1900s in London - Thames Ironworks F.C. Season 1899-1900 (Paperback)

Chapters: Thames Ironworks F.c. Season 1899-1900. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 61. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: For the 1899-1900 season, Thames Ironworks F.C. adopted claret and blue 'uniforms' for the first time. Charlie Dove had got the kits for the club at a very cheap price of 3.10s. They had come from his father William Dove, who was a professional sprinter of national repute, as well as being one of the coaches at Thames Ironworks. During the summer of 1899, Bill Dove had been at a fair in Birmingham, close to Villa Park, the home ground of Aston Villa. The scrawny looking Dove had been challenged to a race against four Villa players, who wagered money that one of them would win. Bill Dove defeated them, and when they were unable to pay the bet, one of the Villa players who was responsible for washing the team's kit offered a complete side's 'uniforms' to Dove in payment of the bet. The Aston Villa player subsequently reported to his club that the kit was 'missing'. Thames Ironworks, and West Ham United would continue to use their previous favoured colours of white, sky blue or navy for their away kit. To bolster the squad for their first season in Southern League Division One, Arnold Hills supplied a transfer fund of 1,000 to club secretary Francis Payne, who chose to build on the team ethic by buying players already familiar with each other. From New Brompton he brought in right-half Alec Gentle and left-back Syd King who would go on to become West Ham United's first manager in 1902. Payne also raided Tottenham for three forward players, bringing in inside-right Kenny McKay, centre-forward Bill Joyce, who was described as having a "few fancy thrills" and left-winger Tom Bradshaw, who was immediately appointed captain of the team. Bradshaw was a former England i...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=8952962