Non-League and Academy football writer

Stratford East’s club chairman Samuel Omueda (on the left), with one of the club’s co-founders, Darnell Dallas.

As well as being the chairman of newly founded Essex Alliance Football League Premier Division West club Stratford East FC, Samuel Omueda is also one of the co-founders of the club. Previously the chairman of Clapton FC, I recently had the pleasure of speaking to Samuel, about this new and ambitious club, Stratford East. I wish Stratford East all the very best for this season, at step 8 of the non-League pyramid.

Could you talk me through a bit about your background in football?

Samuel: As a youngster I used to play for Clapton FC, and I also had trials with other clubs and I played football at school and college. So although it wasn’t anything really special, I was proud to say that I’d played for Clapton, who were my local team at the time. I was also the chairman of Clapton FC, after having worked for the club for a couple of years, before becoming the chairman. I left that role last season, and I’ve since gone on to help start up a new club for this season, in Stratford East.  

Could you talk me through a bit about the newly formed Stratford East FC/some of the backstory of the club?

Samuel: So in terms of that, it’s really some of the people who were involved with me at Clapton, who have helped to form Stratford East. So our secretary was also the secretary at Clapton, and so she’s also one of the co-founders of Stratford East. Also, one of our other co-founders was doing work in the local community, for Clapton last season. In terms of why we called the club Stratford East, that is because I’ve grown up in Stratford. And even though there’s a number of clubs in the Newham area, such as Clapton Community and Athletic Newham, we still felt that there was an opportunity to start a different club, to provide access to football, which is something that we think is very important. We actually did a lot of research before forming the club, with a university student doing research, but that’s how the club came about.

How have you found pre-season with Stratford East, so far?

Samuel: Pre-season was a little bit difficult, because as you can imagine from leaving Clapton to then founding Stratford East, it’s been a quick turnover. For example we had trials for the club on July the 30th, which was very late. So pre-season has been a bit tough and although we’ve had a couple of friendly matches, it hasn’t been the pre-season that we’re going to have next season. I’m still happy overall with how things have gone, and we’ve currently got 30 players who are training with us, which we are pleased about.

What are some of your thoughts ahead of the new (2024/25) Essex Alliance Football League Premier Division West season?

Samuel: So I started out with Clapton at step 5, in the Essex Senior League, and so I don’t know too much about the Essex Alliance Football League, to comment too much. But I’m really looking forward to the season beginning.

What are some of your personal hopes and aims for Stratford East, for this season (the club’s first ever season)?

Samuel: It’s our first ever season, and I do know that it’s going to be competitive. Winning the league would be a bonus, but I’m a pragmatic person. So with it being our first season, I just want us to compete and also for the players to have fun. However, in our second season we can definitely be a bit more stringent with our goals.

Could you talk me through a bit about the management staff at Stratford East, for this season?

Samuel: Our manager is James Blythe, and he has previously coached Ilford’s Reserve team. James was also at Senrab for a bit. Our coach is Colin Thomas, and so both him and James have about 20 years each experience in football, so that’s a massive positive for us.

What have been some of the challenges of setting up a new club?

Samuel: Initially I was trying to work out how I was going to get a coach as well as players. Obviously there’s lots of clubs in London and the local area, and of course being at Clapton was very different, because it’s got lots of history behind it. Whereas with a brand new club, it’s a bit like why should players come and play for us. So that was a challenge, as was budgeting as well. For example for the new season we had to sort out the kits, the new ground and all of these things. So getting people to buy into the idea of Stratford East FC has been a challenge as well, as a brand new club.

Could you talk me through a bit about the design of the club badge?

Samuel: As you walk out of Stratford station you’ll see what is like a design/sculpture with poles, and they are both green and yellow. So when people think about Stratford the area, we want them to think of our football club. So those are really the basis of the colours of the club badge. Also, the other thing that the colours of the badge has to do with, is where I’m from (Nigeria) and also Taylor and Darnell (co-founders) are both Jamaican, so it matches both the national flags.

What are some of your hopes for Stratford East FC, for the future?

Samuel: We want to climb up the non-League pyramid. We’ve already set our targets, and we hope to be in step 6 within five years. I think that five years is very fair, and for it to take longer than that would be a bit disappointing. Sometimes it takes a bit of luck as well, to get up through the leagues. We also really want to build a fanbase for Stratford East, and in terms of my profession I’m a lawyer, but I’ve also done a lot of work in the community. So that was one of the key things that I did at Clapton, where I managed to build new relationships. So for example I reached out to the University of East London and local businesses, and at Stratford East it will be very similar. We want to build up a fanbase, as well as building up good relationships with the colleges and schools in the local area. We also want a club that is going to be around in 100 years time, so that is the ultimate goal of the club.