Clapton Community Football Club have become the proud owners of the Old Spotted Dog ground in Forest Gate, having bought the site from Star Pubs & Bars. Not cheaply, close to one hundred thousand pounds, but cheap considering all the land including the pitch, stands, outbuildings, and the space round the pitch. It would have cost the brewery a fortune to do up as the stands and buildings have become quite dilapidated, and then what would they do with the ground? To them, it was a white elephant, while Clapton CFC are using members’ labour to clear the ground and do up the buildings to bring the team home.

They are a democratic organisation run by their members. You can join and be part of it, the annual fee is £10, a fiver with concessions. See https://www.claptoncfc.co.uk.

Clapton CFC are not playing at the Old Spotted Dog ground this season as they need to get the ground up to playing standard. Part of the land they need is the subject of a court case that has been held up by Coronavirus. Once that space is in their hands, it will become changing rooms with showers for the home and visiting teams. The alternative would be build new changing rooms, which may have to be considered if the court case is protracted.

With lots of work to be done, the pitch, at least, looks like a pitch, having been cleared, reseeded and scarified. They have regular volunteer work sessions, so if you would like to help out contact them at osd@claptoncfc. They are especially looking for volunteers with skills in carpentry, roofing, plumbing, painting and decorating, and drivers to collect small and large items.

With no team playing at the ground, no income was coming in, the rent on the ground became seriously in arrears. Star Pubs & Bars, the owners, took the ground back. At which point Clapton CFC applied to take it on. Being a democratic organisation, with equal rights embedded in their constitution, they had Newham Council backing, and hoped to get, say, a 15 year lease from the brewery. Amid negotiations, they were gobsmacked when Star Pubs & Bars offered to sell them the ground.

This was better than Clapton CFC had hoped for, but could they raise the cash? They needed £100,000 for the mortgage and legal fees, and struggled to find a suitable lender. A club owned by its members is not always looked on sympathetically by the usual providers. Eventually, they found a congenial lender, Cooperative & Community Finance. This is an organisation that only lends to the co-operative and social enterprise sector, which described the club to a T.

The mortgage will be paid off with gate and bar money when the ground is up and running. In the meantime, they are just about solvent, much of their cash coming from the profits from sale of their No Pasaran t-shirts, having sold over 15,000 of them, many in Spain. But things are tight, having a mortgage to pay for and no gate or bar money coming in, apart from the minimal proceeds they get from their temporary Walthamstow ground which also has to be paid for. On top of that, getting the Old Spotted Dog ground up to playing standard for next season is costly, in spite of volunteer labour.

Clapton CFC have had a hard time, but they stuck it out. Let’s salute their commitment and energy. They have all to play for. A ground owned by its members is a rarity. They must of course pay their way but they want to be part of our community. It’s a great tale.

A point to clear up. What are Clapton doing in Forest Gate. The club started as Downs FC playing on Hackney Downs in 1877. A year later, they became Clapton FC, and moved to the Old Spotted Dog Ground in 1887. The record attendance at the ground was back, in those early days 12,000 when they played Spurs in the 1898/99 season. One wonders how they got them all in. Those were the glory days, winning the Amateur FA Cup five times, the last in 1924/1925, Clapton even had three players playing for England in the 1920s.

A player who stands out from those days is Walter Tull. He was a black player for Clapton from 1908 to 1909 as inside forward and half back. In the former season, the team won the Amateur FA Cup. His talent was spotted by Spurs which he joined in 1909, but he had a hard time there because of racist abuse from opposition fans. Tull became a second lieutenant in the First World War and was killed in action in 1918.

A club then with a proud history, and who is to say where the club can go once their home ground is back in use. The battle to get the Old Spotted Dog ground has energised members who are eager to have the team playing in Forest Gate again and earning some hardware.

Many of us will be there to cheer.

This article was first published on November 19th and it was amended on November 20th.

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