Bad news, everyone. Following a pitch inspection by the landlords, we’ve been informed that the Stray Dog pitch isn’t playable and the match needs to be postponed.

The waterlogging caused by the storm last weekend meant that no maintenance work could be carried out on it, as the machinery wasn’t usable while the ground was waterlogged. We tried our best to find a late replacement pitch but no joy.

Everyone will be gutted that we can’t get together for a big home game after a tough few weeks, but it’s simply proved impossible.

We’ll see you all at the home games in Walthamstow next weekend instead – the men’s first team on Saturday at Wadham Lodge Stadium in the BBC Essex Cup semi-final, women’s first team on Sunday in the league cup against QPR Reserves at the Stray Dog,

Two of the top sides from the Middlesex County Football League take a break from league action for the semi-final of the league cup.

In fact it’s the first of two home cup semi-finals in two weeks while Geoff Ocran’s Tons and Cricklewood are among the five in the hunt for promotion.

The Alec Smith Premier Cup is the league cup competition for teams in our division – the equivalent of the Jim Rogers Trophy which we won in our inaugural CCFC season.

We’ve saved some of our best performances of the season for this tournament, beating Sporting Hackney 5-2 away, then Larkspur Rovers 6-0 at home.

Meanwhile Cricklewood have won two tricky away games, firstly at Wilberforce Wanderers and then CB Hounslow United Reserves.

If we’re level at 90 minutes, we’ll go straight to penalties, so there will be a result on the day.

Today’s winners will face Brentham or Kensington Dragons in the final, which will be held on the evening of Saturday, April 30.

This will be our first meeting at home in front of spectators as our previous two home games have been behind closed doors due to Covid reasons.

Wanderers have been consistently near the top of the table in the last few unfinished seasons, in second place in 2019/20 then sixth in 2020/21.

Our record against them is mixed. Our first away visit resulted in a 5-0 loss in 2019, while earlier this season we earned a 2-1 comeback win.

At home we’ve had a 1-1 draw in 2019/20, and then a 2-0 win in the post-season Middlesex Super 6 League competition.

Cricklewood Wanderers have a short, but inspirational history. The club was formed in 2011 by a group of young people with help from homeless charity Ashford Place.

It is now run by Youth Engagement Solutions (YES), a charity which helps young people in education, employment, training, sport and health. They have four teams – boys, girls, first team and reserves.

Match information

Clapton CFC vs Cricklewood Wanderers is on Saturday, February 26 2022 at 1,30pm 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.

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.