West Ham Charity Cup

The West Ham Charity Cup was an annual amateur football tournament, held between 1888 and at least 1924.[1] It was contested by teams from West Ham and the surrounding area, an area of Essex that is now part of London. Only players that lived locally were eligible to compete.[2]

In March 1893, Castle Swifts faced Barking Woodville in the final, held at Clapton's Spotted Dog ground. The Swifts were two goals down before coming back to win the tie 4–2, with the goals coming from outside-right Grundy, inside-forwards Mitchell and Taylor and an own goal. A local newspaper made the following account of the final:

"After the match the crowd made a rush to the Grand Stand where the Mayor presented the large silver cup to the captain of the Castle Swifts and Mr. Comerford of the Cup Committee announced that ‘the medals had not yet come to hand, but they would be forwarded to the winners as soon as possible’. With that the captain was lifted on to the shoulders of several of his followers and carried from the ground."[3]

Three of the teams in the 1895–96 tournament were Barking, Park Grove and Thames Ironworks, who would later become West Ham United. In a semi-final in Plaistow, Thames Ironworks beat Park Grove 1–0. Park Grove protested a technicality and forced a replay at Beckton Road, which The Ironworks won 3–0. Thames Ironworks faced Barking in the final on 21 March 1896 at The Spotted Dog Ground in Upton Lane, drawing 2–2. They rematched a week later, and again drew, 0–0. The final was replayed a final time on 20 April 1896 and the Irons won 1–0.[4]

Three of the teams in the 1896–97 tournament were Manor Park, West Ham Garfield and the defending champions, Thames Ironworks, who beat Manor Park in the semi-final, and lost the 20 March 1897 final 0–1 to Garfield.[5]

In April 1902, Clapton Orient won the tournament by beating Clapton 1-0.[6]

Clapton have won the competition six times.[7]

The tournament was not held between 1915 and 1918.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Club Notes". Programme (Clapton v Woking ed.). Clapton F.C. 30 August 1924. Retrieved 6 March 2018 – via Clapton FC (blog).
  2. ↑ Powles 2005, p. 20.
  3. ↑ Powles 2005, pp. 7–13.
  4. ↑ Blows, Kirk; Hogg, Tony (2000). The Essential History of West Ham United. Headline. p. 18. ISBN 0-7472-7036-8.
  5. ↑ Powles 2005, p. 42.
  6. ↑ Kaufman, Neilson. "O's Through the Years". Leyton Orient F.C. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  7. ↑ Cox, Colleen (September 2016). "Clapton Football Club Archive" (PDF). Bishopsgate Institute. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "West Ham Charity Cup". The Sportsman. 8 May 1919. p. 2. Retrieved 22 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Bibliography

  • Powles, John (2005). Iron in the Blood. Nottingham: Soccerdata. ISBN 1 899468 22 6.


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