-1 victory when Dumbell scored the third Clapton goal The trend to tour at Easter continued until the late 1950s and Clapton were frequently on the road and entertained in the Channel Islands and Cornwall, which then was a fair old schlep, particularly in a charabang !
CLAPTON FC - Results and fixtures 2015/16 Date 08 Aug 15 11 Aug 15 15 Aug 15 22 Aug 15 05 Sep 15 12 Sep 15 15 Sep 15 19 Sep 15 26 Sep 15 29 Sep 15 03 Oct 15 06 Oct 15 10 Oct 15 24 Oct 15 31 Oct 15 07 Nov 15 14 Nov 15 28 Nov 15 05 Dec 15 12 Dec 15
Comp Opponents Ven Result ESL Basildon United A Lost 1-2 ESL Eton Manor H Won 3-2 FAC Stanway Rovers H Lost 1-2 ESL Enfield 1893 H Won 3-0 FAV Codicote A Won 4-1 ESL Greenhouse Sports H Won 3-2 ESL Southend Manor A Won 5-1 ESL Sawbridgeworth Town A Drew 3-3 ESL Burnham Ramblers H ESL Takeley H FAV Ipswich Wanderers A GBT Newham H ESL Ilford H ESL Hullbridge Sports A ESL Barking H ESL Bowers & Pitsea A ESL Newham H ESL FC Romania H ESL Stansted A ESL London Bari A ESL = Essex Senior League FAC = FA Cup FAV = FA Vase An up to date League Table for the Essex Senior League can be found at http://full-time.thefa.com/Index.do?leagueid=2829940
The contents of this programme, save for the fixtures or where otherwise stated, are the copyright of Clapton Football Club
WELCOME TO THE FOOTBALL SPOON The Football Spoon is a blog written by Mark Bennett, who hails from Urmston in Greater Manchester. Mark is a Manchester City fan who became disenchanted with football at Premier League level and decided to ‘ground hop’ around non league grounds and report on his findings. A recent trip to Ramsbottom saw him travel to and th th from the ground by steam train and today’s trip marks his 124 ground and 198 match. He has not witnessed a 0-0 draw for 11 games and I am sure both teams will do their best to extend that run today. Thank you for coming mark and enjoy the games and the atmosphere that is, distinctly, Clapton FC.
TODAY’S TEAMS CLAPTON F.C.
BURNHAM RAMBLERS F.C.
Red and White
Navy Blue and Sky Blue
From … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
From
Papé Diagne Quentin Monville Kristian Haighton Geoff Ocran (Capt.) Tom Webb Mendez Gomez Nathan Cook Jerry Jairette Freddie Morris Pete O’Connor Reece Hewitt Sam Haywood Emyr Rowlands Idu Bogdan Troy Ricketts Peter Moore Jon Green Alex Biddle Paul Barry Cory Alleyne Khadean Campbell Kingsley Davidson Nick Hristov Warren Mfula Ahmed Sirbu Bradley Joseph Roddy Lemba Shomari Barnwell
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
Louis Godwin-Green Joel Barnett Nikki Beale Matthew Belcher Stephen Butterworth Paul Day Emmanual Ekweqbalu Ricky Evans Connor Hardie Ashley Hawkins Ashley John-Baptiste Stuart Judd Kye Jude Scott Keys Charlie Kirby Jack Long Ryan McDonach Bradley Nobbs Lee Pleasance Jason Ring Joe Skeels George Raymond-Smith Ricky Stubbs Christian Wheeler Daniel Williams Keith Wilson Lloyd Wilson
TODAY’S MATCH OFFICIALS Alex Winterbottom, Abdel Hamid Zekri, Abu Taher