Honourable Artillery Club - The Artillery Ground

Honourable Artillery Company FC

The Artillery Ground

Armoury House

City Road

London 

EC1Y 2BQ

HAC Website

SAL Page

HAC FC Instagram

Ground Number: 1504

Saturday 29th November 2025

Honourable Artillery Company 4-3 Apollo London

AFA Cup 2nd Round

HONOURABLE ARTILLERY CLUB FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The Honourable Artillery Company Football Club (often abbreviated to HAC FC) is one of the oldest amateur football clubs in the United Kingdom, closely affiliated with the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC), the oldest regiment in the British Army, based at Armoury House in the City of London. The football section was established in 1897; its ties to the game stretch back even further. In 1863, HAC member Cowper “CD” Jackson, aged 24, helped frame the very first laws of football, making the Club a part of the sport’s earliest foundations, and Rugby was played as far back as 1870. They have never played in any of the FA's leagues or cups, instead adhering to the separate system of the Amateur Football Association. Despite this, they were one of the early adopters of the FA’s laws. The club played friendlies against other regimental sides, public schools, and early amateur clubs. They joined the Southern Amateur League as founder members in 1907 and had a spell away in the Amateur Football Combination, which they won in 2023, 2024 & 2025. The league was merged into the Southern Amateur League over the summer, with HAC rejoining as a consequence. They won the AFA Junior Cup in 2010, beating Polytechnic in the final. In 1999, they were Senior Cup runners-up, losing 4-1 to Old Finchleians. They also won the AFA Surrey/Kent Intermediate Cup in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2016 & 2019, with some of the titles won by their second-string side.

The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the world. Today, it is also a charity whose purpose is to attend to the "better defence of the realm", primarily through supporting the HAC regiment. In the 17th century, its members played a significant part in the formation of both the Royal Marines and the Grenadier Guards. More recently, regiments, battalions and batteries of the Company fought with distinction in both World Wars and its current regiment, which forms part of the Army Reserve, is the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior in the Army Reserve. Members of the regiment are drawn, for the most part, from young men and women working in and around the City and Greater London. Those leaving the active units may become Veteran Members and remain within the fraternity of the company.

MY BLOG

Originally, I'd really fancied going for a revisit to Rotherham United v Wycombe Wanderers. It was a ground that I'd not been to since 2012. But several factors swayed me against it. Firstly, the ticket price. It was £30 on the day, or £28 in advance. At least the tickets were digital to save on postage.  Secondly, my favoured method of travel, the Independent Supporters Club, was not running a coach. This usually involves visiting a nice pub for a meal, and it's a lovely day out. The only coach on offer was the official one, which involves hanging around at a service station for 45 minutes and getting to the ground at 2. All very reliable, but not for me. At least £63 to just go, see the game and go home wasn't my idea of an enjoyable way to spend a Saturday. In the end, Honourable Artillery Club confirmed the game on Friday evening, the kickoff slightly earlier than anticipated at 1 PM. There was also the chance of a bonus game at the Mile End Stadium, but it would be a last-minute decision.

From our game at the Alexander Stadium, we headed to a chippy Daniel had spotted, which looked decent. Here, I had a Doner nacho burger and a battered Mars Bar. The burger was greed on my part, but I needed something extra so I could put it on my card. It was large and great value, but didn't live up to the pictures. The Mars was excellent, though. We left at 9.45, later than I'd have hoped. There were inevitably a few delays on the M6, but I've had worse journeys. As I was dropping Colin off and there were issues with the M40, it sent us down the M1, which added a fair few miles to the journey. Together with lots of traffic hitting the fuel economy, it wasn't as cheap as I'd hoped. I dropped Colin off at midnight and got home 15 minutes later. My initial plan when I was expecting an earlier homecoming was a 1 a.m. bedtime, and amazingly, I more or less stuck to it. I had a couple of drinks whilst I got my blog up, but tiredness meant that I was asleep by 1.15.

 

The early kickoff and pre-match plans meant a 7 am alarm. I got ready and had breakfast before leaving at 7.45. I had decided to do the entire trip by public transport, as opposed to driving to the station. This would give me more freedom with my post-match plans. It was a ghastly rainy morning, but everything was running on time, and I got the 8 am bus to the station. As usual, it didn't line up with the bus times, resulting in a 15-minute wait and a semi-busy platform. The Chiltern train was sparsely populated, though, and their free Wifi made for a pleasant and comfortable place to lay out this blog. Trains galore were cancelled going out of Marylebone, for reasons I didn't care about, as long as it was all good later. Del Amitri kept me company on Spotify for the short walk to Baker Street, where I got the Jubilee Line to London Bridge. From there, it was a few minutes walk to The Sun Wharf, Wetherspoons 460 for me. A breakfast muffin, a pint of Stowford Press and an Energy Drink for the bag set me back £6.98. The only shame was no Black Dragon but you can't win them all. A pleasant place for a pint and bolstering London Bridge as my favourite London terminus. From there, it was a walk to the Cider House in Borough Market, though due to coming from a different direction, it took me a while to get my bearings. It was found eventually and I had a pint of Pilton Pomme Pomme, a Ross on Wye Susie's Catch and an Eden Brut Natural, the latter in smaller measures. The last one was from the USA and was very good. It was then a buttermilk pheasant hot dog. I left one of my favourite places in London £24 lighter but highly content. It was a half-hour walk and a bit of a palaver to get in, but after giving my ID and contact details, I was fine. It was a splendid venue, superbly kept and very closed in.

 

HAC sat 4th in the Southern Combination Division 1, having won three, drawn two and lost three of their games so far. They had won their last two, including a 3-2 win at Weirside Rangers in the Southern Amateur Senior Cup last time out. Apollo London were top of the step 8 Middlesex County League D1 East and hailed from Finchley. They were top of the table, having won seven and drawn one. Last time out, they beat Edgware and Kingsbury Reserves 8-1, so far the only side to take points off them in a 3-3 draw last month. The game kicked off six minutes late, the hosts in their white change shirts. It was the hosts who dominated and took the lead on 7 minutes, a good finish from a right-side cross. HAC continued to dominate and hit the bar a couple of times. It was 2-0 from a cross and a close-range finish on 24 minutes. The posh bar was visited at half time, very nice and the nicest toilets I've been in. It was 3-0, a good strike and a hat trick a minute or so into the second half. Apollo pulled one back a few minutes later, a curling shot from the right. Ten minutes into the second half, it was 3-2, an attack down the left and a low-placed shot. On 56 minutes, it was 3-3, more damage from the cross and a wild game. After a spell where Apollo looked like they might turn the game on its head, HAC made it 4-3 on 83 minutes through a goal that was bundled home after many clearances.

So, a brilliant game and a deserved win for HAC, but I was running late for game two. It was a nice walk to Liverpool Street, although the main entrance was closed and I had to go back on myself and down the Elizabeth Line entrance. It was a couple of stops on the Central Line to Mile End, of course, no signal was available. I got off and walked ten minutes to the stadium. Wycombe had gone 1-0 up at Rotherham, so I was pleased I arrived just as Ilford scored their second at Sporting Bengal. £8 was a bit steep 24 minutes into the game, but there were only a handful of people there, so every penny counts. My first game was free anyway, but had I known, I'd have headed straight to Camden. I was slightly envious of the people who had brought cans with them; they turned out to be Ilford fans, as there was not a murmur when Sporting Bengal pulled one back from the corner through Brandy Makuendi on 36 minutes. Sporting Bengal had a good spell, but it was all Ilford straight after the break. They laid siege to the Sporting Bengal goal, pinning them in their own half and hitting the post. Sporting Bengal came close on the break, but it was 3-1 with a swift counterattack and smart finish from Nickal David Luzalo. It was 4-1 to Ilford ten minutes from time, the initial shot hitting the post before Rodney Dame deflected the ball in his own net for an unfortunate own goal. That was it, Sporting Bengal were second best, but not by three goals.

THE GROUND

THE ARTILLERY GROUND is a very basic venue; there is no rail or cover, just a pitch and two dugouts, plus a couple of park benches. It more than makes up for it with the stunning architecture, though. High buildings, model cannons and a lot more. It all looks very high spec and is a brilliant place to watch the game. Food and drink is available, a mobile van at the end of the pitch, plus a very posh bar with some great touches inside. Be prepared to contact the club in advance to get your name on the list, or bring photo ID and a patient attitude. It was more work than usual, but it was worth the effort.