Old Castle Swifts Football Club, the first professional football club in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, was formed by Scottish shipowner

Donald Currie Sir Donald Currie (17 September 182513 April 1909) was a Scottish shipowner, politician and philanthropist. Early life and career He was born at Greenock, Renfrewshire, on 17 September 1825, the third son of ten children of James Currie (1797 ...

in September 1892 as Castle Swifts Football Club. The club's first home ground, located in

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...

, was named Dunottar Park, after the Castle Line company's ship ''Dunottar Castle''. In 1894, Old Castle Swifts merged with Old St Luke's and was renamed. The club was wound up the following season. Its demise saw several players join the newly founded Thames Ironworks, the club that was later reformed as

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

History

Formation

Old Castle Swifts Football Club was formed by Scottish shipowner Donald Currie in September 1892 as Castle Swifts Football Club. They were the

works team A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company. Association footb ...

of the ship repair yard of The Castle Shipping Line and initially the majority of the team were drawn from the mainly Scottish workforce, paid for the games they played. Castles Swifts' first home ground, a field located opposite the

Police Station in West Ham Lane, was called ''Dunottar Park'', after the Castle Line's ship Dunottar Castle. The ground had perimeter fencing and admission was charged at 3 d.

1892–1893

Castle Swifts did not remain long at Dunottar Park, having to find a new ground after a dispute with the landlord. One was soon located in fields beside Wakefield Street in East Ham, known as Temple Meadows, which lay in the grounds of Temple House, not far from East Ham railway station. The team would change into their kit in the nearby Denmark Inn (now the Denmark Arms), located on the

Barking Road List of A roads in zone 1 in Great Britain beginning north of the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longe ...

. The Denmark Arms would later be used by many West Ham United fans before matches at the

Boleyn Ground The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...

. In March 1893 they faced Barking Woodville in the final of the

West Ham Charity Cup The West Ham Charity Cup was an annual amateur football tournament which 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. The comp ...

, 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."''

1893–1894

At the end of the 1893–94 season, the team merged with Old St Luke's, and the newly formed team was renamed as Old Castle Swifts, and used Old St Luke's ground in

Hermit Road Hermit Road was a stadium located in Canning Town in London, England. It was the first home ground of football club Thames Ironworks, the works team of the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company. The club would later be reformed as West Ha ...

, Canning Town. Hermit Road had been described as a 'cinder heap' and 'barren waste'. It was surrounded by a moat and had canvas sheeting for fencing.

1894–1895

The Swifts officially became a professional outfit in November 1894, a move made after one of their players, Cunningham, was denied a return to amateur status. The club resigned from the

London FA The London Football Association (LFA) is the regional Football Association for inner areas of London. The London FA was established in 1882 and is affiliated to The Football Association. The London FA administers all levels of men's, women's and ...

as a result. Their demise came at the end of March 1895 when the club became bankrupt. Following this, the club played one further game, a pre-arranged fixture against St Luke's on 16 April, under the name of Old St Luke's.

Thames Ironworks

Arnold Hills Arnold Frank Hills (12 March 1857 – 7 March 1927) was an English businessman, sportsman, philanthropist, and promoter of vegetarianism. Biography Hills was born in Denmark Hill, Surrey, son of a manufacturing chemist. Arnold Hills was also ...

, the Chairman of

Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf (often referred to as Blackwall) on the west side and at Cannin ...

, saw the opportunity to fund a works side, so provided the money, in order that he may take over the tenancy of the Hermit Road ground, and Thames Ironworks was born. For the Ironworks' initial season of 1895–96, a number of Old Castle Swifts players were absorbed into the newly formed team. Among them were half-backs William Morton, Walter Parks and John Woods, forwards Jamie Lindsay and George Sage, and full-back Robert Stevenson, who became the Ironworks' first ever captain. Goalkeeper David Furnell would also eventually join Thames Ironworks in 1897. The club later became

. The light blue shirts, white shorts and scarlet socks that were worn by Thames Ironworks from the 1897–98 season, and also by the early West Ham United team, are thought to have originated with Old Castle Swifts.

Honours

Winners 1892–93

Players

Notes

References

{{reflist Association football clubs established in 1892 Association football clubs disestablished in 1895 Defunct football clubs in England West Ham United F.C. 1892 establishments in England 1895 disestablishments in England Defunct football clubs in London Sport in the London Borough of Newham Works association football teams in England