Football Factory

The factories that used to be in Station Road and what they produced. 

In this audio you can hear Judith. 

The audio is 49 seconds long.

Audio Transcript: 

Judith

Station Road is a very short road. There were three football factories and a shuttlecock factory in Station Road between the Clock Tower and the station [laughs]. The building alongside platform one was originally William Stanley’s works and became a football factory when he moved his business out to Eltham. It was Webbers footballs, which apparently were the brand to use. It was used in all the cup finals and the internationals and things. They were supposed to have invented the 18 panel football. These are leather footballs with laces, and so that was a football factory and then became a shuttlecock factory. And I gather they were still making footballs there up to the…no, shuttlecocks up to the 50s and I think they went on making footballs until it was demolished.

South Norwood High Street Stories is funded by Historic England’s High Streets Heritage Action Zone programme delivered by Croydon Council. For more information visit www.croydon.gov.uk/southnorwood

Image Credit: The Norwood Review no. 233