- 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 ofEssex that has subsequently been absorbed intoLondon .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-final s, 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 TheSpotted 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 on20 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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