Walthamstow Avenue Football Club is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

football club based in Walthamstow in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

. Based at

Green Pond Road Green Pond Road was a football stadium in Walthamstow, London and the home ground of Walthamstow Avenue until they merged with Leytonstone & Ilford to form Redbridge Forest, a precursor to Dagenham & Redbridge. The ground was often simply call ...

, they played in dark and light blue hooped shirts, and light blue shorts. The club was established in 1900, and were one of the most successful amateur clubs in the country during the 1950s. The club ceased to exist in 1988 when it merged into

Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, ...

/ Ilford, who later became Redbridge Forest and merged with Dagenham to form Dagenham and Redbridge. They have since been revived as an amateur football club, currently playing in the Sunday Essex Corinthian League.

History

Founded in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

, the club joined Division Two of the London League in 1901, but left at the end of the season. In 1929 they joined the

Athenian League The Athenian League was an English amateur football league for clubs in and around London. The league was originally to be called the Corinthian League,Athenian Football League minutes 1912-1921 (National Football Museum, Preston). but this nam ...

and won the league in their first season. In

1930–31 Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condit ...

they reached the first round of the

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 ...

for the first time, losing 5–1 at home to

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

. The club won back-to-back titles in 1932–33 and 1933–34, and in 1936-37 defeated Football League opposition in the FA Cup for the first time, beating

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

6–1 in the first round, before losing 3–2 to

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

in the second round. The following season they won the Athenian League title for a fourth time, before retaining it the following season. After

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 opposing ...

the club switched to the Isthmian League, and were its first post-war champions in the 1945–46 season. In 1951–52 they won the FA Amateur Cup, defeating

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...

2–1 in the final. They won the league again in 1952–53, a season in which they also reached the fourth round of the

. Entering at the first round stage as a reward for winning the Amateur Cup the previous season, they defeated Wimbledon in the first round,

in a second round replay, and

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

in the third round, becoming the first amateur club to reach the fourth round for 24 years."Electric Avenue" ''When Saturday Comes'', February 2013, p34 Drawn away to Old Trafford, they held Manchester United to a 1–1 draw, before losing the replay, which was moved to

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was sit ...

, 5–2. The following season saw the club defeat Gillingham in the first round of the FA Cup before losing to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

in a second round replay. In 1954–55 they won their third and final Isthmian League title, and also reached the second round of the FA Cup again after defeating

QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football, football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home ...

in a second replay in the first round, the last time they defeated a Football League club. In 1960–61 the club won the Amateur Cup, defeating West Auckland Town 2–1 in the final. In 1986–87 the club finished bottom of the Premier Division of the Isthmian League, and were relegated to Division One. The 1987–88 was the club's last one, with the club merging into Leytonstone/Ilford, who were later renamed Redbridge Forest.

Modern-day side

A modern-day Walthamstow Avenue, registered as Walthamstow Avenue 2000, was formed on what would have been the original Walthamstow Avenue's centenary anniversary in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

. Playing at Town Mead in Waltham Abbey, they competed in the London County League for three seasons, before switching to the

Middlesex County Football League The Middlesex County Football League is a football competition based in England loosely drawing teams from the central, northern and western parts of Greater London. The league was founded in 1984 and initially had only one division, although it ...

for the 2003–04 season. In 2005 they merged with Walthamstow Pennant (founded in 2002, and themselves a revival of a team that merged with Leyton in 1995) to form Walthamstow Avenue & Pennant. The new club merged with Mauritius Sports in 2007 to form Mauritius Sports & Pennant. Since the previous revival, Walthamstow Avenue has been revived as an Amateur Sunday League side based in Leyton.

Honours

*Athenian League **Champions: 1929–30, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1937–38, 1938–39 * Isthmian League **Champions: 1945–46, 1952–53, 1954–55 * FA Amateur Cup **Winners: 1951–52, 1960–61

Kenneth wilson greenhorn

1. Players that have played/managed in the Football League or any foreign equivalent to this level (i.e. fully professional league).
2. Players with full international caps.
3. Players that hold a club record. * David Silman * Stephen Wilkins * Robin Friday * Arthur Hitchins

References

External links

*{{fchd, id=WALTHAMA, name=Walthamstow Avenue
The History of Walthamstow Avenue F.C. 1900–1988
Association football clubs established in 1900 Association football clubs disestablished in 1988 Defunct football clubs in England Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. Defunct football clubs in London Isthmian League Athenian League 1900 establishments in England 1988 disestablishments in England Walthamstow Redbridge Forest F.C.