He hoped the opportunity to play organised football would not only improve the feeling among his workers, but also improve their health and wellbeing. This was also the thinking behind a number of other clubs introduced at Thames Ironworks, including cricket, athletics and cycling clubs, a string band, a drama group and a temperance operation.
Hills also hoped the new club would attract big crowds to watch them in action, with tens of thousands of people living and working locally in the shipyards, docks and factories.
Initially, the new club played home matches at Hermit Road in Canning Town, which had previously been used by the professional works team of the Castle Shipping Line, Old Castle Swifts, which had folded earlier that year.
Indeed, a number of those mentioned above - Stewart, Parks, Lindsay and Sage - had played for Swifts before joining Thames Ironworks.
At Hermit Road, the pitch was cinder-based and canvas sheeting was erected as fencing to hide play from non-paying spectators, but there were no dressing rooms to speak of, meaning the players changed in the nearby Marquis of Salisbury pub!
Having had the initial idea to form the team, Taylor now had to arrange matches for them to play. He gained affiliation to the Football Association and even entered the 1895/96 FA Cup, before resigning his post to return to his part-time role as a referee and handing over to a committee comprised of his fellow foremen and clerks.
Thames Ironworks FC’s first-ever match took place at Hermit Road on 7 September 1895, with the opposition being Woolwich Arsenal’s reserve team, Royal Ordnance.