Features : Summerstown
The lost team of Summerstown
Alex White reveals a long-lost south London ground
In the Bookshelf section of this issue you will find a review of Football Grounds of London, the excellent new book by Alex White and Bob Lilliman which provides histories, photographs and current information on every senior League and Non-League venue within Greater London. Though prepared for inclusion in the book, the entry for former Athenian League side Summerstown was accidentally omitted by the publishers. With grateful thanks to the authors, we are able to put that omission right via the pages of Groundtastic.
SUMMERSTOWN
Ground: Garratt Lane, Earlsfield, London, SW18
Summerstown is located close to Garratt Lane between Earlsfield and Tooting Broadway. The football club were originally formed as Church Institute (Summerstown) but disbanded when they lost their headquarters. Upon reforming in 1901, the club took on the name of Summerstown. The club were champions of the Southern Suburban League in 1903/04 and played at the Town Ground in Plough Lane, probably where the present Wimbledon Greyhound and Speedway Stadium is now situated. Summerstown moved their headquarters to the Prince of Wales Hotel in Garratt Lane at Earlsfield in 1907/08 and also moved to a new ground in Magdalen Road, Earlsfield. They joined the London League Second Division and entered the London and Surrey Senior Cups, returning to the Southern Suburban League form 1910 to 1914 and winning the Surrey Senior Cup in 1912 when they defeated Dulwich Hamlet in the final.
Summerstown : Features
In 1912 Summerstown FC moved to a new ground situated next to the bend in Garratt Lane just north of Earlsfield Station where the Henry Prince Estate is now located. The club developed their new ground and were elected into the Athenian League in 1914. The Great War caused a cessation of football soon afterwards but they reentered the Athenian League in 1919, their highest finish coming in 1920/21, when they came third. One claim to fame is that on September 13t* 1919 Summerstown Reserves provided the opposition for Charlton Athletic’s first match at The Valley.
With the lease on the Garratt Lane ground due for renewal, the owners decided to Sell the land to Wandsworth Borough Council, who wanted to build council flats on the site. Being unable to find a new ground, the club committee decided to wind the Summerstown FC up in June 1928, at the same time tendering their resignation from the Athenian League. The club were in debt due to their decision to develop the Garratt Lane ground, even though they did not own it. This included £950 that had been spent on a new wooden stand. The stand was sold to Wealdstone, who took their place in the Athenian League, for a knockdown £140.
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Co-author Alex White adds: ‘The photograph shows that the stand was on the south of the ground. Earlsfield Station would have been about 400 yards behind this, with Wandsworth to the left (north) of the picture. Earlsfield Road runs to the east of the ground (behind the far goal) and curves around the south of it, as well as behind the Stand. AS can be seen, there does not appear to be much behind each = goal, and a good kick of the ball would have sent it running down Earlsfield Road.’
Left: An aerial view of the Garratt Lane ground in Earlsfield in the early 1920s.
This page: The stand shown at Lower Mead, home of Wealdstone, in the late 1980s before it was demolished when the ground was sold to Tesco's in 1991
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