Browning Road was the home ground of London football club
Thames Ironworks, the team that would become
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 ...
, towards the end of the
1896–97 season.
Thames Ironworks had been handed an eviction notice from their previous
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 ...
ground in October 1896 for violating their tenancy agreement and had to play their next four fixtures at the grounds of their opponents, until Thames' chairman
Arnold Hills managed to lease a temporary piece of land for the team, located at Browning Road,
East Ham.
Thames' first game at their new home came on 6 March 1897 in a 3–2 win over
Ilford. However, the new situation was not ideal, as explained by future Ironworks player and West Ham United manager
Syd King
Ernest Sydney "Syd" King (1 August 1873 – 14 February 1933) was a footballer and manager, and one of the most important figures in the early history of West Ham United.
Playing career
Born Chatham, Kent and educated at Watford Grammar School ...
in his 1906 book:
With the club's presence never likely to be permanent, chairman
Arnold Hills earmarked a large piece of land in
Canning Town and would eventually spend
£20,000 on the construction of the
Memorial Grounds.
On 8 April 1897 came not only Thames Ironworks' last game of the season but their last game at Browning Road. The game against
Barking Woodville ended 1–1.
References
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West Ham United F.C.
Defunct football venues in England
Sports venues in London
Sport in the London Borough of Newham
Sports venues completed in 1897
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