The Old Spotted Dog Ground in

Forest Gate Forest Gate is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England. It is located northeast of Charing Cross. The area's name relates to its position adjacent to Wanstead Flats, the southernmost part of Epping Forest. The town ...

is the oldest senior

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 ...

ground in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Clapton Community FC the fan-owned club purchased the ground in June 2020, having been initially awarded the lease. The previous tenants Clapton FC and Hackney Wick FC were ejected from the ground in 2018 due in part to a breach in the lease following non-payment of rent. Clapton Community FC Women's team were able to play their first league games at the Old Spotted Dog from September 2022. Clapton CFC are now the owners of the Old Spotted Dog and projects are under way as of now (April 2023) to refurbish the OSD. On April 26, 2023, Clapton CFC hosted the first competitive match at the Dog since 2019 when they defeated Kensington Dragons 3-0.

History

The grounds were originally part of the Old Spotted Dog Hunting Lodge, famously used by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. The lodge later became a pub, the Spotted Dog, still featuring parts of its original facade, is now a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

building (although closed down in 2004 the structure has since fallen into disrepair). The lands behind the pub became a sports ground, used primarily for

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...

matches before switching its usage to football.The Old Spotted Dog ground
Clapton FC Clapton FC moved to the ground in 1888 after learning that

St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (died ...

had given up their tenancy.History
Clapton FC The former Hackney club played the first match at the ground on 29 September 1888 against Old Carthusians, winning 1–0 in front of over 4,000 spectators. The highest attendance at the ground for a Clapton match was recorded as 12,000 for an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

game against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

during the 1898–99 season.Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) ''Non-League Club Directory 2013'', p658 Clapton's former status as one of English football's leading amateur clubs saw The Old Spotted Dog host a number of high-profile matches, including contests with,

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 ...

and Ajax of Amsterdam. Neighbours, West Ham, also used the ground as home to their youth and 'A' teams during the 1960s and brought their World Cup winning stars to feature in The Dog's first match under floodlights in 1966. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the ground was used as an

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

station.

Tenancy dispute

At the start of the 2019–20 season, Clapton FC lost the lease for the ground, due to non-payment of rent. This marked the end of their 140-year playing history at the site. On 17 September 2019, it was announced that Clapton Community FC, a fan-owned club built by former fans of Clapton FC in 2018, had been awarded the lease to the ground, allowing the new fan operated club to play there. On 24 July 2020, Clapton Community FC announced that they had purchased the freehold for the Old Spotted Dog and become the new owners.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Old Spotted Dog Ground Clapton F.C. Football venues in England Football venues in London Sport in the London Borough of Newham Defunct cricket grounds in England Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Newham Sports venues completed in 1888 Forest Gate

History

Tenancy dispute

See also

References