Thamesmead Town FC was a football club from the London district of the same name that is located around nine miles to the east of the city centre on the south bank of the River Thames.
The new town was developed from the late 1960's, with the football club being formed in 1969 as Thamesmead FC, which continued until its closure in October 2018.
The club was originally set out for local youngsters playing on a Sunday, merging with Southlake FC in 1973. In 1979 the club moved to playing Saturday football, playing on the park pitches at Crossways. A tear later Thamesmead joined the lower reaches of the London Spartan League as they played home games at the Meridian Sports Ground in Charlton.
In 1985 the club changed its name to Thamesmead Town as they moved to a new home at Bayliss Avenue, and a couple of seasons later they gained senior status and were admitted to the Premier Division of the London Spartan League. In 1991, the 'Mead' joined the Kent League where they became one of the better teams in the competition.
In 2002-03 Thamesmead finished as runners up to Cray Wanderers, but they were not to be denied in the 2007-08 season as they were crowned champions and promoted to the Isthmian League as extensive work was carried out at Bayliss Avenue in readiness for the higher level of football.
In May 2009 a huge development began at Bayliss Avenue with the aid of local funding to build a new Main Stand and sporting and club facilities including a separate 3G pitch for community use. Unfortunately the scheme hit many snags along the way, with the stand likely to be use for the beginning of the 2013-14 season.
The previous Main Stand at Bayliss Avenue |
My visits
Wednesday 4th October 2006
With me having a day off work I decided it would be a good day to venture to south east London and north Kent to visit some new venues. After alighting at North Greenwich station I took the 472 bus past The Valley and into the new town of Thamesmead.
I said my goodbyes and took another bus past Abbey Wood station, past the retail complex where Erith & Belvedere once played and to the home of Erith Town.
Thamesmead Town 2 Charlton Athletic 3 after extra time (Tuesday 23rd April 2013) Kent Senior Cup Semi Final (att: 212)
After completing my set of night shifts I woke up on a lovely day and enjoyed a lovely lunch with my old friend Ross Sullivan. After a walk in the sun through Regents Park we went our separate ways as I checked out any last minute changes to the midweek fixtures at home.
I wasn't sure whether it was the hot weather, but there was a strange clientele on board the train. All was revealed when I alighted as the O2 Arena was staging WWE. I always thought it took a strange breed to pay to watch that rubbish, but they could probably claim the same about me and my adventures.
The crowd around the bus stop was huge, and a sign told awaiting passengers that there were serious delays on the route owing to road works. Even so, I did not expect to wait twenty minutes for the next bus to arrive when they were scheduled to run every five minutes.
Bayliss Avenue had certainly changed since my previous visit. The impressive new stand stood unoccupied across the pitch, with the whole side fenced off and out of bounds to spectators. A small seated stand was behind the near goal, with a narrow roofed standing area occupying the far end.
As ever I had a walk around the pitch to get some photos. Up at the far end it looked like Athletic had been denied a penalty with referee Ian Fissenden giving a free kick on the edge of the box. This was not to the liking of Charlton coach, the ex Scarborough, Southend and Yeovil midfielder Nathan Jones who whined on to the linesman about the decision.
Towards the closing stages I walked down towards the gate. I was in my Scarborough Athletic polo shirt which grabbed the attention of a Charlton fan. Gary went to all the juniors home games as well as most first team home and away matches. His daughter lived in York so he was also a Pickering Town supporter. He was with Keith, another loyal Addick.
I enjoyed the company of my two new pals as we discussed all manner of the game. They told me that the reason I was late was because a lorry had overturned at Plumstead and two home players had missed the game because of it. They also said that Charlton's appointment of Paul Hart as the Head of Youth at The Valley would prove to be a superb signing.
Suddenly from nowhere Town got a new lease of life. Tyrus Gordon-Young got down the line and crossed in for centre forward Stuart Zanone who volleyed home with aplomb. Cheered on by the locals, Thamesmead poured forward sensing an equaliser. It came when the referee gave a harsh handball decision against Olly Muldoon.
Fissenden did show a yellow card to a visiting player for continual dissent as Thamesmead's Edwards superb long range free kick hit the foot of the post and bounced out to safety. The woodwork came to Charlton's aid as a header rebounded to safety. Remarkably this sparked Athletic into life.
Pigott superbly controlled a through ball and smashed it home past Budd to spark remarkable celebrations. It was great to see a county cup being taken so seriously. However, I didn't approve of Jones' passion and it came as no shock when the linesman finally took enough from him.
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