 Plaque on the site of the stadium | |
 | |
| Location | Leyton, London, England |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°34′00″N0°02′17″W / 51.5666°N 0.0381°W |
| Tenants | |
| Lea Bridge (speedway) Clapton Orient (1930–1937) | |
The Lea Bridge Stadium was a football and speedway stadium on Lea Bridge Road in the Leyton area of London. It was the home ground of Clapton Orient between 1930 and 1937.
The stadium was originally a speedway venue, but also started hosting football matches in 1930 when Clapton Orient moved to the site, having been forced to leave their Millfields Road ground due to financial problems. [1]
At the time that Orient moved to the ground, spectator facilities included a covered stand on the southern side of the ground and embankments around the remainder. The first League match played at the ground was a 3–1 win against Newport County on 3 September 1930 with 5,505 in attendance. [2] A few weeks into the season, the Football League authorities notified the club that the gap between the edge of the pitch and the speedway track fence was too narrow, and that no more matches could be played at the ground until this was rectified. Whilst the works were carried out, Orient played two matches at Wembley Stadium; a 3–0 win over Brentford on 22 November (with an attendance of 10,300) and a 3–1 win against Southend United on 6 December (2,500). [3]
In 1933 the motorcycle speedway scenes from the film Britannia of Billingsgate were shot at the stadium. [4] . It featured some of the leading riders in Britain at the time, including Colin Watson, Arthur Warwick, Gus Kuhn, Tom Farndon, Claude Rye and Ron Johnson. [5] [6]
Further improvements were later made to the ground, including a covered stand on the northern touchline and concrete terracing on the west, north and eastern sides of the stadium. The works increased the capacity to around 20,000, and Orient's record League crowd of 20,400 was set on 13 March 1937 when Millwall were beaten 1–0. [2]
In 1937 Clapton Orient moved to Osborne Road (later renamed Brisbane Road). The stadium continued to be used for speedway for one more season, [7] and then lay derelict until being finally demolished in the 1970s. The site later became an industrial estate. [2]
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Thomas Farndon, was a British speedway rider who won the Star Riders' Championship in 1933 whilst with the Crystal Palace Glaziers.
Edward Cashfield Harper was an English footballer, who played at centre-forward scoring a then record high of 43 league goals in a season in 1925–26 for Blackburn Rovers. He also holds the record for Preston North End scoring 37 goals in Division Two in the 1932–33 season.
Charles Alfred Fletcher was an English professional footballer, best remembered for his spells as an outside left in the Football League with Clapton Orient and Brentford.
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Colin Watson was a successful British motorcycle speedway rider from the sport's early years in the late 1920s and 1930s. He earned nine international caps for the England national speedway team.
The Clapton Stadium, also known as Millfields Road, was a football ground and greyhound racing stadium in the Lower Clapton area of London.
Horsley Hill was a football and rugby league ground and greyhound racing track in South Shields.
Arthur Ernest Warwick was an international motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned seven international caps for the England national speedway team.