he was able to announce on 29 June 1895 the following in the company's weekly journal: "Mr. Taylor, who is working in the shipbuilding department, has undertaken to get up a football club for next winter and I learn that quoits and bowls will also be added to the attractions." – Thames Iron Works Gazette. Fifty would-be players paid half-a-crown for a year's membership, and Taylor spent the summer arranging the fixtures for Thames Ironworks F.C. and their reserves. Before the Irons played their first game, Taylor returned to refereeing, handing over organizational duties to Ted Harsent, who became the first club secretary. The birth of Thames Ironworks F.C. coincided with the demise of Old Castle Swifts, the first professional football club in Essex. Thames took over the tenancy of Castle Swifts' Hermit Road ground in Canning Town and signed a number of Old Castle Swifts players, including former Woolwich Arsenal full back Robert Stevenson, who became the club's first captain and is credited as being the team's first player of note. 1895–1896 The Ironworks played their first fixture against Royal Ordnance reserves on 7 September 1895, the game ending 1–1. One of the players likely to have been involved in this first game was Iron Works employee Charlie Dove, who had played at full-back and centre forward during his time as a junior player. Dove would be mainly used as a right-half, but would play every position for The Irons during his time with them. Looking to bolster their attacking strength, the Irons had also recruited Ironworks employee George Gresham, an inside-forward who had played for Gainsborough Trinity, who would go on to score many goals for the club in the following four seasons. In what would be their first competitive game, Thames Ironworks took on Chatham Town in the first qualifying round of the FA Cup on 12 October, losing 0–5 before a crowd of 3,000. Their biggest defeat came on 14 December when they lost in a friendly game away to Millwall Athletic 0–6. Millwall were also an 'Iron Works' side, whose south London company competed with Thames Iron Works for contacts. The rivalry between the two clubs would continue into the present day. Following a number of trials against local sides, 16 March saw an experimental 'floodlit friendly' at the Hermit Road ground for Thames Ironworks, in their first encounter with Woolwich Arsenal that finished in