The Clove Club is the Association for Old Boys (and former members of staff) of Hackney Downs School (formerly The Grocers' Company's School) which existed on the corner of Hackney Downs, in Downs Park Road, London E.5. , from 1876 until its closure in 1995.

The School was founded by the City Livery Company, The Worshipful Company of Grocers in 1876 and was the only educational institution to be founded by the Company in its corporate role.

In 1884, the second Headmaster, the Reverend C.G.Gull, M.A., initiated the series of discussions and meetings which led, in 1884, to the foundation of The Clove Club. The Club's name is taken from the Cloves, nine of which appear on the Company's Coat of Arms, which were among the spices imported by the Company. Another significant feature of the Coat of Arms was the Camel, the prime transport animal on the spice trains of the 14th Century, which became the School Badge. These two features, variously combined with others, were used by the School for its badges, trophies and documents throughout its life and continue to be so used by the Club with the permission of the Company. The Camel, referred to by the boys as 'Humphrey', was held in particularly high esteem by the pupils and was their especial mascot at inter-School sporting contests.

The Club was one of the first organisations of its kind, if not the very first. In the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries the Club had an orchestra which played in the West End. Over the years the Club has been honoured to count among its members many who have found fame in the Theatre, Science, Medicine and Sport but its main purpose then, as now, is to foster and prolong the friendships formed during the years of attendance at School.

There was a pause in the Club's activities during the latter years of the Twentieth Century when it, like other, similar organisations, became regarded as passé. In early 1995 a reunion of some 80 former pupils was gathered to celebrate the 80th Birthday of a much-loved former P.E.Teacher, Mr. Leslie Mitchell, and a chance remark led to the revival of the Club. Today there are nearly 1200 members, mostly in the United Kingdom but with significant numbers present in the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel. There are also members in France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Austria, Sweden, Norway and Kuwait. Our oldest Old Boy member attended the School during the First World War. Our youngest members were at the School when it closed in 1995.