Long Melford FC formed in 1868, making them the tenth oldest football club in the country. The club moved to their Stoneylands ground in the late 1940s, financed through public subscription. Former England player Nevill Cobbold started out with the Villagers, while Plaistow-born former West Ham player Alf Chalkley is among their ex-managers. Long Melford have won the Suffolk Senior Cup an impressive eight times and achieved promotion to Step 6 (Eastern Counties League Division One North) in 2002. That achievement was bettered when they reached Step 5 (ECL Premier) for the first time in 2015, where they stayed for almost ten years. They’ve formed a new women’s team for this season and also have lots of youth teams.

So far it’s been two wins and two defeats, including a thumping 5-0 win in the last game. Last season, their first back at Step 6 after relegation, saw them finish a decent 10th place.

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Striker Brandon Salisbury scored four goals on Saturday having signed from Stowmarket Town, where he bagged 22 goals in a season in Step 5. 

Gates and bar will open for the game at 2pm ahead of kick off at 3pm.

Spectator entry is via the Upton Lane gate, next to the Spotted Dog pub. 212 Upton Lane, E7 9NP (What3Words: option.dark.limes).

However…. it’s just a 30 second walk down the Walter Tull Way if you want to arrive via Disraeli Road, (E7 9JT, lifted.paying.influencing) instead.

No tickets are needed, just turn up and pay at the turnstiles.

Standard: £5
Concessions: Pay what you can
Under 13s: Free 

Concessions include: 

• Clapton CFC members 
• Newham residents 
• Teenagers (13 to 19)
• Over 60s
• Students and apprentices
• Trade union members
• Unemployed people and those on low income
• People with disabilities and health conditions 
• Refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants 

The concessions option is available to anyone who needs it. No ID is required to qualify for concessions, we will take your word for it. At the turnstile, just say that you are a concession (you don’t need to say which) and pay what you can for entry.

If you can afford it, however, please do pay the standard price.

There are 7 stations, on umpteen different lines, within walking distance of the Old Spotted Dog.

• Forest Gate (Elizabeth) – 14 minutes’ walk
• Wanstead Park (Suffragette) – 17 minutes’ walk
• Plaistow (District/Hammersmith & City) – 19 minutes’ walk
• Upton Park (District/Hammersmith & City) – 19 minutes’ walk
• Maryland (Elizabeth) – 22 minutes’ walk
• Abbey Road (DLR) – 26 minutes’ walk
• Stratford (National Rail/Mildmay/Elizabeth/Jubilee/Central/DLR) – 28 minutes’ walk

Buses

These bus services stop on Upton Lane (St Georges Road stop or Stratford School stop, 4 minutes’ walk away)

325 (from East Beckton or Prince Regent)
678 (From Beckton or Stratford)

These bus services stop on Romford Road (Disraeli Road stop, 7 minutes’ walk away).

25 (from City of London or Ilford)
86 (from Stratford or Romford)
425 (from Lower Clapton or Ilford)

These bus services stop on Woodgrange Road (Claremont Road or Romford Road stops, 11 minutes’ walk away).

58 (from Walthamstow or East Ham)
330 (from Forest Gate or Silvertown)

Here are some even more detailed directions.

There are 12 bike stands inside the Upton Lane entrance and 3 just outside, creating parking for 30 bicycles.

If those spaces are full, there are various fences and posts outside the entrance which can be used. If you can’t find anywhere else, please ask at the gates if you can bring your bike in. If there’s room – ie it’s not a particularly busy game – you should be able to.

There is no parking on site but there is free on-street parking on the streets around the Old Spotted Dog Ground.

The streets to the north and west of the Old Spotted Dog Ground (e.g. Disraeli Road and Margery Park Road) are in the Stratford North East controlled parking zone. Parking is free on Saturdays and Sundays and after 6.30pm on weeknights.

The streets to the east of the Old Spotted Dog Ground (e.g. the streets around Stratford Academy, St Anthony’s and St Bonaventure schools) are in the Green Street North and Upton Park controlled parking zones. Parking is free on Sundays and after 6.30pm on weeknights and Saturdays.

Always check local signage for any changes. And if possible come by public transport, bike or walk.

London’s oldest senior football ground has one of the best bars around, too.

The Clubhouse bar opens an hour before kick off and will remain open after the full-time whistle for a couple of hours with a wide range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks on sale.

On tap, we have three beers from Pretty Decent Brewery for £5 per pint – the Old Scaffold Daze IPA, the new Hair of the Dog lager and a cider.

There will also be an outside bar, just to the side of the Clubhouse behind the goal.

For the FA Cup and FA Vase, there is an additional rule that you cannot drink alcohol from a can in view of the pitch, so all drinks will need to be poured into cups.

Due to our licence, we ask that you don’t bring your own booze in. The profits from the bar are invested in maintaining and improving the grounds.

Returnable pint and half-pint cups

The Clubhouse has ditched single use plastic and switching to returnable pint and half-pint cups.

Just pay a £2 deposit, which is refunded when you return the cup to the Clubhouse bar. If you’d rather keep the cup, you’re welcome to take it home instead.

If you already have a reusable cup, please do bring it in and we’ll serve your drink in that.

Hot drinks

We have coffee, tea, hot chocolate and Bovril in the Clubhouse on a ‘help yourself’ basis.

There’s no charge if you bring your own reusable cup. If you need a cup, buy one at the bar for £1 then refill it as many times as you like.

Please make sure any children using the water heater are supervised.

Water

We now have a tap to fill your water bottle on the left hand side of the Clubhouse bar.

We also have a water fountain on the front of the toilet block.

Fusion Foods will be selling hot and cold food with meat, veggie and vegan options.

Heart of Humanity will also be with us selling food and other items raising money for a water tank in Gaza.

We usually have crisps, nuts, scampi fries and sweets on sale in the clubhouse.

The new toilet block is now open next to the seated stand with urinals at the back and cubicles at the front.

These are in addition to the toilets in the Clubhouse.

There are two accessible toilets, one in the clubhouse, one in the toilet block. The site is now largely-step free including access to the bar and food stall.

The merch stall is open before the game and at half-time. The stall can be found inside the Clubhouse, on the stage. The merch stall is taking cards only at the moment.

Most of the merch is also available to buy online on our store page.

We produce a small (four-page) printed programme for all competitive Women and Men’s First Team home games. Pick one up for free.

The programmes are also uploaded to the website after the game for those who could not make it. An 8-page programme is uploaded for Men’s First Team games.

You can also buy a bundle of six random printed programmes for £3 from our website.

Both cash and cards are accepted everywhere in the ground – entrance, bar, and food stall – except the merch stall, which is card only.

Paying cash at the entrance is speedier for all, so if you can bring the right money in hard currency, we would appreciate it.

The hygiene bank collection is back at all home games, with a new permanent collection point inside the ground.

Our charity partners Magpie Project support mums and young children in temporary accommodation. They need:

● Toothpaste ● Toothbrush ● Shower gel ● Shampoo ● Deodorant ● Sanitary towel

During the game, everyone (kids and adults) needs to stay behind the fence and aware of the risk of being hit by a ball.

Nobody should come on the pitch at half-time.

For games until November, children can play on the pitch after the game once the officials and players have left the field. Adults should only be on there to supervise a child and nobody should take any drinks onto the playing surface.

Children are very welcome – including prams and pushchairs. We have baby changing facilities in the toilet block.

Please do supervise your children and make sure everyone is behind the perimeter fencing during games please.

Spectators are welcome, in fact encouraged, to bring dogs to the OSD, but please keep on leads and behind the perimeter fence.

It’s free entry for dogs.

If you have any further questions, look for anyone wearing a pink hi-viz vest or the bar staff who will be happy to answer.

Map of the Old Spotted Dog Ground