Non-League and Academy football writer

Geoff Ocran is the manager of SCEFL Division One side Clapton Community FC, and he has been the manager there (Geoff was more of a player-manager of the club at the start), since the club were formed in 2018. Geoff, his coaching team and the players, have done a fantastic job on the pitch at this real community club, taking them so far, from step 8 to step 6 of the non-League system. Just last season (2023/24), Clapton Community made the play-offs of the Thurlow Nunn Eastern Counties League Division One South (step 6), only just losing to the eventual winners of the play-offs (Wormley Rovers), in the semi-finals. I recently had the great pleasure of speaking to Geoff, about some of his and Clapton Community FC’s journey, so far.

Could you talk me through a bit about your background in football, prior to becoming the player-manager of Clapton Community FC?

Geoff: As a player in non-League, I was at London APSA, then Enfield 1893 (we won our respective league when I was there) and then I went back to London APSA for a bit. I was also a player for Mauritius Sports and Potters Bar before joining Clapton FC (my local club), after being invited down there to have a look. And so it really just progressed from there, and I was then a player for Clapton FC. During one season we won one of the league cups, which was the club’s first trophy since the 1980s, and so you can imagine what a great day that was for us.

Then the off the field matters came more to the fore regarding how the club was being run which initiated the Home Boycott, However the reason I’d stayed so long at the club was because of the fans, and also what the club represented at the time. So I stepped away from the club to play church league football for  a bit with some of my friends. Then not long after that, I was approached by some of the Clapton CFC supporters who were setting up Clapton Community FC, and they asked me whether I’d like to be player-manager of the club. When you’re a captain of a club and you naturally progress into leadership roles, and then evolving into a management one. It was something that I couldn’t turn down or say no to. 

Clapton Community FC started in 2018, and I’ve been there ever since.

What did you make of the club’s first ever season at step 6, last season (2023/24)?

Geoff: I thought that we exceeded expectation, and if I’m being honest I thought that the step up from step 7 to step 6 would be bigger in terms of quality. Before the start of the season we were really just thinking about surviving the league, and that mid-table would be a great season. But we started the season really well, and we stuck to our core principles of how we want to play football, and as the season went on our expectations sort of changed. Our players adjusted to the league really well, and a lot of our players have previously played on the marshes or in Sat morning church football as in the past I was managing Clapton CFC and ANM/Gevic. 

We’ve helped to mould the raw talent of the players who we’ve brought to the club, and give them the opportunity to play senior football. So there’s a lot of things that they’ve had to learn, by playing senior football, such as tactical awareness, dealing with the extra physical and mental side of the game and playing against better quality. so you’ve got to help the players to learn that side of senior football. As a Club we were slightly disappointed that we didn’t go up through the play-offs, as when you’re in the play-offs you want to win it. For me Wormley Rovers were the best team in the league last season, and they deserved to win promotion via the play-offs, and they were also the team that caused us the most problems in matches.

Since you’ve been the manager of the club, who would you say has been the most difficult team that Clapton Community have faced?

Geoff: That’s a tough one, but Wormley Rovers are definitely up there. I always enjoyed our matches with NW London, a very technical team who you can’t afford to let them dictate the game. London Samurai Rovers are also a very good and technical side, as were FC Soma. So again in those games against those sides we couldn’t really play our game how we wanted to, but we were able to adjust, and I think that’s why we’ve been able to win leagues as it’s our versatility to win games in different ways But to answer your question, those three teams (NW London, London Samurai Rovers and FC Soma) were up there with the most difficult opponents that we’ve faced.

For those who haven’t seen Clapton Community’s senior men’s team play before, how would you describe their playing style?

Geoff: I would say that at our best we like to play really attacking football, and also play on the front foot when possible. We usually have two very tricky proactive wide players who want to terrorise the full back and then midfield players who likes to go forward, and will often go past the Centre forward and join in on the transition. We’re not really a very physical team, but we do like to play out from defence and compete, as that is our footballing ethos. So a lot of players who might not usually play at this level due to being more technical than physical would play for us because we like to play to their strengths. So at our best I would say that we are like a fast and attacking footballing side, and we like to get the ball to our front players quickly in Klopp style of play. 

Could you talk me through some of your standout memories of being the manager of Clapton Community FC, so far (from step 8 to step 6)?

Geoff: We’ve had some big games in recent years, such as the game against FC Roast, which was so big in the context of how everything worked out during that season. Even today our record attendance was 1,200, from that FC Roast game, and we started that season with no expectations. After winning that game on the final day of the season against FC Roast, that was the first time that we were top of the league during that whole season. 

Even in the run up to that game against FC Roast, we won really important games, with one ending in a 6-5 win to us Vs the Curve. Also, going to Barcelona was a great experience. It was a crazy weekend as we Firstly played Hereford Town on the Saturday in the league, then on the Sunday we played a team who was on tour from Spain, Sant Miquel before playing FC Jupiter on the Monday. We also went on another tour, this time in Leipzig, with a team from further up the footballing pyramid, Roter Stern Leipzig we’d known about through networking. Going up to Manchester to play FC United in a double header with the Men and Women’s team was also a great day in our history. 

Of course winning the Middlesex Premier League was really good and important for our progress, especially as we’d been so close to winning it during the previous season, only just being pipped by NW London. And even last season, playing different teams and going to different grounds with our fanbase, was a real reward for them, as they’d followed us home and away from when we were playing matches in parks and cages. If you wrote the story of Clapton Community FC as a film script, then you probably wouldn’t really believe it. With our shirt sales going viral, featuring in top news outlets globally, the Old Spotted Dog Ground reopening, those are just some things that have happened in these crazy six years, but it’s all been worth it and the reason we decided to create our own Club. 

I’m a big fan of the Middlesex County Football League. How did you find being in that league, with Clapton Community FC?

Geoff: We really enjoyed being in that league. It was something new for me and a lot of other people at the club, because we’d played in the Essex Senior League or the Ryman North, and so we wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near playing any of those Middlesex teams, unless it was a cup game. There’s so many different things that you need to learn about moving leagues, such as the grounds, how the teams play, the support, the surfaces and other stuff as well. I loved the multicultural side of being in the Middlesex League, and also playing against teams who want to play football and have different philosophies. Teams such as Hilltop, NW London’s and London Samurai Rovers’, start the game with the intention of playing you off the park So it would become much more of a chess game, when you played those teams, rather than a typical percentage Essex game The Middlesex League was a lot more about football, and it helped us grow even more as a club and as a management team finding different solutions. 

Looking ahead to next season in the SCEFL Division One, it should be a really interesting season for Clapton Community FC. How much are you looking forward to playing so many different teams in that league? Also, what are some of your hopes and aims for the men’s first team next season, in the SCEFL Division One?

Geoff: Yes we did initially appeal as geographically the Thurlow Nunn is better for us and we had unfinished business. But listen, we’re in the SCEFL Division One for next season, so there’s no point dwelling on it further. To be fair the league has been really helpful and welcoming to us, and as a club we’re now looking forward to playing new teams and going to different grounds. There’ll be a lot of east London vs south London derbies which makes the games tougher. Even last season the teams who were playing against us, their best players would all show up, as they really want to play against us in front of 300 or 400 people, and they want to be the pantomime villains.

Our fans will be looking forward to next season as well, and even though there might not be as big an away following in certain games, we always find a way and the fans will adjust, as they’re very loyal. The first half of the season will be where we learn quickly about the league. In the Thurlow Nunn League we had links with other clubs due to history but now we’re going into a league that we don’t really know a lot about, in terms of the structure. It will be a brand new experience for us, and it will be a real learning curve, getting to know the best teams in the league, and getting to know who the challengers are. We will also look to make a good start to the season, and to then build on it as the season goes on.