Artillery Volley: Honourable Artillery Company FC.

Images: Mike Bayly

Tucked out of the way of the hustle and bustle of the City Of London, there’s few English clubs with a backdrop quite like the Honourable Artillery Company Football Club.

Five minutes walk from Old Street Tube Station, Artillery Gardens plays host to games for the club of the oldest regiment in the British Army.

The Honourable Artillery Company was formed by Henry VIII in 1537 and although the football club doesn’t quite stretch back that far, it does boast a history going back to the 1800’s. Indeed, Cowper Jackson, a member of the Company, is said to have helped codify the laws of association football in 1863.

©Mike Bayly. Honourable Artillery Company FC.

HACFC were exiled from Artillery House for two decades but some clever groundsmanship made space for the footy once more .

The club’s first and second elevens play in the Amateur Football Combination and despite the military connection there is no requirement for players to have been part of the armed forces.

Many of the HACFC players come from the financial sector of the Square Mile with staff of Barclays and Rothchild banks turning out. The club's patron is Alan Smith, the former Arsenal and England striker, turned pundit.

Mike Bayly took a stroll to watch the HAC veterans play and while there were no fixed bayonets on display, being a vets game, there were the obligatory Puma Kings and the odd pot belly.

You can follow Mike on Twitter and Instagram: @Mike_Bayly.

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