Leytonstone 5-1 Clapton (lost footage of Isthmian League football match; 1947)

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Revision as of 19:27, 10 June 2024 by SpaceManiac888 (talk | contribs) (After finally completing my house purchase and move, normal service resumes once more! And seeing how Euro 2024 is quickly approaching, it is time to cover some more lost football media. This one featured the first ever televised Isthmian League encounter, as listed by the brilliant TV Football Almanac website. Go check it out when you can. Also, feel free to suggest some other lost football media for me to cover.)
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Leytonstone5-1clapton1.jpg

Issue 1,260 detailing the television coverage of the match.

Status: Lost

On 13th December 1947, Leytonstone hosted Clapton for an Isthmian Football League match. It took place at Granleigh Road and saw the hosts comfortably win 5-1, in what proved a crucial step towards Leytonstone becoming the 1947-48 Isthmian League champions. The first half was aired live by the BBC and is believed to be the first Isthmian League game to receive television coverage.

Background

Founded on 8th March 1905, the Isthmian League quickly became a prominent amateur and invitational football division for teams residing in London and the South East.[1][2] Until further expansions commenced most notably in 1952 and 1973,[2] the Isthmian League consisted exclusively of one division with 14 clubs.[1] Among the most successful teams of the post-Second World War era was Leytonstone.[3][4] Initially part of the Spartan League, Leytonstone joined the Isthmian division for the 1908-09 season and finished runners-up.[3] The club then won the 1937-38 and 1938-39 titles;[3] following the end of World War 2, Leytonstone picked up where they left off by winning the 1946-47 title, edging out Dulwich Hamlet by three points.[5] They also won their first FA Amateur Cup that same year, beating Wimbledon 2-1 in the Final.[6][4][3]

Meanwhile, Clapton was among the founding members of the Isthmian League, finishing runners-up in the inaugural 1905-06 season.[7][8] The club were champions of the 1910-11 and 1922-23 seasons, as well as five-time FA Amateur Cup winners by 1925.[7][8] However, the club had experienced a decline in fortunes since the mid-1920s, finishing only 12th out of 14 clubs on 20 points for the 1946-47 season.[5] The 1947-48 season saw both clubs perform at a similar level, with Leytonstone having engaged in a four-horse race for the title while Clapton aimed to avoid finishing last.[9] Previously, the pair met at Clapton's The Old Spotted Dog Ground on 13th October 1947, which saw Leytonstone edge out a 1-0 win.[10] A week before the reverse encounter, Leytonstone drew 1-1 away at Wimbledon, while Clapton thrashed Corinthian-Casuals 6-0.[11]

A year prior, the BBC resumed its television coverage following the Second World War.[12] During this time, the BBC aimed to expand its football coverage beyond the FA Cup Final and the England-Scotland clashes.[13] But with the Football League backing out of plans to televise its sanctioned matches,[14] as well as the inability to broadcast games beyond London, the BBC's options were limited.[13] Thus, it concentrated on amateur games held in London, including the Athenian League match between Barnet and Wealdstone on 19th October 1946.[15][13] With Leytonstone's Granleigh Road being within geographical proximity to the BBC's studios at Alexandra Palace,[16][4] televising one of its Isthmian League clashes proved viable.[17] Thus, Issue 1,260 of Radio Times announced that the first half of the Leytonstone-Clapton game would be aired live.[18][19] Commentary was provided by Jimmy Jewell,[18][19] who had recently become the BBC's top commentator for football.[20]

Match and Aftermath

The match itself took place on 13th December 1947 at Granleigh Road.[17] Though the game received little print media attention, the final score was confirmed to be 5-1 in the host's favour.[21] As it turned out, Leytonstone crucially required this win to retain the Isthmian League title. After all 26 games were played, Leytonstone finished with 39 points, one ahead of Kingstonian, two over Walthamstow Avenue and, as in the previous season, three above Dulwich Hamlet.[9] It also retained the FA Amateur Cup by beating Barnet 1-0 on 17th April 1948.[22] Meanwhile, Clapton finished with 14 points and ranked 13th out of 14 teams, ahead of only Corinthian-Casuals.[9] Nearly two years following the Clapton match, Leytonstone featured in another televised encounter, a 4-4 away draw against Dulwich on 22nd October 1949.[23] Some Leytonstone players were notably incorporated into an Isthmian League XI team that beat Nigeria 5-1 on 10th September 1949,[4] in another match to receive television coverage.[24] According to research from The TV Football Almanac, Dulwich's 3-1 victory against Wimbledon on 9th December 1950, as well as a 1-1 draw between Kingstonian and Oxford City on 3rd November 1951, were other televised Isthmian League encounters.[23] As of June 2024, no other Isthmian matches are known to have been broadcast.[23]

Following this, Leytonstone landed the 1949-50, 1950-51 and 1951-52 Isthmian League titles, with its eighth and final title won in the 1965-66 season.[3] But after winning the 1968 FA Amateur Cup, the team suffered a decline in fortunes heading into the 1970s and was relegated to Division One at the end of the 1978-79 season.[25][3][4] Facing financial difficulties, the team merged with Ilford to form Leytonstone-Ilford.[3][4] A further merger with Walthamstow Avenue in 1989 saw the team renamed Redbridge Forest.[26][4] Three years later, a third merger with Dagenham witnessed the club rechristened as Dagenham & Redbridge.[26][4] In contrast, Clapton fell down several divisions by the 1980s but nevertheless became the Isthmian League's longest-tenured team.[7][8] This finally ended after 101 years when Clapton was transferred to the Essex Senior League for the 2006-07 season.[8][7] As of the 2024-25 season, Clapton plays in the Southern Counties East First Division.[27]

Availability

The match's partial television coverage commenced when the BBC seldom preserved its live television output.[28][29] Though some primitive recordings emerged during the late 1940s, the BBC could not regularly preserve its programming until videotape recording became prominent in 1956.[30][28] The BBC's oldest surviving football recording arose during the 30th November 1949 match between England and Italy.[29] Because of this, all matches televised live beforehand, including the Leytonstone-Clapton and Dulwich-Leytonstone games,[23] are considered permanently lost.[29] Because they aired after 1950, there is a slim possibility the Dulwich-Wimbledon and Kingstonian-Oxford matches were partially preserved.[23] But if recordings did materialise, no footage has been made publicly available.

See Also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Isthmian Football League summarising its history. Retrieved 10th June '24
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Football Club Database History summarising the history of the isthmian League. Retrieved 10th June '24
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Football Club History Database summarising the key parts of Leytonstone's history. Retrieved 10th June '24
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Charlie Gilbert documenting some of the more notable Leytonstone matches and its success in the Isthmian League. Retrieved 10th June '24
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Football Club History Database detailing the 1946-47 Isthmian League standings. Retrieved 10th June '24
  6. ↑ Football Club History Database detailing the results of the 1947-48 FA Amateur Cup from the Third Round onwards. Retrieved 10th June '24
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Clapton FC summarising its history. Retrieved 10th June '24
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Football Club History Database summarising the key parts of Clapton's history. Retrieved 10th June '24
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Football Club History Database detailing the 1947-48 Isthmian League standings. Retrieved 10th June '24
  10. ↑ 14th October 1947 issue of Essex Newsman reporting on the 13th October 1947 encounter (found on The British Newspaper Archive, p.g. 4). Retrieved 10th June '24
  11. ↑ 8th December 1947 issue of The Daily Herald reporting on the Isthmian League results of 7th December 1947 (found on The British Newspaper Archive, p.g. 4 Retrieved 10th June '24
  12. ↑ BBC summarising the return of its Television Service on 7th June 1946. Retrieved 10th June '24
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Archived Off the Telly summarising the BBC's post-World War 2 football coverage and how it was restricted to games hosted in London. Retrieved 10th June '24
  14. ↑ TV Football Almanac noting the Charlton Athletic-Chelsea First Division match played on 25th October 1947 was pulled from being aired on television by the Football League. Retrieved 10th June '24
  15. ↑ Wealdstone FC noting its clash with Barnet on 19th October 1946 was televised. Retrieved 10th June '24
  16. ↑ BBC detailing how its early television transmissions were housed at Alexandra Palace. Retrieved 10th June '24
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 The TV Football Almanac listing the television coverage of the match. Retrieved 10th June '24
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 BBC Genome archive of Radio Times issues detailing the television coverage of the match. Retrieved 10th June '24
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Issue 1,260 of Radio Times listing the television coverage of the match (p.g. 32). Retrieved 10th June '24
  20. ↑ BBC News noting Jewell became the BBC's top football commentator in 1947. Retrieved 10th June '24
  21. ↑ The Sunday Mirror reporting on the match result (found on The British Newspaper Archive, p.g. 10). Retrieved 10th June '24
  22. ↑ Football Club History Database detailing the results of the 1947-48 FA Amateur Cup from the Third Round onwards. Retrieved 10th June '24
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 The TV Football Almanac listing televised Isthmian League matches. Retrieved 10th June '24
  24. ↑ The TV Football Almanac listing the television coverage of the Isthmian League XI-Nigeria match. Retrieved 10th June '24
  25. ↑ Football Club History Database detailing the 1978-79 Isthmian League season. Retrieved 10th June '24
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Dagenham & Redbridge FC summarising how its existence stemmed from a series of mergers. Retrieved 10th June '24
  27. ↑ Southern Counties East Football League announcing Clapton would be playing in the First Division for the 2024-25 season. Retrieved 10th June '24
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Internet Archive discussing why most early BBC television output is forever missing. Retrieved 10th June '24
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 BBC Genome Blog noting the England-Italy match of 30th November 1949 was the first to receive a partial telerecording. Retrieved 10th June '24
  30. ↑ BBC noting it did not begin videotape recording until 1956. Retrieved 10th June '24
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