Hermit Road Hermit Road Hermit Road was a stadium located in Canning Town in London, England. It was the first home ground of football club Thames Ironworks, the works team of the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company. The club would later be reformed as West Ham United. The ground was used by Old St Luke's from 1892 and continued to be used after the club merged with Castle Swifts to become Old Castle Swifts, the first professional football club in Essex, for the 1894–95 season. Thames Ironworks took over the tenancy of the ground from Old Castle Swifts in the summer of
Thames Ironworks F.C. to be Thames Ironworks' last defeat of the season, and they could go on to win an impressive 17 of their last 18 games, drawing the other game. In an away game against Maidenhead on 31 December 1898, which Thames Ironworks won 4–0, Charlie Dove completed the distinction of playing in every position for the club when he deputised for goalkeeper Tommy Moore. Thames Ironworks played their first game of the new year at the Memorial Grounds on 14 January 1899, when they entertained Wycombe. This time, the Wycombe goalkeeper missed the train, and the team began the game with