Thames A.F.C. were an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club from

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, east London, which played in the Football League between

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

and

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

Name

Unlike other AFCs such as Sunderland A.F.C., the word Association was initially presented as part of the club name – i.e. Thames Association or Thames Association FC. The "Association" was abbreviated upon joining the Football League, giving the team the more regular name of Thames AFC.

History

They were founded in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

, in a similar manner to Sheffield United, Liverpool, New Brighton Tower and nearby Chelsea: to play on a ground which had no football club in residence. 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

area of Essex (now part of the

London Borough of Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

); 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 Eastern Division, 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 middle of 1930, in place of

Merthyr Town Merthyr Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Tref Merthyr) is a Welsh semi-professional association football, football club based in Merthyr Tydfil, currently playing in the , in the seventh tier of the English football league system. The ...

. Their request to join the league was considered alongside applications from Aldershot, Llanelli and

Argonauts The Argonauts (; Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, '' Argo'', ...

. The success of their application required them to suddenly upgrade the quality of the team. To achieve this objective, the newly promoted club placed an advert for ''"First Class Players Wanted. All Positions"'' in the June edition of the Athletic News. Thames continued to field a reserve side in the Southern League for a single further season, before withdrawing entirely in 1931. Thames' spell in the Football League was a short and unhappy one. The club struggled to attract spectators. It established a supporters' group, which at one point had over 1,000 members. However, this effort did not translate into a reliable supporter base that would regularly attend matches. 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 known attendance for a Saturday Football League match; just 469 fans paid to watch Thames play Luton Town on 6 December 1930. Unable to compete with established teams nearby, such as Charlton Athletic, Clapton Orient, Millwall and West Ham United, Thames struggled. By December 1931, the club was under severe financial pressure. To keep the club afloat, the players agreed to take a pay cut. 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 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. They were replaced by Aldershot. Thames AFC are not the same club as Thames Ironworks FC, a club that predated them by over 30 years, and would go on to be renamed West Ham United.

Seasons

Players

Notable players for Thames included former England international

Jimmy Dimmock James Henry Dimmock (5 December 1900 – 23 December 1972) was a footballer who scored the winning goal for Tottenham Hotspur in the 1921 FA Cup Final. He played as an outside left and became the fans' favourite with his mazy runs and trickery, ...

, former

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

internationals Len Davies and

Moses Russell Moses Richard Russell (20 May 1888 – 18 December 1946) was a Welsh international footballer, who played most of his career with Plymouth Argyle. A full back, he attained 23 caps for the Wales national football team. Early career Russell was ...

and ex-

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

striker Henry White. Eddie Perry went on to be a

international.

Colours

Thames' home colours were red and blue quartered shirts with white shorts and black socks with red and blue trim.

Records and statistics

Thames' record for their two seasons in the Football League was played 84, won 20, drew 17, lost 47, scored 107 and conceded 202. The club's record league win was 6–3, against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

on 2 April 1932, while their record league loss was 8–0, against Luton Town on 11 April 1931 and

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

on 28 March 1932. The furthest they ever reached in the FA Cup was the First Round proper, in 1929–30, 1930–31 and 1931–32. In total, 103,698 fans watched all of Thames' games, at an average of 2,469 per game, which ranks them as 122 out of all the 130 Football League teams in terms of attendance. The club's record highest attendance was approximately 8,000, against Exeter City in August 1931.

References

External links

Aerial photograph of West Ham StadiumThames Association F.C. on Football Club History DatabaseThames A.F.C. on Football Club History Database
{{former football league members Association football clubs established in 1928 Association football clubs disestablished in 1932 Defunct football clubs in England Defunct English Football League clubs Defunct football clubs in London Southern Football League clubs 1928 establishments in England 1932 disestablishments in England