Clapton C.F.C.

Clapton
Full nameClapton Community Football Club
Founded27 January 2018; 6 years ago (27 January 2018)
GroundThe Old Spotted Dog Ground, Forest Gate
Capacity2,000 (100 seated)
OwnerFan Owned
ManagerShahana Khanom (women's team)
Geoff Ocran (men's team)
LeagueSouthern Counties East League Division One
2023–24Eastern Counties League Division One South, 6th of 22 (transferred)
Websitehttps://www.claptoncfc.co.uk/
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Clapton Community F.C..

Clapton Community Football Club is a supporters fan owned members football club based in Forest Gate, London, England. Their men's team are currently members of the Southern Counties East League Division One. Their women's team compete in the London and South East Women's Regional Football League Division One North. Both teams play at The Old Spotted Dog in Forest Gate.

History

Clapton Community was formed on 27 January 2018 by disillusioned supporters of Clapton F.C. after what they deemed as mismanagement of the club by chairman Vince McBean.[1] During the club's debut season, they sold 11,500 away shirts, with 5,500 to Spain, after the kit was based on the International Brigades and the Flag of the Second Spanish Republic.[2][3]

On 11 May 2019, Clapton won the Middlesex County League Division One (Central and East), gaining promotion to the Premier Division, after a 3–0 win against FC Roast.[4] The club entered the FA Vase for the first time in 2019–20.[5]

In June 2019, the club announced the formation of a women's team with the former AFC Stoke Newington first team coming under the Clapton Community banner.[6] The women's team competed in Division One of the Greater London Women's Football League in the 2019–20 season but were promoted to the London and South East Women's Regional Football League Division One North in the 2021–22 season. In Women FA Cup, they realised the biggest achievement in the history of the club, by eliminating Hounslow WFC (3rd division).[7]

While the October 2020 Polish protests were taking place, the women's team expressed solidarity with the protesters by posing next to a banner dedicated to the women's rights protest, which has been noticed by Polish media.[8][9]

On 12 March 2021, the club won the Football Supporter Association's 'Lockdown Heroes' award for their Community Fund initiative, 'Clapton against Corona', fundraising and providing financial assistance to local people whose livelihood was affected by coronavirus.[10] The original club withdrew from competition in advance of the 2024–25 season, leaving Clapton CFC as the district's primary football club.[11]

Ground

The sign in front of the Old Spotted Dog Ground

Both the women's and men's first teams play at The Old Spotted Dog in Forest Gate.

On 17 September 2019, it was confirmed that Clapton Community had been awarded the lease at The Old Spotted Dog, following Clapton FC's eviction.[12] On 24 July 2020, Clapton Community announced that they had purchased the freehold for The Old Spotted Dog and become the new owners.[13]

From 2022 the women's first team play at The Old Spotted Dog, using changing rooms at the nearby Stratford School. After completion of the purchase of adjacent warehouse and renovation of the old changing rooms, the men's first team were able to join the women's first team in using The Old Spotted Dog as their home ground. Clapton Community youth teams train at the ground.

The men's development team, the women's development team and the women's open access team all usually play at Hackney Marshes. Clapton five-a-side teams, Clapton CFC Belters and Clapton CFC Massive play at Mabley Green in Hackney.

Supporters

Supporters of the club are known to be left-wing and are self-proclaimed anti-fascist.[14] The club have a number of ultras groups such as the Clapton Punks,[15] the Gravy Ultras,[16] Brigata Ultra Clapton, the SimpleTons and the UmarellOldtras.

Honours and awards

  • Middlesex County League
    • Premier Division champions: 2022–23
    • Division One (Central and East) champions: 2018–19
  • Hackney & Leyton Sunday Football League (Men's Development Team)
    • Division 3 champions: 2021–22
    • Division 2 promotion: 2022–23
    • Division 1 promotion: 2023–24
  • Jim Rogers President's Cup
    • Winners: 2018–19
  • Alec Smith Premier Division Cup
    • Winners: 2021–22
  • John Greenacre Memorial Trophy
    • Winners: 2021–22
  • The FSA Memorial Supporters' Shield
    • Winners: 2023–24, 2024-25 (Women)
    • Runners-up: 2023–24 (Men)
  • Anagram Records Trophy
    • Runners-up: 2018–19
  • Brian Lomax SD Cup
    • Runners-up: 2018–19
  • Capital Women's Cup
    • Runners-up: 2021–22
  • London & South East Regional Women's League Trophy
    • Runners-up: 2022–23
  • Super 5 League (Women's 5s Team)
    • Winners: 2020–21
  • Super 5s Beginners League (Women's 5s Team)
    • Winners: 2021
  • Super 5s Legacy Tournament (Women's 5s Team)
    • Winners: 2022
  • Super 5s Beginners League (Women's 5s Team)
    • Winners 2022
  • Amsterdam friendly tournament (Women's 5s Team)
    • Winners: 2022
  • Super 5 League Intermediate B (Women's 5s Team)
    • Runners-up: 2022
  • East London Ladies FC Anniversary Beginners Tournament (Clapton Cageys)
    • Winners: 2024
  • FSA Award Lockdown Heroes (Non-League)
    • Winners: 2020–21
  • Non-League Paper Community Club of the Year Award
    • Winners: 2022–23

London Womens Saturday League Division 2 winners 2023/24

Records

  • Best FA Women's Cup performance: Third round, 2021–22
  • Best FA Vase performance: Second round, 2024–25
  • Record attendance: 1,266 vs FC Roast, 11 May 2019

References

  1. ^ "Clapton Community FC reach 1,000 members". The Non-League Paper. 29 November 2018. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  2. ^ Martin Belam (31 August 2018). "'No pasarán': Spain laps up Clapton CFC's anti-fascist football kit". Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Clapton CFC online shirt sales have now CLOSED after a crazy few months". Clapton Community F.C. 11 March 2019. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  4. ^ "FC Roast 0 Clapton CFC 3: Adejokun fires Tons to title glory". Clapton Community F.C. 13 May 2019. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  5. ^ "The Buildbase FA Vase First Round Qualifying" (.ashx). The Football Association. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  6. ^ "Introducing the Clapton CFC women's first team". Clapton Community F.C. 24 June 2019. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  7. ^ "The Wonderful Cup Run of Clapton CFC Women's". Dialectik Football. 1 December 2021. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  8. ^ Krzysztof Kaczmarczyk (3 November 2020). "Wulgarny transparent strajku kobiet dotals do Anglii". Sportowe Fakty (in Polish). Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  9. ^ DS (2 November 2020). "Angielski klub piłkarski wspiera Strajk Kobiet. "Solidarność z Polkami!"". Sport.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  10. ^ Brunskill, Michael (12 March 2021). "FSA Awards in association with BeGambleAware". Football Supporters' Association. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Change in the SCEFL as one team replaces another". Clapton Community F.C. 18 June 2024. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  12. ^ "'It's coming home': Clapton CFC wins lease bid for Forest Gate's Old Spotted Dog ground". Newham Recorder. 17 September 2019. Archived from the original on 18 September 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  13. ^ "A truly historic day: Clapton Community FC are now the proud owners of The Old Spotted Dog!". Twitter. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  14. ^ "On the sidelines with football's favourite anti-fascists". Huck Mag. 12 September 2018. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Clapton Punks is on Instagram • 258 posts on their profile". www.instagram.com. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  16. ^ "Gravy Ultras". Twitter. Archived from the original on 13 June 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.

51°35′51″N 0°00′32″W / 51.5974°N 0.008996°W / 51.5974; -0.008996