Could Saturday’s game on the Hackney Marshes show pitch be a historic final nomadic ‘home’ game for the Clapton CFC men’s first team after a long, drawn-out move to our own ground?

We’re working flat on the Old Spotted Dog Ground to pass the promotion ground grading by March 31 – see our fundraiser for more details.

If we do so, we should also be able to play our final two home games this season at the OSD, where our women’s first team have played all season.

Indian Gymkhana have had an excellent season, and were the early pacesetters winning eight of the first nine games. They still have the best defensive record and if they win their games in hand, they go second and cut our lead to five points.

Last week they beat Shepherd’s Bush in the semi of the Alec Smith Premier Division Cup – which we won last year – to reach the final against CB Hounslow United Reserves.

Our record against Indian Gymkhana wasn’t traditionally good, losing our first three meetings. The Gymkhana Jinx was finally broken last March, with a win on the Stray Dog, and we followed that up with a 2-0 win at their ground in October. So they still have the edge overall.

About Indian Gymkhana

Indian Gymkhana is a combined cricket, football and hockey club, Established in 1916, it is the largest and longest-standing multiracial sports club in the UK.

The football section was created in the 1980s and now has men’s, women’s, boys’ and girls’ teams.

It was the first Asian football club in Britain to set up a girls’ team and they are determined to see girls and boys get the same opportunities.

The club have worked closely with Sporting Equals and Brentford FC to help develop their girls team and have also worked with Nike.

The football section also runs a health and fitness programme, open to anyone that’s interested in keeping fit as their primary goal.

Match information

Clapton CFC vs Indian Gymkhana is on Saturday, March 18 2023 at 2.30pm at the Hackney Marshes Show Pitch off Homerton Road, Hackney London E9 5PF

No tickets are required. As usual it’s free to watch but with donations welcome, with a suggested £3 for waged adults. We will have a mini programme available, pick one up for free, donations welcome.

There is a bar including a rooftop terrace overlooking the pitch on the first floor of the Hackney Marshes Centre as well as a cafe on the ground floor.

The Hackney Marshes Show Pitch is next to Hackney Marshes Centre and is 18 minutes’ walk from Homerton (Overground), 20 minutes from Hackney Wick (Overground), 21 minutes from Leyton (Central), 24 from Stratford International (DLR), Hackney Central (Overground) and 30 from Stratford (National Rail/Overground/Elizabeth/Jubilee/Central/DLR).

The match will be on a roped off pitch with no cover so wrap up warm (or shelter in the bar/under the balcony if it rains!)