Work on Old Spotted Dog Ground alleyway to resume

After a delay to allow Newham Council to grant planning permission for a new fence next to a Grade 2 listed building (the Old Spotted Dog pub), council contractors Kenson Highways will at last start work on Monday (October 28) on the planned cycle path along the alley next to Clapton CFC’s ground.

This will involve some groundwork to level off the area next to the clubhouse and removing the fence separating it from the warehouse yard, before this area and inside the Disraeli Road entrance is tarmaced. The final stage is the new fence and a new turnstile booth.

The work is due to take five weeks and for some of this period will require the closure of the alley (although not, as the contractors’ signs suggest, until March 2025!) It’s possible the alleyway will be closed on some matchdays during those five weeks.

This summer, contractors cleared the warehouse yard and undertook work on the trees and planted six new ones.

This ground improvement was agreed at CCFC’s last AGM and Newham Council is meeting all the costs.

Once finished, the Dog will no longer be hidden away but clearly visible to passers-by. We hope the days of local people saying “I never knew there was a football ground there!” are finally over.

If you have questions, a working group for this project is organised by the Old Spotted Dog Ground Trust and is available via trust@oldspotteddog.org