Thames Ironworks F.C. only ten players on the pitch. The final score of 4–1 was a complete reverse of their previous encounter. Already confirmed as Southern League Division Two champions, having won the previous 14 games, Thames Ironworks showed little restraint for the final game of the season against Maidenhead on 15 April 1899. With the largest home crowd of the season of 3000 spectators, The Irons demolished the bottom club of the division 10–0. The goals included four from Patrick Leonard and a hat-trick from David Lloyd. Although they won the Southern League Second Division by 9 points, Thames Ironworks were required
Football in London turning professional, including Millwall (1893), Tottenham Hotspur (1895), Fulham (1898) and West Ham (1898). In the meantime, Woolwich Arsenal (formerly Royal Arsenal) went on to be the first London club to join the Football League, in 1893. The following year, the Southern League was founded and many of its members would go on to join the Football League. In 1901 Tottenham Hotspur became the first club from London to win the FA Cup in the professional era, although it would not be until 1931 that a London side would win the Football League, the team in question being Arsenal (having