Hackney Wick

Hackney Wick FC is a non-league football club, representing London's East End but playing in Witham in Essex who were formed in 2015 by Bobby Kasanga to play in the Middlesex County League from their Mabley Green base. In 2017 the merged with Essex Senior League club, London Bari and took their league place.

London Bari FC were based at the Old Spotted Dog Ground, as tenants to Clapton FC. The club was formed in 1995, playing in the South Essex Football League.

Bari moved to Division One of the Asian League in 1998, before joining the Essex Corinthian Sunday Football League, which they won in 2011-12. Following their title win, Bari were admitted to the Essex Senior League.

The team finished mid table in their début season, but ended bottom of the pile in 2013-14, leading to club Chairman Kashka Anthony Ray appointing Christopher Davis-Emokpae as team manager.

The 2014-15 campaign saw an improvement leading to Ray investing in the playing squad for the following season, as Bari continued to support grass roots football by fielding ten different age group sides.

London Marathon Community Track
The FA says it doesn't meet the required standards

Wick were relegated in 2017-18 and placed in the Eastern Counties League Division One South, finishing in sixth place. The club with a huge community focus were forced away from their roots in 2019 when the former owner of the Old Spotted Dog Ground didn't pay the rent which forced both Clapton and Wick out.

Initially they had hoped to use the London Marathon Community Track in the shadows of the Olympic Stadium at Stratford. However the ground graders adjudged that is did not meet the required criteria so Wick decamped to Coles Park to share with landlords Haringey Borough.

Spa Road, Witham Town FC

Alternatives were looked at before they became tenants to Witham Town FC from the start of the 2020-21 campaign which was abandoned for the second successive season owing to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Manager Ernest Eghan led the team to a midtable finish in their new surroundings, before narrowing avoiding relegation in 2022-23.

Hackney Marshes FC will play in the Eastern Counties League Division One South in the 2022-23 season.

My visits

Old Spotted Dog Ground

London Bari 3 Sporting Bengal United 1 (Wednesday 13^th January 2016) Essex Senior League (att: 12)

My visit to the match was close to being aborted several times. Work had sent me all the way to Canning Town for a training course in the morning. The trainer had pushed the wrong button with one of her comments, and I departed in a very low state of mind at midday. It was only severe will power and hunger that kept me out of the pub.

While I wasn’t exactly tickety boo after an extended siesta, I needed fresh air rather than the temptation of staying in or heading to the pub to watch the Liverpool v Arsenal game on TV. It was a cold night, and earlier wet weather had put pay to three other matches in the Essex Senior League. Once I got past Wembley Park there was no turning back.

Because I’d awoken later than intended I headed to Plaistow on the tube as I’d found out that there was a chip shop nearby. The walk to the ground with an open tray of battered sausage and chips made me brand new. The fella on the gate was pleased that I had £7 in correct change, to pay for my admission of £6 as well as a programme.

The Old Spotted Dog ground was deserted aside from the players warming up. I went inside the clubhouse to buy a cup of tea for £1. A league official was just on his way out. I got chatting to the man behind the bar who turned out to be the much maligned Clapton FC owner Vince McBean.

Mr McBean turned out to be a charming and friendly man, at least when I met him. It was evident that he loved football and had great pride in what he and his committee continued to achieve at Clapton. He had a sympathetic ear from me. I understood from my dealings at Scarborough Athletic and other volunteer roles over the years, just how time and mentally consuming such jobs could be. The Clapton Ultras hadn’t impressed me too much on my visit a month or so earlier.

He seemed to think that he was winning some of the ‘Ultras’ over, especially since a second ‘Scaffold’ enclosure had gone up. He himself had worked as labourer to keep down the costs; some achievement for an admittedly young looking sixty year old.

He explained how they had saved the club and the ground. When his committee took over, the club were enforced to play games at Aveley as the Old Spotted Dog was derelict. Ironically, some of the current protestors against the current regime walked away at this point. The Ultras had even been thought of.

Gradually the ground was tidied up to satisfy the authorities and new drainage pipes were laid so that the pitch could stand up to extreme weather and also allow London Bari to become tenants. Work was still ongoing. Vince also related how he had to fight off the freeholders, while plans were being prepared to make sure that the ground could never be built on.

I was told to get myself along any time I wanted. There would certainly be a warm welcome. By now the teams were out, so I wandered out to watch the first half and examine the owners work in the new Scaffold terrace after passing a new gate and turnstile leading out onto Disraeli Road.

A fine job had been carried out. The view had even been raised above pitch level so fans could see over the dug outs. How could anyone have a serious gripe when money from the bulging attendances was being reinvested? I guess that some people have to purvey that ‘with it’ and anarchist’ persona to impress?

On the pitch I was viewing a really good encounter as the gate soared into double figures. I listened along to the match from Anfield, which sounded pretty good as well.

Bari almost took the lead, but were denied by a fine stop from the Sporting keeper. He was left helpless a few minutes later as another header was placed into the corner of the net by Andy Greenslade. The visitors equalised with a terrific Tunde Adewumni shot which soared over the Bari keeper and into the top corner.

Almost immediately the ‘Ray’ went straight back up the other end to regain the lead when Junior Decker was put clean through to finish calmly. The Bengal custodian pulled off a tremendous save on the half hour mark, as the game flowed from end to end. The visitors defence dithered as a Bari player held them off to put through a clever little ball to release Greenslade to slot home to make it 3-1 at the break.

I’d popped back to the clubhouse, where the hard working owner had to go and unlock the changing rooms before serving me with a can of Guinness and to make cups of tea. One cold punter opted for a brandy! We had a quick chat and I thanked him for his hospitality and told him to carry on the great work.

I decided to view the second half from the back row of the seats, even though the chill was biting in. The restart was delayed as it would appear that the Bengal substitutes name didn’t tally with the referees list. Alex Winterbotham was having a decent night in charge.

Sporting looked to have been offered a lifeline as the Bari keeper completely miskicked a clearance, but the forward fell over on the surface, which was glistening from the falling rain. The same nearly happened at the other end.

It was a tighter start to the half with less clear cut chances. One improvement that really was needed to the ground was some netting to prevent balls being kicked into the adjoining back gardens of the terraced housing. I was amazed how many they were going through. It was causing a home official on the bench to get rather animated.

The visitors gained the majority of the possession, but they couldn’t convert it into goals. They had a deflected shot that landed on top of the Bari crossbar. The game became scrappy with tiredness and lack of clear tactics meaning lots of play in the centre of the pitch. Sporting’s keeper pulled off another top stop, as he pushed a powerful header over the bar, but that was the last of any real chances.

At full time I walked back to Forest Gate station, laughing profusely as Arsenal conceded a last minute equaliser. I made it back for the 22.04 service before changing at Stratford so I could enjoy the phone in on Talk Sport all the way home.

I was so glad that I had made the effort. I’d seen a decent game being amongst the lowest paying crowd I could ever remember being part of. The game was a brilliant example of how football brings all walks of life and religions together. It was diverse London at its very best. Mr McBean had made me smile for the first time all day, and Match of the Day was excellent.

Thank goodness for non-league football!

Spa Road, Witham

Witham Town 1 Coggeshall Town 3 (Tuesday 4^th September 2018) FA Cup Preliminary Round Replay (att: 379)

Click here to take a look at the venue Hackney Wick have been using since the 2020-21 season.

.