Hermit Road was the first home stadium of London football club Thames Ironworks, the team that would become West Ham United, and was located in Canning Town. Thames had taken over the tenancy of the ground in the summer of 1895 from Old Castle Swifts F.C., who were the first professional football club in Essex. The Hermit Road ground had been described as a 'cinder' heap' and 'barren waste'.