Back in the dark days of 1915 Grays Athletic plied their trade in the London League Amateur Division 1, the Premier Division being made up of professional clubs including West Ham United.

At the end of the 1914/15 season Blues finished on top of the pile unbeaten throughout the season whilst in the Premier Division the Hammers were crowned champions. It was customary then that the winners of each division met in what was known as the Championship Final , and so it was that on the 29th April the two teams met at Upton Park with the Hammers running out 3-1 winners.

The following is a brief report taken from the Gazette detailing the Blues line up and goal scorers.

West Ham United 3-1 Grays Athletic – London League Championship Match (1-1 at Half Time)
Scorer- Hermitage

Team- Cole, H.Russell, Appleford, North, A.C.Russell, McCarthy, Warboys, Harris, Bannister, Hermitage, Barnfather

Goals:-
West Ham – Stallard got away after 10 mins and gave Cole no chance. 1-0
Hermitage scored at the 3rd attempt after 1st shot hit the goalie, the 2nd hitting the crossbar.1-1

2-1 West Ham – Not long after the restart of the second half Fenwick hit a long drive, the ball hitting the bar heavily and rebounded down about two yards from the goal line. The referee gave a goal despite being poorly placed and the appeals from the Grays players.

3-1 West Ham – Butcher added the third despite McCarthy’s attempts to help Cole in the Grays goal.