Charles Dove was born in 1879 in
East HamEast Ham is a place in the London Borough of Newham. It is a built-up district located 8 miles east north-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He was regarded as a super-fit footballer, who in 1895 stood at nearly 6 feet and weighed 12 stone, considered large at the time for a sixteen year old from a working-class area of
EssexEssex is a county in the East of England region of the United Kingdom. The county town of Essex is Chelmsford.-History:In pre-Roman Britain the territories of Suffolk and Essex were home to the Trinovantes tribe, which had grown wealthy through intensive trade with the Roman Empire, contemporary...
. His main position was
defenderWithin the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from scoring.There are four types of defender - centre back, sweeper, full back, and wing back.-Centre back:...
.
He played for many local teams and was a schoolboy player of some repute, winning two medals as a right back with Park School.
Upon leaving school he joined Forest Swift Juniors as a centre forward, before moving on to captain Plaistow Melville.
Charles Dove was born in 1879 in
East HamEast Ham is a place in the London Borough of Newham. It is a built-up district located 8 miles east north-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He was regarded as a super-fit footballer, who in 1895 stood at nearly 6 feet and weighed 12 stone, considered large at the time for a sixteen year old from a working-class area of
EssexEssex is a county in the East of England region of the United Kingdom. The county town of Essex is Chelmsford.-History:In pre-Roman Britain the territories of Suffolk and Essex were home to the Trinovantes tribe, which had grown wealthy through intensive trade with the Roman Empire, contemporary...
. His main position was
defenderWithin the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from scoring.There are four types of defender - centre back, sweeper, full back, and wing back.-Centre back:...
.
He played for many local teams and was a schoolboy player of some repute, winning two medals as a right back with Park School.
Upon leaving school he joined Forest Swift Juniors as a centre forward, before moving on to captain Plaistow Melville. Charlie Dove continued to make his name at
Upton Park F.C.Upton Park Football Club were an amateur football club from Upton Park, London in the late 19th and early 20th century, now defunct. As well as being one of the fifteen teams that played in the inaugural FA Cup, they also represented Great Britain at the 1900 Summer Olympics football tournament,...
and with South West Ham, being regarded as an exceptional talent.
Charlie was an employee of Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd, working as an apprentice to the riveters and jumped at the chance to play for the newly-formed
Thames Ironworks F.C.West Ham United Football Club is an English football club based in Upton Park, London Borough of Newham, East London. They have played their home matches at the Boleyn Ground stadium since 1904....
in 1895. The half a crown (12½p) membership would have been a third of his weekly wage.
A local paper featured this following article about Charlie Dove during the 1897-1898 season.
- "FOOTBALL SKETCHES - 1. Charlie Dove (Thames Ironworks) If not absolutely the finest right half back in Essex, the subject of our sketch is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant men in the country in that position. Even when joining them his true position was not apparent. He played centre forward and full back and it was not until he had occupied nearly every place - with the exception of goal - that his worth as a right half was demonstrated. In this berth he plays a brilliant game, full of resource and the Thames Limited combination sadly missed him in their opening matches. However, he is expected to be fit and able to turn out on Saturday against Brentford, when he will considerably strengthen the team." - East Ham Echo, prior to the away game against Brentford on 23 April 1898.
On 31 December 1898 Charlie Dove completed the distinction of playing in every position for the club when he deputised for goalkeeper
Tommy MooreTommy L. Moore is a South Carolina businessman and former state politician who is now an executive of a payday lending association in Washington, D.C...
in an away game against Maidenhead. He even kept a clean sheet and the Thames Ironworks won 4-0.
Dove was an important part of the Thames team that won successive
London LeagueThe London League was a football competition that was held in the London and surrounding areas of south-east England from 1896 until 1964.In 1896 the president of the London League was Arnold Hills founder of Thames Ironworks F.C. . One of the men who helped draft the rules of the competition was...
and
Southern League Division TwoThe Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales....
titles, and had a connection with the club adopting claret and blue as their colours. Charlie had got the kits for the club at a very cheap price of £3.10s. They had come from his father William Dove, who was a professional sprinter of national repute, as well as being one of the coaches at Thames Ironworks. During the summer of 1899, Bill Dove had been at a fair in
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
, close to
Villa ParkVilla Park may mean:United Kingdom* Villa Park, a football stadium in Birmingham, EnglandUnited States* Villa Park, California, a small city in Orange County* Villa Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago in DuPage County...
, the home ground of
Aston VillaAston Villa Football Club is an English professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, who play in the Premier League. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of Football League in 1888...
. The scrawny looking Dove had been 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'.
Charlie Dove would continue to be a major player for Thames Ironworks, and it's later incarnation of
West Ham UnitedWest Ham United Football Club is an English football club based in Upton Park, London Borough of Newham, East London. They have played their home matches at the Boleyn Ground stadium since 1904....
until his controversial transfer in 1901 to arch-rivals
Millwall F.C.Millwall Football Club is an English football team based in Bermondsey in the London Borough ofSouthwark, South East London. They currently play in Football League One. Their traditional strip consists of blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks. Their current strip is blue shirts, white shorts...
. In 1902 Dove unfortunately suffered an injury which ended his playing career.
See also
- Thames Ironworks F.C. season 1895-96
- Thames Ironworks F.C. season 1896-97
- Thames Ironworks F.C. season 1897-98
- Thames Ironworks F.C. season 1898-99
During the summer of 1898, Thames Ironworks became a professional outfit for the first time, to match their new status as new members of the Southern League. It was a decision reluctantly taken by Ironworks chairman Arnold Hills, who had always believed in the classical ideal of competitive sport...
- Thames Ironworks F.C. season 1899-1900
For the 1899-1900 season, Thames Ironworks F.C. adopted claret and blue 'uniforms' for the first time. Charlie Dove had got the kits for the club at a very cheap price of £3.10s. They had come from his father William Dove, who was a professional sprinter of national repute, as well as being one...
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