1899–1900 Thames Ironworks F.C. season 1899–1900 Thames Ironworks F.C. season The 1899–1900 season was the last for Thames Ironworks before the club folded to be reformed as West Ham United. They adopted claret and blue 'uniforms' for the first time. Charlie Dove had got the kits for the club at a very cheap price of £3.10s. They had come from William Belton, who was a professional sprinter, as well as being one of the coaches at Thames Ironworks. During the summer of 1899, Belton had been at a fair in Birmingham, close to Villa Park, the home ground of Aston Villa. Belton had been challenged
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