The Clapton CFC men’s first team have a third and final chance of cup glory on Saturday after being knocked out of two other cups in the last two games.

The Alec Smith Premier Division Cup is the league cup competition, featuring teams in our own Middlesex County Football League Premier Division only.

It’s the equivalent of the Jim Rogers Trophy, which CCFC won in our first season after a penalty shoot-out against Hilltop.

We’ve saved some of our best performances of the season for the Alec Smith, beating Sporting Hackney 5-2 away from home, then Larkspur Rovers 6-0 at home.

Meanwhile Cricklewood Wanderers have won two tricky away games, firstly at Wilberforce Wanderers and then CB Hounslow United Reserves.

This will be the first of two meetings with Cricklewood in quick succession as they will also visit us in the league before the end of the season.

If we’re level at 90 minutes, we’ll go straight to penalties, so there will be a result on the day.

The winners will face Brentham or Kensington Dragons in the final, which will be held on Saturday, April 30.

Cricklewood Wanderers have a short, but inspirational history. The club was formed in 2011 by a group of young people with help from homeless charity Ashford Place.

It is now run by Youth Engagement Solutions (YES), a charity which helps young people in education, employment, training, sport and health. They have four teams – boys, girls, men’s first team and men’s reserves.

Match information

Clapton CFC vs Cricklewood Wanderers is on Saturday, March 12 2022 at 2pm at the Stray Dog, Wadham Lodge, Kitchener Road, Walthamstow.

Advanced tickets are not needed, you can just turn up. Entry as usual is free but with donations welcome, with a suggested £3 for waged adults.

We will have a mini programme available at the entrance, pick one up for free, donations welcome.

Fusion Foods are back selling hot food. They will have meat, veggie and vegan options and accept cards or cash. The Matchday Centres bar will be open.

Don’t forget the hygiene bank collection for our charity partners Magpie Project. You can donate toothbrushes, toothpaste, shower gel, sanitary towels and deodorant at the entrance.

Directions

• Wadham Lodge is about 20 minutes walk from Walthamstow Central station. Turn onto Hoe Street and follow the road all the way along (past the junction with The Bell pub) until Chingford Lane. Continue past Sir George Monoux 6th Form College and take the first right onto Brookscroft Road then left onto Kitchener Road.
• You can catch a bus along that route too. The 357, 34, 97, 215 will all take you to the top of Brookscroft Road from Walthamstow Central. It will take about 12 minutes.
• There’s also car parking space available at the ground but it may be better to park on a street nearby.

An important note

Matchday Centres have asked us to ensure that there is no more use of pyro, flares, smoke etc on their property.

This has caused damage to their facilities and complaints from staff, officials and neighbours.

They have also banned glass bottles after a serious incident during a game not involving Clapton.

We have a good working relationship with MDC, who have played an invaluable role in helping us establish the club.

They have said that a failure to observe these rules will lead to sanctions that would be damaging for the club, including but not limited to requiring us to play behind closed doors.

We ask all our fans to respect MDC’s requests in solidarity with our teams and everyone who works hard to run the club.