Thames A.F.C.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Thames AFC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Thames Association Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1928 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dissolved | 1932 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | West Ham Stadium, Custom House, London |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capacity | 120,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thames Association Football Club were a football club from East London, England, who briefly played in the Football League between 1930 and 1932. Initially known as Thames Association when founded, they dropped the "Association" upon joining the Football League to become plain Thames.
They were founded in 1928, in a similar manner to New Brighton Tower and Chelsea, to play on a ground without a team. In Thames' case, they were formed by a group of businessmen who had built the West Ham Stadium, with a capacity of 120,000, in the Custom House area of London; the stadium was primarily used for greyhound and speedway racing which took place during the week, leaving Saturdays free. The directors of the stadium decided to form a professional football club to play on Saturdays, to bring in additional revenue to the stadium.
The club began playing in the Southern League, and finished 14th in their first season and third in the season after that (1929-30). This was enough for them to gain election to the Football League Third Division South in the summer of 1930, in place of Merthyr Town. Thames' spell in the Football League was a short and unhappy one; such was the struggle to attract spectators, despite the stadium's capacity of 120,000 (making it the largest ground in England to regularly host League football), the club holds the record for the lowest attendance for a Football League match; just 469 fans paid to watch Thames play Luton Town on December 6, 1930.
Unable to compete with established local rivals Charlton Athletic, Clapton Orient, Millwall and West Ham United, Thames struggled. They finished 20th out of 22 clubs in 1930-31, and 22nd (i.e. bottom) the following season (1931-32). This prompted the club directors' decision to not to seek re-election to the League for the following season and wind up the club, despite an approach from Clapton Orient to merge the two clubs. [1] They were replaced by Aldershot. Thames' record for their two seasons in the Football League was played 84, won 20, drew 17, lost 47, scored 107 and conceded 202.
Thames AFC should not be confused with Thames Ironworks FC, a club that had predated them by over 30 years, and would go on to be renamed West Ham United.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Homes of Orient. Leyton Orient FC Supporters Club Scandinavia.
[edit] References
- Thames Association. Football Club History Database.
- Thames. Football Club History Database.
- Bob Bickerton (1998). Club Colours. ISBN 0600595420. Cited in: Thames. Historical Football Kits.
