West Ham Charity Cup

The West Ham Charity Cup was an amateur football tournament, known to have existed between 1895 and 1902. It was contested by teams from West Ham and the surrounding area, an area of Essex that has subsequently been absorbed into London.

It is known that three of the teams that contested the first tournament in 1895-96 were Barking, Park Grove and Thames Ironworks, who would later become West Ham United. In one of the semi-finals, Thames Ironworks beat Park Grove 1-0, in a game staged in Plaistow. Park Grove protested over a technicality and forced a replay at Beckton Road, which The Ironworks won 3-0.

Thames Ironworks faced Barking in the final on 21 March 1896 at The Spotted Dog Ground in Upton Lane, drawing 2-2. The match was replayed a week later, and again the teams drew, this time 0-0. Eventually the final was replayed for the second time on 20 April 1896 and The Irons won 1-0.

Three of the teams that contested the tournament in 1896-97 were Manor Park, West Ham Garfield and, again, Thames Ironworks. The Ironworks beat Manor Park in the semi-final, before losing the final on 20 March 1897 0-1 to West Ham Garfield.

In April 1902 Clapton Orient won the tournament by beating Clapton F.C. 1-0 at the latter's Spotted Dog ground.




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