The Clapton Community FC men’s first team finally play their first home league of the year on February 5 against our East London neighbours.

After a faltering run of three defeats in the last four away league games, including one away at Sporting Hackney, Geoff Ocran’s team need to bounce back.

It’s by no means all gloomy though as the team have reached two cup semi-finals in the last two weeks and are in the quarter-final of the third.

Sporting are on a decent run themselves, going unbeaten in their last five league games, to sit six points behind us with two games in hand.

This will be our fifth competitive game with The Parrots, who like ourselves are among the five teams gunning for promotion

One thing is for sure, it should be entertaining, with an average 4 goals per game in our previous clashes, of which we have the edge – won 2 drawn 1 and lost 1.

Our visitors were established in 1986 and over the years have moved up the ranks of grassroots football.

They joined the Middlesex County Football League in 2009/10 while playing at Haggerston Park and moved to Hackney Marshes two seasons later.

The Parrots won the Division One title and promotion in their first season and then the Premier title and cup double in 2013/14.

However, they were unable to accept promotion to Step 6 due to a lack of suitable ground.

In 2015 they lifted the Alec Smith Premier Division Cup with goals in the final scored by two future Clapton FC players, Emyr Rowlands and Quentin Monville. 

They have left their home borough now – just like Hackney Wick did before them – to play at Barking FC in order to be eligible for promotion.

Match information

Clapton CFC vs Sporting Hackney is on Saturday, February 5 2022 at 2pm at the Stray Dog, Wadham Lodge, Kitchener Road, Walthamstow.

Advanced tickets are not needed, you can just turn up. Entry as usual is free but with donations welcome, with a suggested £3 for waged adults.

We will have a mini programme available at the entrance, pick one up for free, donations welcome.

Fusion Foods are back selling hot food. They will have meat, veggie and vegan options and accept cards or cash. The Matchday Centres bar will be open.

We are collecting for our charity partners Magpie Project but it’s toiletries only, they can’t accept foodbank donations right now.

Directions

• Wadham Lodge is about 20 minutes walk from Walthamstow Central station. Turn onto Hoe Street and follow the road all the way along (past the junction with The Bell pub) until Chingford Lane. Continue past Sir George Monoux 6th Form College and take the first right onto Brookscroft Road then left onto Kitchener Road.
• You can catch a bus along that route too. The 357, 34, 97, 215 will all take you to the top of Brookscroft Road from Walthamstow Central. It will take about 12 minutes.
• There’s also car parking space available at the ground but it may be better to park on a street nearby.

Covid rules

• Please do not attend if you are ill, have symptoms, tested positive, been told to self-isolate or have been pinged
• If you’re arriving by public transport, a reminder that face masks are still compulsory unless exempt
• Spectators are encouraged to wear face masks indoors, such as when visiting the bar or toilets
• There’s hand sanitiser at the entrance and a QR code for those checking in on the app
• Free NHS lateral flow tests are available and we recommend you take a test before the game
• Please follow the signs around the site and instructions from matchday volunteers
• Spread out around the ground as much as you can

An important note

Matchday Centres have asked us to ensure that there is no more use of pyro, flares, smoke etc on their property.

This has caused damage to their facilities and complaints from staff, officials and neighbours.

They have also banned glass bottles after a serious incident during a game not involving Clapton.

We have a good working relationship with MDC, who have played an invaluable role in helping us establish the club.

They have said that a failure to observe these rules will lead to sanctions that would be damaging for the club, including but not limited to requiring us to play behind closed doors.

We ask all our fans to respect MDC’s requests in solidarity with our teams and everyone who works hard to run the club.