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2 unusual facts about Memorial Grounds


Memorial Grounds

The Guardian newspaper reported that the Memorial Grounds was the first football ground to stage a boxing match, on 31 July 1909 when Johnny Summers beat Jimmy Britt (now in the Ring Magazine hall of fame) in the ninth round of a 20-round contest.

In West Ham United's first game at the grounds in front of 2,000 spectators, in the Southern League on 1 September 1900, they won 7-0 against, Gravesend United, with Billy Grassam scoring four.


West Ham station

In November 1897 Arnold Hills, the owner of the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, whose football team Thames Ironworks FC (reformed in 1900 as West Ham United) played at the Memorial Grounds, secured an agreement with the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway to build a station at Manor Road.


see also

1897–98 Thames Ironworks F.C. season

Thames Ironworks' new venue, the Memorial Grounds, was opened on Jubilee Day, 1897, to coincde with the sixtieth anniversary of Queen Victoria to the throne.