VCD Athletic F.C.

Have the Guns Fallen Silent in Crayford?

The heyday of British power was fueled be adventure and bravery overseas – but also a lot of extremely hard graft back at home overseen by some of the most technically minded and skilled workers in the world. And it happened in places like Crayford.

Formerly part of Kent, now within the London Borough of Bexley, Crayford didn’t just supply the men who went to war – but also the women who produced the weapons and ammunition that sustained Britain’s ability to fight.

So, let’s visit VCD Athletic and #GetTheBadgeIn to see how they played their role in this remarkable period.

VCD Athletic F.C. were founded in 1916 during that wartime period by employees of the Vickers armaments factory in Crayford, South East London. The club’s full name – Vickers, Crayford and Dartford Athletic – reflects a community of local towns who all worked for the same large manufacturer.

For most of their history they competed in local and regional leagues, including long periods in the Kent Amateur League and later within the Isthmian League structure. In April 2026, following the loss of their ground at Oakwood and the failure to secure a new lease after a change in ownership, the club confirmed it will cease operations at the end of the 2025–26 season. After more than a century, the guns have fallen silent.

Crayford has a long pre-industrial history. There is evidence of Iron Age settlement, and it has been suggested as a possible site of early Saxon conflict, including the battle of Crecganford in the fifth century. By 1086, it was recorded in the Domesday Book as an established settlement with a church, mills and farmland under the control of Christ Church, Canterbury. For centuries, the local economy remained centred on agriculture and small-scale industry, including brick-making and textile production (sitting on the same clay deposits as Sittingbourne FC (aka The Brickies) a little further up the Kent coast.

Industrialisation arrived in Crayford in the form the The Maxim Nordenfelt Gun and Ammunition Company which established a major presence in the area. It built innovative guns (like the Maxim) used to great effect in the Boer War. In 1897 the plant was bought by Vickers who, amongst other things, improved the design and rebranded the gun under its own name. The Vickers machine gun became the vital weapon of war on the Western Front. Crayford supplied it.

Founded in Sheffield in 1828 as a steel foundry, Vickers had expanded into armaments, shipbuilding and engineering, and the Crayford site became part of its wider military production network. The factory produced not just guns but ammunition, heavy equipment and later aircraft-related components.

As large numbers of men left for military service, women became a critical part of the workforce. The factory was reorganised for mass production from 1913 onwards, employing large numbers of female workers to meet demand for weapons such as Lewis guns and Vickers machine guns. Many of these women worked directly with explosives, including TNT, and were exposed to significant risks. Those handling chemicals often developed yellowed skin, leading to the nickname “Canary Girls”. The work involved long hours, exposure to toxic materials and the constant risk of industrial accidents, including explosions. Despite the importance of their role, wages for women were typically lower than those of male workers in the same industry. In this image you can see the assembled workforce posing for an Armistice Day photo in 1918 all 14,500 of them.

The scale of production required supporting infrastructure. A large canteen and mess hall was built in 1915 to serve the workforce and was later converted into Crayford Town Hall. A theatre, opened in 1916, provided entertainment and contributed to maintaining morale among workers. The factory environment also contributed to the development of organised sport. Women working in munitions factories, including those at Vickers-Maxim, were involved in early games of women’s football, with matches taking place during the war years. Their game against

Sterling (Dagenham) was actually recorded and is the first film footage of a women's game known to exist (check it out here).

The football club emerged directly from this industrial setting. Formed as a works team, initially known as Vickers (Erith), it later adopted the name Vickers, Crayford and Dartford Athletic. During and after the First World War, the club was able to draw on players stationed locally for industrial service, including some individuals connected to Arsenal F.C. After organised football resumed, they joined the Kent League and later the Dartford and District League, before becoming a long-term member of the Kent Amateur League from 1925. They won league titles in 1953 and 1964 and remained at that level for several decades.

From the 1990s, VCD Athletic moved into higher levels of non-league football. They won the Kent League Premier Division in 1996–97, gained senior status and progressed into the Isthmian League system. There were further promotions and relegations, including a division title and a period in the Isthmian Premier Division. Progress was uneven, with setbacks linked to ground regulations and squad turnover, but the club remained active within its level. More recently, they secured promotion back to step four after a play-off victory in 2025.

The industrial base that had originally supported the club declined over time. Vickers was gradually restructured through mergers, nationalisation and acquisition, and the Crayford works closed along with other local industries. Textile production and other manufacturing sites in the area also disappeared, altering the economic structure of the town. Today it exists as a commuter town with a mix of smaller industrial units and retail, including a large Sainsburys store heated by underground boreholes (which is pretty neat). A greyhound track also brings in visitors and it housed a once successful speedway team that have now moved to Hackney.

Despite this, the club continued to operate, maintaining its presence at Oakwood and within the non-league system. The final issue was structural rather than sporting. Following a change in ownership of the ground and the absence of a new lease, the club confirmed that it would be unable to continue beyond the 2025–26 season.

The history of VCD Athletic is tied to the development of Crayford as an industrial town, and the history of Crayford is tied to the development of Britain as a superpower. Taht it is also so closely linked to the women's game in Britain is doubly tragic. To see it close is especially sad given its history.

But it’s there, the legacy, the heritage, will never go away – perhaps we haven’t seen the last of VCD Athletic. Let’s hope they’re just changing belts and the boys - and the girls - will be back again.