London League (football) to two divisions. London League (football) The London League was a football competition that was held in the London and surrounding areas of south-east England from 1896 until 1964. In 1896 the president of the London League was Arnold Hills founder of Thames Ironworks F.C. (which later reformed as West Ham United). One of the men who helped draft the rules of the competition was Francis Payne, club secretary of Thames Ironworks F.C. in 1897. The league started with three divisions, the 3rd Grenadier Guards winning the inaugural championship. The league fluctuated between having a single division and reaching four
Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company Co. During its lifetime the yard produced 144 warships and numerous other vessels. In 1911 Hills petitioned Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, regarding the lack of new orders. He was unsuccessful, and the yard was forced to shut in 1912. Within two years the United Kingdom was at war with the German Empire, with the yard's last major ship taking part in the Battle of Jutland. Part of the company's Limmo Peninsula site was excavated during the construction of Crossrail in 2012. Employees at the Thames Ironworks formed a works football team, called Thames Ironworks Football Club.