Thames Ironworks F.C. - Club Badge and Colours

Club Badge and Colours

The first, and only, known crest to be featured on a Thames Ironworks kit was the Union flag with Thames Ironworks initials ("TIWFC") surrounding it.

The original club crest was a crossed pair of riveting hammers, as used in the shipbuilding process, and the 'hammers' would continue to feature in West Ham United's badge to the present day. The original colours of the team were dark blue due to Arnold Hills being a former student and football Blue of Oxford University, although the team used a variety of kits. They often used the claret and sky blue house colours of the actual Iron Works and would also wear all sky blue or white uniforms. They permanently adopted claret and blue for home games in the summer of 1899. Irons right-half Charlie Dove had got the kits for the club from his father William Dove, who was a professional sprinter of national repute, as well as being involved with the coaching at Thames Ironworks. Bill Dove had been at a fair in Birmingham, close to Villa Park, the home ground of Aston Villa and was challenged to a race against four Villa players, who wagered money that one of them would win. Bill Dove defeated them, and when they were unable to pay the bet, one of the Villa players who was responsible for washing the team's kit offered a complete side's 'uniforms' to Dove in payment of the bet. The Aston Villa player subsequently reported to his club that the kit was 'missing'. Thames Ironworks, and later West Ham United, would continue to use their previously favoured colours for their away kits. In recent years the club have committed to a sky blue-white-dark blue rotation, each kit having a one season shelf life.