Walthamstow

Walthamstow FC is a non-league football club from the East of London with a history full of interesting name changes and mergers. The club lay claims to have been formed in 1868 although that is open to opinion as we’ll read below.

Pennant FC were formed in 1959 by William Bode, initially joining the South West Essex League and winning the Premier Division title in 1972-73, before joining the Metropolitan League in 1975, a competition they won at their first attempt.

Pennant joined the London Spartan League for the 1983-84 season, winning promotion at their first attempt from the Senior to Premier Division. In 1988 the historic Walthamstow Avenue FC were swallowed up by the complicated Redbridge Forest merger, which can be read about here on the Dagenham & Redbridge page.

Pennant changed their name to Walthamstow Pennant FC to keep the name of Walthamstow alive in senior football while playing at Wadham Lodge. The Spartan League and cup double was collected in 1990-91. However, promotion was denied because Wadham Lodge was deemed not up to the required standards.

Now for the complicated stuff.

Leyton FC were formed in 1868. Their full history can be read about here. After merging to become Leyton Wingate in 1975, the Wingate members of the club asked for their name to be dropped in 1992 as they moved closer to home where former members had kept their own Wingate FC who became part of the Wingate & Finchley FC merger in 1991.

Back as Leyton FC, the club decided that they had no future at their dilapidated Hare & Hounds Ground on Lea Bridge Road, so they decided to merge with Pennant to become Leyton Pennant FC and keep the place in their Isthmian League.

This decision has caused numerous discussions and fall outs, over club histories, especially when another club called Leyton FC were set up at the Hare & Hounds in 1997. They won rights to the former clubs’ history in court, which polarises opinions. Please visit the page here on Leyton FC to make your own mind up!

In the Isthmian League, Pennant finished fourth in the Division One season of 1995-96 under manager Paul Taylor prior to a series as mid-table finishes under Kevin Moran and then Lyndon Lynch who was replaced by Martin Busson who was at the helm as the Stags were relegated to Division Two in 1999-00.

Tommy Lee and then Colin Richards were the next two incumbents of the manager’s seat at Wadham Lodge at a time the club were struggling on and off the pitch with a poor playing disciplinary record, but still finished sixth in 2001-02.

The Isthmian League was restructured with Pennant being placed in Division One North as twenty-four-year-old Danny Honeyball took over as player-manager in the summer of 2002. Harry Ramis bought the club in February 2003 and appointed his brother, former Football League player Hakan Ramis-Heyrattin, as manager.

The team narrowly avoided relegation before the club changed its name to Waltham Forest FC in the summer of 2003 to reflect the borough that the club represented and to try and encourage more support and sponsors.

The club was switched to the East Division of the Southern League following non-league reorganisation for the 2004-05 campaign. Two decent finishes ensued before Ramis-Heyrattin moved on to take the manager’s job at Thurrock FC.

Harry Ramis also departed. Club stalwart Andy Perkins managed to persuade former chairman Terry Back to return with David Muir taking the manager’s job for a short spell before the return of Honeyball who led the team to eighth place in 2006-07.

However, turmoil was to follow. Honeyball’s assistant, half the team, and the reserve team manager all resigned closely followed by Back in October 2007. The season saw Honeyball depart. New Chairman, Azumah Cofie appointed join-bosses Louis Affor & Mike Small who lasted a short time before the arrival of Kevin Durrant for six games.

Ged Searson came in and managed to gather the team together to stave off relegation. A far worse battle was lost off the pitch after the club, in financial problems, had to leave Wadham Lodge and instead share Cricklefield Stadium with Ilford FC and a local athletics club.

Searson departed in September 2008 to be replaced by Tony Ievoli who introduced several youth players from his previous role at Thurrock. Isaac Johnson took over as chairman in January 2009, bringing in Wale Ojelabi as player-manager.

The new man performed a near miracle as his side avoided relegation before he left after a dispute with the chairman at the end of the 2008-09 campaign. The duo of Kevin Head and Bert Hoyte led the side for seven matches prior to the appointment of Phil Miles.

Tony Mercer took over as manager in March 2010. It looked for a time in October 2010 that further improvements to Wadham Lodge would prompt a return to the clubs' traditional home, but nothing became of it, with Ojelabi replacing Mercer halfway through the season.

Cricklefield Stadium, home from 2008 to 2013

Pennant were reprieved from relegation, aided ironically by the demise of the new version of Leyton FC. The team improved by a few places in the following couple of seasons as new chairman Turgut Esendagli managed to arrange a return to Wadham Lodge as well as taking over team affairs for the 2013-14 season.

It transpired to be a far from jubilant return as the side were relegated to the Essex Senior League after finishing second from bottom. Following a season of consolidation Terry Fogarty was given the manager’s job under new Chairman Hossein Hossein as Esendagli was required to undergo a serious operation.

Esendagli returned while still recuperating to try and correct Pennant’s league position. Relegation was avoided on the final day of the 2015-16 season before the manager moved back to his role as chairman while taking on Kem Kemal to look after team affairs.

The side finished in twelfth position in 2016-17, a marked improvement before the arrival of new team boss Qayum Shakoor. Tragedy struck the club in October 2017 as Turgut Esendagli died suddenly.

Andy Perkins took over the chairman’s role and brought in Ryan Maxwell as manager in February 2018. The club underwent a huge change in the summer of 2018 as their name was changed to Walthamstow FC and a new club crest was designed.

The change seemed to work as Maxwell led the side to third place with Dwade James was joined up front by James Peagram to put away the goals. Lewis Francis arrived to assist James in the 2019-20 campaign which ended early owing to the outbreak of Coronavirus as the Stags sat in third place.

Maxwell departed just before the disruption, going on to manage Braintree Town, with Max Mitchell replacing him. Callum Ibe and Jon Clements led the scoring before the return of James after a short spell at Hendon as crowds flocked to Wadham Lodge while attendance was prohibited at elite football.

Walthamstow FC will play in the Essex Senior League in the 2020-21 season.

My visits

Leyton Pennant 0 Uxbridge 1 (Saturday 22nd April 2000) Isthmian League Division One (att: approx 80)

I’d popped into the centre of London for the morning, from where I took the tube up to Walthamstow Central, with plenty of Spurs fans who were on their way to their home match with Wimbledon.

The 97 bus took me up to the ground after a walk through the vibrant local market. After alighting at the Cazenove Road stop it was a five minute walk down Brookscroft Road and then Kitchener Road to the gates to the Wadham Lodge complex.

There were several football pitches through the gates as well an all-weather court, a bowling green and a changing room block with a clubhouse upstairs near to the entrance to Pennant's enclosed arena.

I had a couple of pre match beers and read my programme, containing some interesting thoughts regarding which club held the history of Leyton FC, before entering the neat enough main venue.

Low covers were behind each end of the ground with a seated stand along the touchline by the clubhouse. The rest of the ground consisted of flat open hard and grass standing. A nice and rare touch for a club at that level was a small club shop near the turnstiles.

The visitors from Middlesex had a sprinkling of fans in the low crowd who enjoyed their half time refreshments. Their day was made when Uxbridge won one nil against a hard trying but ineffective home side, who would end the season bottom of the table.

I retraced my steps on departure, but instead of waiting for a bus back to Walthamstow I headed the other way near to Walthamstow Stadium, where I took a bus to Blackhorse Road station.

From there I took the then named North London line back to West Hampstead to avoid the busy city centre. It took a bit longer, but it was far more interesting, plus I built up a thirst by the time I got back to Willesden Green!

Wednesday 26th September 2007

I was out and about in North Est London and Essex on a marathon days groundhop catching up on the grounds that I didn’t take photos of on previous visits. Wadham Lodge was to be my twelfth and final call.

Taking the bus from my previous call at Leyton FC I found the gates to the complex locked. I walked all the way around the surrounding roads looking for an alternative entrance to no avail. I'd got all the way to the end of Garner Road and onto the North Circular Road where I'd just about given up.

Then I saw a gap in the fence where some young locals had taken advantage of to play in the goalmouths of one of the outer pitches. I think they were a bit concerned to see a stranger coming through the bushes and approaching them, but they needn't have worried!

The ground was padlocked, but the fences were low enough to enable me a decent view to take my snaps. I headed home, with plenty of aching limbs for a nice lie down and a most welcome meal!