Thamesmead Town F.C.
| Thamesmead Town badge | |||
| Full name | Thamesmead Town Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Mead | ||
| Founded | 1969 (as Thamesmead) | ||
| Ground | Bayliss Avenue Thamesmead London | ||
| Capacity | 6,000 (661 seated) | ||
| Chairman | Terry Hill | ||
| Manager | Keith McMahon | ||
| League | Isthmian League Division One North | ||
| 2013–14 | Isthmian League Premier Division, 22nd (relegated) | ||
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Thamesmead Town F.C. is a football club based in the London district of Thamesmead, straddling the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Bexley. They joined the Kent League in 1991 and reached the 5th round of the FA Vase in the 1995–96 season. In the 2007–08 season, they were champions of the Kent League Premier Division and were promoted to the Isthmian League Division One North for the 2008–09 season. In the 2012-13 season, they won the Division One North play-offs and were promoted to the Isthmian League Premier Division for the first time in their history, but were relegated back after finishing 22nd the following season.
History
Thamesmead F.C. was formed in 1969 as a community team for local youngsters. The club merged with Southlake FC in 1973, and by 1979 were fielding a Saturday team, playing on park pitches at Crossways. In 1980 the club entered the London Spartan League at the Intermediate Division Three level. They dominated the intermediate divisions in the early 1980s, but were unable to gain promotion to the Senior Division until they gained senior status. At around this time, they played matches at the Meridian Sports Ground in Charlton.
In 1985, the club changed its name to Thamesmead Town FC, and later that year they relocated to Bayliss Avenue. The club finally gained senior status during the summer of 1987 and were accepted into the London Spartan League Premier Division for the 1987–88 season. The club joined the Kent League in June 1990, where they remained until 2008, generally finishing amongst the top half dozen in the table. In 2002–03, they missed the runner-up spot on goal difference, despite having more points than Cray Wanderers, who won the League! This was due to placings being decided on points per game after Faversham Town failed to complete the season.
In 2007–08, Thamesmead Town were champions of the Kent League, winning the title on the last day of the season. The title ensured promotion to the Isthmian League, where they were elected to play in Division One North in 2008–09. In 2012-13, Thamesmead finished 3rd in this division. They beat Witham Town 3-2 in the play-off semi-final and Maldon & Tiptree on penalties in the final to gain promotion to the Isthmian League Premier Division for the first time in their history.[1] The following season, however, Thamesmead were relegated back to Division One North, where they currently remain. At the end of January 2015 manager Keith McMahon quit the club after 11 years at the helm. Peter Deadman and Grant Spelling were appointed as caretaker managers while interviews for the position take place.
Stadium
The club plays at 30 Bayliss Ave, London, SE28 8NJ. The stadium has an official capacity is 6,000 (the vast majority standing). The ground was officially opened in August 1988 with a match against the then FA Cup holders Wimbledon.
The clubhouse, pitches and car park and other original facilities were constructed at a cost of £450,000, and further improvements were carried out in 2000, including the addition of perimeter railings and hard standing on the dugout side of the pitch.
Improvements have continued since then, including the erection of a new 125 seat stand, replacing two smaller stands with bench seating.
The club carried out remedial work to the ground in March 2008, in order to comply with ground requirements to play at Isthmian League level. This work included adding 36 seats to the seated stand (increasing the seating capacity to 161), building a temporary covered stand, enclosing the ground with a wooden fence and adding two turnstiles as well as outside toilet facilities. The remedial work was passed by F.A. inspectors on 1 April 2008.
Development began on a new £4.2m redevelopment of the Bayliss Avenue ground in May 2009 as part of the Sporting Club Thamesmead project, co-ordinated and part funded by local leading development agency, Trust Thamesmead. After several delays, the new facilities and arena were opened in July 2013.
The main arena has a main stand with 500 seats and a balcony overlooking the main pitch from the pavilion (this is in addition to the existing 161 seater stand, relocated to behind the goal in 2009/10 to enable development.) The pavilion contains a bar, changing facilities and an indoor sports hall and gym. The main arena pitch is surrounded by terracing, covered at one end, with the rest of the ground consisting of a second 3G sports pitch, two additional football pitches and multi use outdoor sports facilities available seven days a week to the local community.
Crest
The club crest is a traditional shield in design, white in background with green writing and logo.
The three wavy lines at the top denote the River Thames, which is just 200 yards from the clubs Bayliss Avenue ground. Below this are two cannons, in between which is the clubs full name.
The cannons derive from the town's previous use as a military testing ground for the local artillery munitions works in neighbouring Woolwich.
Before the building of the town of Thamesmead in the 1960s, the land consisted primarily of marshes where, since the 18th century, shots would be fired to test the accuracy and range of heavy artillery designed and built at the munitions works.
Until 2009/10, the crest prominently displayed the club’s initials, T.T.F.C. which had been an original part of the brest design. This has now been removed in a modified version of the badge, published in summer 2009.
Mascot
The clubs mascot is Tommy The Thamesmead Toad. Tommy is a 6-foot-tall (1.8 m) green toad, dressed in the Thamesmead Town kit.
Honours
- London Junior Cup:[2]
- Runners-up (1): 1983-84
Records
- Best league position: 22nd in Isthmian League Premier Division, 2013/14
- Best FA Cup performance: 2nd qualifying round, 1998–99, 2003–04, 2004–05; 2008–09 and 2013/14
- Best FA Vase performance: 5th round, 1995–96
- Record victory: 10-3 V Sporting Bengal, 26 August 2006
References
- ^ "Maldon & Tiptree 2-2 Thamesmead Town - When we're up against it we come out fighting, says McMahon". Kentishfootball.co.uk. 2013-05-05. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
- ^ "Memorandum Of Procedures For Dealing With Misconduct Occurring". Docstoc.com. 2010-04-24. Retrieved 2013-04-09.
Sources
- Thamesmead Town at the Football Club History Database
- Official Thamesmead Town F.C. website