Old Castle Swifts
Full nameOld Castle Swifts Football Club
Nickname(s)The Swifts[1]
Founded1892 as Castle Swifts F.C.
Dissolved1895
GroundDunottar Park 1892
Temple Meadows 1892–1894
Hermit Road 1894–1895
Capacity1,000
ChairmanDonald Currie

Old Castle Swifts Football Club, the first professional football club in Essex,[2] was formed by Scottish shipowner Donald Currie in September 1892 as Castle Swifts Football Club. The club's first home ground, located in West Ham, 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.

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 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.[3]

Castles Swifts' first home ground, a field located opposite the West Ham 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 3d.[3]

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. The Denmark Arms would later be used by many West Ham United fans before matches at the Boleyn Ground.[3]

In March 1893 they faced Barking Woodville in the final of the West Ham Charity Cup, 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."[3]

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, 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.[2]

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.[4] The club resigned from the London FA as a result.[5]

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.[3]

Thames Ironworks

Arnold Hills, the Chairman of Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd, 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 West Ham United.[2][3] 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.[6][7]

Honours

Players

Sources:[2][3][8]
Player Position Apps Gls Date Signed Previous Club
Castle Swifts' 1892–93 West Ham Charity Cup-winning team
Lewis GK 1+ 1892
A. McFarlane RB 1+ 1892 Upton Park
Benbow LB 1+ 1892
Leith RH 1+ 1892
W. McFarlane CH 1+ 1892 Upton Park
Baird LH 1+ 1892
Murray RW 1+ 1892
Mitchell IR 1+ 1 1892
Fraser CF 1+ 1892
Taylor IL 1+ 1 1892
Grundy LW 1+ 1 1892
Other known players
H. Butterworth CF 0+ 1894 Old St. Luke's F.C.
Cooper 0+ 1894
Craig[9] HB 0+ ?
Cunningham 0+ 1894 Millwall Athletic
David Furnell GK 0+ 1894 Old St. Luke's F.C.
William Hickman LH 0+ 1893 Old St. Luke's F.C.
Jamie Lindsay FB/FW 0+ 1894 Millwall Athletic
McLachlan[nb 1] GK 0+ ?
Frank McCulloch FW 0+ 1894 Millwall Athletic
John Morrison I/OL 0+ 1894 Old St. Luke's F.C.
William Morton RH 0+ 1894
Walter Parks LH 0+ 1893 Old St. Luke's F.C.
George Sage IR 0+ 1894 Old St. Luke's F.C.
Robert Stevenson RB 0+ 1895 Woolwich Arsenal
Johnny Stewart HB/FW 0+ 1894 Old St. Luke's F.C.
Thompson[nb 1] 0+ ?
Tyler[nb 1] 0+ ?
Willing 0+ 1894 Millwall Athletic
John Thomas Archer Woods WH/OR 0+ 1893 Old St. Luke's F.C.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c McLachlan, Thompson and Tyler are known to have played in a friendly against Swindon Town on 16 March 1895.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ a b "West Ham Charity Cup". Essex Standard. 25 March 1893. p. 7. Retrieved 15 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ^ a b c d Blows, Kirk; Hogg, Tony (2000). The Essential History of West Ham United. Headline. pp. 15–16. ISBN 0-7472-7036-8.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Powles, John (2005). Iron in the Blood. Nottingham: Soccerdata. pp. 7–13. ISBN 1 899468 22 6.
  4. ^ Jerome K. Jerome, ed. (10 November 1894). To-day. W. A. Dunkerley. p. 24 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ "Football". London Evening News. 7 November 1894. p. 2 – via NewspaperArchive.com. Free access icon
  6. ^ "Hammers launch new third kit". Knees up Mother Brown. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  7. ^ Simkin, John (2 September 2009). "The history of West Ham United colours". Hammers News. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  8. ^ Belton, Brian (2006). West Ham United Miscellany. Pennant Books. p. 2. ISBN 0-9550394-4-4.
  9. ^ "The Football". The Evening News. London. 19 October 1895. p. 8 – via NewspaperArchive.com. Free access icon
  10. ^ "The Football". Evening News & Post. London. 23 March 1895. p. 1 – via NewspaperArchive.com. Free access icon
  11. ^ "Head-To-Head vs. Old Castle Swifts". swindon-town-fc.co.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
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