London’s 1930 Football & Pub Map: A Glimpse into Matchday History
The Charrington brewery, an East End institution with roots dating to the early 18th century, produced a unique and playful map for the 1930-31 football season. Illustrated by Linden Miller, this map depicted London's football grounds alongside their affiliated local pubs, primarily those owned by Charrington. The map, likely distributed at both pubs and grounds, served as a fascinating snapshot of the intertwined culture of football and pub-going nearly a century ago, allowing fans to trace their matchday routes and social gatherings. A rare copy recently sold by Altea Gallery highlights its historical significance.
The map offered an intriguing glimpse into the footballing landscape of the era, featuring well-known clubs like Spurs, Chelsea, and Arsenal (who won the First Division that season), alongside more obscure or short-lived teams. A notable example is Thames AFC, which existed only from 1928-1932, yet played at West Ham Stadium with an astonishing capacity of 120,000 – significantly larger than today's Wembley. Its swift disappearance is underscored by its omission from Charrington's map the very next season, making the 1930-31 edition a valuable record of its brief existence. Another curiosity is “Charringtons Football Club,” known as Toby FC, which, despite claiming a 1932 formation, appears on the 1930-31 map, suggesting it was either active or planned.
While many football grounds, including Twickenham for rugby, have endured in some form, the map also illustrates the impermanence of urban landscapes. Predictably, numerous pubs featured on the map have long since vanished, though a few, like the Greyhound in Peckham and the Kings Arms in Fulham, persist. The maps themselves are also exceptionally rare, as few people considered them worth keeping, making surviving examples like the one sold by Altea Gallery significant historical artifacts that capture a vibrant slice of London's sporting and social history.
(Source: https://londonist.com/london/maps/antique-football-ground-pub-map)
