Clapton v Ilford

Old Spotted Dog Ground

Essex Senior League

October 10, 2015

Ground No 176

CLAPTON FC: Part football club, part bitter power struggle, part socio-political rabble-rousing, tub-thumping, conscience-pricking hub of community activism.

The word "unique" is over-used but there surely can't be another club like this anywhere. And I genuinely don't know if I'll ever enjoy a matchday as much as this, anywhere.

The afternoon started with a delicious Swahili meal in a Kenyan café then a pint in the Red House, around the corner.

The Red House (built in 1717, redeveloped in the 1870s is a beautiful old building now occupied by St Antony's Catholic Club. Save for the blackboard outside declaring 'Come in in for a drink' you would never in a million years guess this was a pre-match drinking hole.

In it we met a member of 'the Real Clapton FC' and, for a small donation, acquired a couple of their alternative matchday programmes (which turned out to be far better than the official ones - plenty more to read, with spot colour. Oh and the official versions, basically a black and white photocopy, had Clapton v Newham on the front and the Takeley squad where the Ilford players should have been listed).

Basically the 'Real Clapton' fans hate the bloke in charge of the club. They believe he conned his way into power, which he refutes, and that the make-up of the club under his ownership is not bona fide, So they've formed their own members' club and committee and consider themselves to be the, well, real Clapton FC.

The fans are also very, very much against fascists and bigots. The unofficial programmes proudly proclaim 'No place for homophobia, fascism, racism, sexism" and the hardcore Clapton Ultras have a proud recent history of encouraging social inclusion, welcoming and helping refugees and standing up to far right idiots.

So very, very much not your average Essex Senior League club then,

This being Non-league Day both the club and the fans offered their own incentives to fans - the former by way of free entry to OAPs and under-18s; drinks offers and a free raffle to win season tickets; the latter by paying entrance fees for fans who were unemployed, on benefits, refugees or asylum-seekers.

And sure enough a big crowd turned up - a whopping 761 to be precise, the second biggest attendance ever for an Essex Senior League match.

There's absolutely no clue whatsoever that you're about to enter a football arena as you approach the Old Spotted Dog Ground. Even the historic old pub that gave its name to the ground is closed and boarded up now.

Entrance is along a passageway next to the old pub, past the fans' merchandise stall (antifascista scarves £8  - a fiver if you're unwaged)then through one of two turnstiles - which were kept clicking until near on half-time due to the large number of fans queuing to get in.

It's fair to say this is a ramshackle old ground - a basic one at that. No Tannoy, small, unkempt and seemingly uncared for too. I'd seen someone describe the pitch as "like playing on egg boxes" and you could see where they were coming from.

If it really was a spotted dog it would probably have been carted off to the vet and put to sleep well before now. But like a well-loved, if aging, family pet, we're glad it's still there to lavish our love and affection on.

To the right as you enter is the clubhouse with a small strip of concrete in front.

Along the side is mainly hard-standing except for a small, squat modern stand with seven rows of plastic seating overlooking the halfway life and behind the goal is more hard-standing but with a grass bank behind and three steps of terracing in the middle - this being home to Casuals who provided the half-time entertainment by way of setting off flares.

But it's the far side that provides the beating heart of this vibrant, energetic club. That's where the Ultras stand, sing and cheer, bringing a fervency and passion simply unheard of in the Essex Senior League.

Young people, male and female, in their hundreds nor just enjoying a step-five non-league football match but creating a lively, passionate atmosphere. Incredible. Far from your usual non-league demographic.

The hub of it all was the small scaffold stand where the Scaffold Brigada beat the drum - literally and metaphorically - for the things that mattered most to them.

BYO cans in hand (and singing 'We are recycling' as they diligently cleared up afterwards) the Ultras sang, chanted and danced their way through the afternoon. Where else in the country would you hear hundreds of voices (and there must have been at least 400 fans along that side) chanting 'Alerta, altera, antifascista'?

You can argue that much of the Ultras' passionate proclamations have nothing to do with football. But if football clubs are supposed to be at the heart of their community, the voice of that community has a right to be heard.

There were flares, flags and banners (two unfurled from the roof of the scaffold stand ad half-time, one proclaiming 'refugees welcome') too and it didn't stop on the final whistle either.

I've never witnessed anything like this before, but at the end of the game both teams walked over to face the Ultras. After mutual applause and hand-shaking I thought that would be it. Oh no!

The Ultras sang their hearts out as the players stood and showed their appreciation. At one point everyone in the crowd crouched down, remaining silent as they did so... and the players did too! Then they all leapt to their feet again, bursting back into full lung-bursting voice and waving their arms as they did so.

If I hadn't been there myself I'd have been convinced that that an afternoon like this could never happen. But it did because I was there.