West Ham United Football Club is an English professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club that plays its home matches in
Stratford,
East London
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
. The club competes in the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
, the top tier of
English football
Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...
. The club plays at the
London Stadium
London Stadium (formerly and also known as Olympic Stadium and the Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park) is a multi-purpose outdoor stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the Stratford district of London. It is located in the Lower Lea ...
, having moved from their former home, the
Boleyn Ground
The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...
, in 2016.
The club was founded in 1895 as
Thames Ironworks and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. They moved to the Boleyn Ground in 1904, which remained their home ground for more than a century. The team initially competed in the
Southern League and
Western League before joining the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
in 1919. They were promoted to the top flight in 1923, when they were also losing finalists in the first
FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...
held at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
. In 1940, the club won the inaugural
Football League War Cup
The Football League War Cup was an association football tournament held between 1939 and 1945. It aimed to fill the gap left in English football by the suspension of the FA Cup during the Second World War. Though it was often referred to in conte ...
.
West Ham have been winners of the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
three times (1964, 1975 and 1980) and runners-up twice (1923 and 2006). The club have reached two major European finals, winning the
European Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
in
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
and finishing runners-up in the same competition in
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
. West Ham also won the
Intertoto Cup
The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...
in 1999. They are one of eight clubs never to have fallen below the second tier of English football, spending 63 of 95 league seasons in the top flight, up to and including the
2020–21 season. The club's highest league position to date came in
1985–86, when they achieved third place in the then
First Division.
Three West Ham players were members of the
1966 World Cup
The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...
final-winning
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
team: captain
Bobby Moore
Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England natio ...
and goalscorers
Geoff Hurst
Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst (born 8 December 1941) is an English former professional footballer. A striker, he became the first man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final when England recorded a 4–2 victory over West Germany at Wembley St ...
and
Martin Peters
Martin Stanford Peters (8 November 1943 – 21 December 2019) was an English footballer and manager. As a member of the England team which won the 1966 FIFA World Cup, he scored the second of England's four goals in the final against West Germa ...
. The club has a
long-standing rivalry with
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...
, and the fixture has gained notoriety for frequent incidents of
football hooliganism
Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting, constitutes violence and other destructive behaviours perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism normally involves ...
. West Ham adopted their
claret
Bordeaux wine ( oc, vin de Bordèu, french: vin de Bordeaux) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the ...
and
sky blue
Sky blue is a shade of light blue comparable to that of a clear daytime sky. The term (as "sky blew") is attested from 1681. A 1585 translation of Nicolas de Nicolay's 1576 ''Les navigations, peregrinations et voyages faicts en la Turquie'' in ...
colour scheme in the early 1900s, with the most common iteration of a claret shirt and sky blue sleeves first emerging in 1904.
History
Origins
![ThamesIronworksFC](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/ThamesIronworksFC.gif)
The earliest generally accepted incarnation of West Ham United was founded in 1895 as
Thames Ironworks F.C.
Thames Ironworks Football Club, the club that later became West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, was founded by Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd owner Arnold Hills and foreman Dave Taylor (Thames Ironworks F.C. founder), Dave Taylor in ...
, the
works team
A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company.
Association footb ...
of the largest and last surviving shipbuilder on the Thames,
Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company
The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf (often referred to as Blackwall) on the west side and at Cannin ...
, by foreman and local league referee
Dave Taylor and owner
Arnold Hills
Arnold Frank Hills (12 March 1857 – 7 March 1927) was an English businessman, sportsman, philanthropist, and promoter of vegetarianism.
Biography
Hills was born in Denmark Hill, Surrey, son of a manufacturing chemist.
Arnold Hills was also a ...
and was announced in the ''Thames Ironworks Gazette'' of June 1895. Thames Ironworks was based in
Leamouth Wharf in
Blackwall and
Canning Town
Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation ...
on both banks of the
River Lea
The River Lea ( ) is in South East England. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Creek. It is one of t ...
, where the
Lea
Lea or LEA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Lea River, Tasmania, Australia
* Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows
* RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA"
England
* Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish
* Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...
meets the
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
. Thames Ironworks built many ships and other structures, the most famous being . The last ship built there was the
dreadnought
The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...
in 1912 and the yard shut soon after.
The repair yard of the
Castle Shipping Line was a very near neighbour and their work team, initially known as the
Castle Swifts, would informally merge with the Thames Ironworks own team.
The team played on a strictly amateur basis for 1895 at least, with a team featuring a number of works employees. Thomas Freeman was a ships fireman and Walter Parks, a clerk.
Johnny Stewart,
Walter Tranter
Walter Rogers Tranter (22 August 1874 – 14 July 1945) was an English footballer who played as a left-back.
Born in Stockton-on-Tees, Tranter played as a left-back for Thames Ironworks, the team that would later become West Ham United. The c ...
and
James Lindsay were all boilermakers. Other employees included William Chapman,
George Sage and Fred Chamberlain, as well as apprentice riveter
Charlie Dove
Charlie Dove (1879–?) was an English footballer.
Career
Dove was regarded as being very physically fit for a footballer; in 1895 he stood nearly 6 feet tall and weighed 12 stone, which was considered large for a sixteen-year-old from a worki ...
, who was to have a great influence on the club's future at a later date.
Thames Ironworks won the
West Ham Charity Cup
The West Ham Charity Cup was an annual amateur football tournament which was contested by teams from West Ham and the surrounding area, an area of Essex that is now part of London. Only players that lived locally were eligible to compete. The compe ...
, contested by clubs in the
West Ham
West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham.
The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...
locality, in 1895, then won the
London League in 1897. They turned professional in 1898 upon entering the
Southern League Second Division, and were promoted to the First Division at the first attempt.
['] The following year they came second from bottom, but had established themselves as a fully fledged competitive team. They comfortably fended off the challenge of local rivals
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
in a relegation play-off, 5–1 in late April 1900 and retained their First Division status.
The team initially played in full dark blue kits, as inspired by Mr. Hills, who had been an Oxford University "
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...
," but changed the following season by adopting the sky blue shirts and white shorts combination worn from 1897 to 1899.
Following growing disputes over the running and financing of the club, in June 1900 Thames Ironworks F.C. was disbanded, then almost immediately relaunched as West Ham United F.C. — reflecting the
West Ham
West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham.
The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...
, London district where they played — on 5 July 1900 with
Syd King
Ernest Sydney "Syd" King (1 August 1873 – 14 February 1933) was a footballer and manager, and one of the most important figures in the early history of West Ham United.
Playing career
Born Chatham, Kent and educated at Watford Grammar School ...
as their manager and future manager
Charlie Paynter
Charlie Paynter (28 July 1879 in Swindon – 1 December 1971) was the manager of West Ham United from 1932 to 1950.
He moved to Plaistow with his family as a child. He played for the local teams Victoria Swifts and South West Ham, but while ...
as his assistant. Because of the original "works team" roots and links (still represented upon the club badge), they are still known as "the Irons" or "the Hammers" amongst fans and the media.
Birth of West Ham United (1901–1961)
West Ham United joined the Western League for the 1901 season
['] while also continuing to play in the Southern Division 1. In 1907, West Ham were crowned the Western League Division 1B Champions, and then defeated 1A champions Fulham 1–0 to become the Western League Overall Champions.
The reborn club continued to play their games at the
Memorial Grounds
Memorial Grounds was the home stadium of East London football club Thames Ironworks from the beginning of the 1897–98 season, until the end of the 1899–1900 season. The team continued to play at the stadium, under its new name of West Ham ...
in
Plaistow (funded by Arnold Hills) but moved to a
pitch in the Upton Park area in the guise of the
Boleyn Ground
The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...
stadium in 1904. West Ham's first game in their new home was against fierce
rivals
A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...
(themselves an Ironworks team, albeit for a rival company) drawing a crowd of 10,000 and with West Ham running out 3–0 winners, and as the ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...
'' wrote on 2 September 1904, "Favoured by the weather turning fine after heavy rains of the morning, West Ham United began their season most auspiciously yesterday evening; when they beat Millwall by 3 goals to 0 on their new enclosure at Upton Park."
![Whitehorsefinal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Whitehorsefinal.jpg)
In 1919, still under King's leadership, West Ham gained entrance to the
Football League Second Division
The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...
, their first game being a 1–1 draw with
Lincoln City, and were promoted to
Division One
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
in 1923, also making it to the first ever
FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...
to be held at the old
Wembley stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
. Their opponents were
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
. This was also known as the
White Horse Final
The 1923 FA Cup Final was an association football match between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United on 28 April 1923 at the original Wembley Stadium in London. The showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football A ...
, so named because an estimated 200,000 people came to see the match; spilling out on to the pitch, which had to be cleared prior to kick-off, by "Billie," a giant white horse (actually grey) being ridden by
PC George Scorey
George Albert Scorey (30 December 1882 – 14 April 1965) was an English soldier and later policeman. He is best known as the rider of the white horse at the 1923 FA Cup Final, played between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United on 28 April 1923 ...
. The Cup Final match itself ended 2–0 to Bolton. The team enjoyed mixed success in Division 1 but retained their status for ten years and reached the FA Cup semi-final in 1933.
In 1932, the club was relegated to Division Two and long term custodian
Syd King
Ernest Sydney "Syd" King (1 August 1873 – 14 February 1933) was a footballer and manager, and one of the most important figures in the early history of West Ham United.
Playing career
Born Chatham, Kent and educated at Watford Grammar School ...
was sacked after serving the club in the role of manager for 32 years, and as a player from 1899 to 1903. Following relegation, King had mental health problems. He appeared drunk at a board meeting and soon after committed suicide. He was replaced with his assistant manager
Charlie Paynter
Charlie Paynter (28 July 1879 in Swindon – 1 December 1971) was the manager of West Ham United from 1932 to 1950.
He moved to Plaistow with his family as a child. He played for the local teams Victoria Swifts and South West Ham, but while ...
, who himself had been with West Ham in a number of roles since 1897 and who went on to serve the team in this role until 1950 for a total of 480 games. The club spent most of the next 30 years in this division, first under Paynter and then later under the leadership of former player
Ted Fenton
TED may refer to:
Economics and finance
* TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar
Education
* ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association
** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey
** Transvaal Education Depart ...
.
Fenton succeeded in getting the club once again promoted to the top level of English football in 1958. With the considerable input of player
Malcolm Allison
Malcolm Alexander Allison (5 September 1927 – 14 October 2010) was an English football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Mal", he was one of English football's most flamboyant and intriguing characters because of his panache, fedora and ...
, Fenton helped develop both the initial batch of future West Ham stars and West Ham's approach to the game.
Glory years (1961–1978)
Ron Greenwood
Ronald Greenwood CBE (11 November 1921 – 9 February 2006) was an English football player and manager, best known for being manager of the English national football team from 1977 until 1982, as well as being manager of West Ham United for 13 ...
was appointed as Fenton's successor in 1961 and soon led the club to two major trophies, winning the
1964 FA Cup Final
The 1964 FA Cup Final was the 83rd final of the FA Cup. It took place on 2 May 1964 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between West Ham United and Preston North End.
West Ham, captained by Bobby Moore and managed by Ron Greenwood, won the mat ...
. The team was led by the young
Bobby Moore
Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England natio ...
. West Ham also won the
European Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
.
During the
1966 FIFA World Cup
The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...
, key members of the tournament winners
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
were West Ham players, including the captain,
Bobby Moore
Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England natio ...
;
Martin Peters
Martin Stanford Peters (8 November 1943 – 21 December 2019) was an English footballer and manager. As a member of the England team which won the 1966 FIFA World Cup, he scored the second of England's four goals in the final against West Germa ...
(who scored in the final); and
Geoff Hurst
Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst (born 8 December 1941) is an English former professional footballer. A striker, he became the first man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final when England recorded a 4–2 victory over West Germany at Wembley St ...
, who scored the first, and only,
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
in a men's
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
final.
[ All three players had come through the youth team at West Ham. ]
There is a "Champions" statue in Barking Road
List of A roads in zone 1 in Great Britain beginning north of the River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longe ...
, opposite The Boleyn Tavern
The Boleyn Tavern is a Grade II listed public house in East Ham, East London, at the junction of Barking Road and Green Street.
It was built in 1899–1900, with the entrance consoles bearing a 1900 date. The Tavern was frequented by West ...
, commemorating West Ham's "three sons" who helped win the 1966 World Cup: Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters. Also included on the statue is Everton's Ray Wilson.
They also won the FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
in 1975 by defeating Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
2–0. The Fulham team had former England captains
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Alan Mullery
Alan Patrick Mullery (born 23 November 1941) is an English former footballer and manager. After enjoying a successful career with Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur, and the England national team in the 1960s and 1970s, he became a manager working with ...
and West Ham legend Bobby Moore
Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England natio ...
.
After a difficult start to the 1974–75 season, Greenwood moved himself "upstairs" to become general manager and, without informing the board, appointed his assistant John Lyall
John Angus Lyall (24 February 1940 – 18 April 2006) was an English footballer and manager primarily known for his 34 years at West Ham United. He played for the club as a youth, then as a first-team player before injury cut short his career. ...
as team manager. The result was instant success – the team scored 20 goals in their first four games combined and won the FA Cup, becoming the last team to win the FA Cup with an all-English side when they beat Fulham 2–0 in the 1975 final. Lyall then guided West Ham to another European Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
final in 1976, though the team lost the match 4–2 to Belgian side Anderlecht
Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...
. Greenwood's tenure as general manager lasted less than three years, as he was appointed to manage England in the wake of Don Revie
Donald George Revie OBE (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, which immediately preceded his appointment as England manage ...
's resignation in 1977.
Ups and downs (1978–2005)
In 1978, West Ham were again relegated to Division Two, but Lyall was retained as manager and led the team to an FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...
win against Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
in 1980, their last major honour. They reached the final by defeating Everton in the semi-final. The Hammers won 1–0, with a goal scored from a header by Trevor Brooking
Sir Trevor David Brooking, (born 2 October 1948) is a former England international footballer, manager, pundit and football administrator; he now works as director of football development in England.
He spent almost his entire career at West Ha ...
in the 13th minute. This is notable as no team outside the top division has won the trophy since. West Ham were promoted to Division One in 1981, and finished in the top ten of the first division for the next three seasons before achieving their highest-ever league finish of third in 1985–86; a group of players which came to be known as The Boys of 86. However, they suffered relegation again in 1989, which resulted in Lyall's sacking. He was awarded an ''ex gratia'' payment of £100,000 but left the club in what Lyall described as "upsetting" circumstances, meriting only 73 words in a terse acknowledgement of his service in the club programme. Lyall left West Ham after 34 years service.
After Lyall, Lou Macari
Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Kenny ...
briefly led the team, though he resigned after less than a single season in order to clear his name of allegations of illegal betting while manager of Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...
.
He was replaced by former player Billy Bonds
William Arthur Bonds (born 17 September 1946) is a former professional footballer and manager, who is most often associated with West Ham United with whom he spent 27 years as player and manager. He played 799 first-team games for West Ham in a ...
. In Bonds' first full season, 1990–91, West Ham again secured promotion to Division One. Now back in the top flight, Bonds saw West Ham through one of their most controversial seasons. With the club planning to introduce a bond scheme, there was crowd unrest. West Ham finished last and were relegated back to Division Two after only one season. However, they rebounded strongly in 1992–93. With Trevor Morley
Trevor William Morley (born 20 March 1961) is an English football manager, former professional footballer and pundit.
As a player, he was a striker who notably played top flight football for Manchester City and West Ham United. He also playe ...
and Clive Allen
Clive Darren Allen (born 20 May 1961) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward for seven different London clubs. Allen was a prolific striker throughout his career ...
scoring 40 goals, they guaranteed themselves second place on the last day of the season with a 2–0 home win against Cambridge United
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...
, and with it promotion to the Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
.
With the team in the Premier League, there was a need to rebuild the team. Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...
player Joey Beauchamp
Joseph Daniel Beauchamp ( , 13 March 1971 – 19 February 2022) was an English professional footballer who played as a left midfielder. He played for most of his career at Oxford United but also had spells with West Ham United and Swindon Town ...
was recruited for a fee of £1.2 million. Shortly after arriving at the club, however, he became unhappy, citing homesickness from his native Oxford as the reason. Bonds in particular found this attitude hard to understand compared to his own committed, never-say-die approach; providing for Bonds' further evidence of the decay in the modern game and modern player. Fifty-eight days later, Beauchamp was signed by Swindon Town for a club-record combined fee of £800,000 which included defender Adrian Whitbread
Adrian Richard Whitbread (born 22 October 1971) is an English football manager and former professional footballer.
As a player, he was a defender who notably played in the Premier League for Swindon Town and West Ham United. He also played in ...
going in the opposite direction. Whitbread was valued at £750,000 in the deal.
Assistant manager Harry Redknapp
Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. In his ...
was also now taking a bigger role in the transfer of players, with the club's approval. With rumours of his old club AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...
being prepared to offer him a position, the West Ham board and their managing director, Peter Storrie
Peter Storrie (born 7 November 1952) is the Executive Vice-Chairman of A-League club Central Coast Mariners. He was also a former director and Chief Executive Officer of English team Portsmouth, and had formerly worked for West Ham United, Southen ...
, made a controversial move. The board were anxious not to lose Redknapp's services and offered Bonds a place away from the day-to-day affairs of the club—on the West Ham board. This would have allowed them to appoint Redknapp as manager. Bonds refused the post offered and walked away from the club. His accusations of deceit and manipulation by the board and by Redknapp have continued to cause ill-feeling. Peter Storrie claimed that they had handled the situation correctly, saying, "If Harry had gone to Bournemouth, there was a good chance Bill would have resigned anyway, so we were in a no-win situation. We're sad that Bill is going, and it's a big blow but it's time to move on and we have appointed a great manager."
Redknapp became manager on 10 August 1994.
Redknapp's time at West Ham was notable for the turnover of players during his tenure and for the level of attractive football and success which had not been seen since the managership of John Lyall. Over 134 players passed through the club while he was manager, producing a net transfer fee deficit of £16 million, despite the £18 million sale of Rio Ferdinand
Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for BT Sport. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and was ...
to Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
. Some were notably successful, such as the signings of Stuart Pearce
Stuart Pearce (born 24 April 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player, who was most recently a first-team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He was nicknamed "Psycho" for his unforgiving style of play.
...
,[ ]Trevor Sinclair
Trevor Lloyd Sinclair (born 2 March 1973) is an English football coach, professional footballer and pundit.
As a player, he was winger who notably played in the Premier League for Queens Park Rangers, West Ham United and Manchester City. He a ...
,[ ]Paolo Di Canio
Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals as a forward. He primarily played as a deep-lying forward, ...
,[ ]John Hartson
John Hartson (born 5 April 1975) is a Welsh former professional footballer, coach and sports television pundit for S4C, Sky Sports, Premier Sports TV and BT Sport.
As a player he was a striker, notably for Scottish club Celtic where his time ...
,[ ]Eyal Berkovic
Eyal Berkovic (or Berkovich, he, אייל ברקוביץ'; born 2 April 1972) is an Israeli former professional association footballer, football coach, team owner and television talk show presenter.
As a player he was an attacking midfielder ...
[ and ]Ian Wright
Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer. He works as a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport.
Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal ...
. Meanwhile, some were expensive, international players who failed at West Ham, such as Florin Raducioiu
The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...
;[ ]Davor Šuker
Davor Šuker (; born 1 January 1968) is a Croatian football administrator and former Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He served as president of the Croatian Football Federation from 2012 t ...
, who earned as much in wages as the revenue gained from one entire stand and yet made only eight appearances;[ ]Christian Bassila
Christian Armel Bassila (born 5 October 1977) is a French former professional association football, footballer who played as a defensive midfielder or centre-back. He is the director of INF Clairefontaine's youth sector.
Club career
Born in Pari ...
, who cost £720,000 and played only 86 minutes of football;[ ]Titi Camara
Aboubacar Sidiki "Titi" Camara (born 17 November 1972) is a Guinean former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He was also the coach of the Guinea national football team, ...
; Gary Charles
Gary Andrew Charles (born 13 April 1970) is an English football coach and former professional player.
He played as a right-back, notably beginning his career with Nottingham Forest and featured in the inaugural Premier League season under Brian ...
, whose wages amounted to £4.4 million but made only three starts for the club;[ ]Rigobert Song
Rigobert Song Bahanag (born 1 July 1976) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who is the manager of the Cameroon national team.
Known for his defensive skills, Song usually played as a centre-back but could also operate at right-back ...
; Paulo Futre
Paulo Jorge dos Santos Futre (; born 28 February 1966) is a Portuguese former footballer who played mostly as a left winger. He is one of the greatest natural talents of the Portugal.
After starting playing for Sporting, he moved to Porto – ...
;[ and ]Marco Boogers
Marco Boogers (born 12 January 1967) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a forward. Boogers spent almost all of his career in the Netherlands, apart from an ill-fated spell at English club West Ham United. He later worked a ...
, a player often quoted as one of the biggest failures in the Premier League. His first season in charge saw West Ham fighting the threat of relegation until the last few weeks, while his third season would also see another relegation battle. Always willing to enter the transfer market, Redknapp bought in the winter transfer window John Hartson and Paul Kitson
Paul Kitson (born 9 January 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.
He notably played in the Premier League for Newcastle United and West Ham United, as well as in the Football League with
Leicester Cit ...
who added the impetus needed at the season's end.
In 1999, West Ham finished fifth, their highest position in the top flight since 1986.[ They also won the ]Intertoto Cup
The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...
beating French club Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...
to qualify for the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup
The 1999–2000 UEFA Cup season was the 29th edition of the UEFA Cup competition. The final took place at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen and was won by Galatasaray, who defeated Arsenal in the final. The game was scoreless through the first ninety ...
. Things began to falter for Redknapp with the sale for £18 million to Leeds of Rio Ferdinand in November 2000. Redknapp used the transfer money poorly with purchases such as Ragnvald Soma
Ragnvald Soma (born 10 November 1979) is a Norwegian footballer who plays as a defender for his childhood club Frøyland Idrettslag. He signed for them 02.02.2014 effectively retiring from professional football.
Position
He is primarily a cen ...
, who cost £800,000 and played only seven league games, Camara, and Song. Redknapp felt he needed more funds with which to deal in the transfer market. Chairman Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...
lost patience with Redknapp due to his demands for further transfer funds. In June 2001, called to a meeting with Brown expecting to discuss contracts, he was fired.[ His assistant ]Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielder ...
left too, making the sale of his son Frank Lampard Jr., inevitable;[ in the summer of 2001, he joined ]Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
for £11 million.
With several names, such as former player Alan Curbishley
Llewellyn Charles "Alan" Curbishley (born 8 November 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a midfielder for West Ham United, Birmingham City, Aston Villa, Charlton Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion and has worke ...
, now linked with the job, Chairman Brown recruited from within the club,[ appointing reserve team coach ]Glenn Roeder
Glenn Victor Roeder (13 December 1955 – 28 February 2021) was an English professional football player and manager.
As a player, Roeder played as a defender for Arsenal, Leyton Orient, Queens Park Rangers, Notts County, Newcastle United, Watfo ...
as manager on 9 May 2001.[ He had already failed in management with Gillingham, where he lost 22 of the 35 games he managed, and ]Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
. His first big signings were the return of Don Hutchison
Donald Hutchison (born 9 May 1971) is a former professional footballer. Hutchison is a football television pundit and commentator for Talksport and ESPN FC.
As a player, Hutchison was a midfielder, who played in the Premier League for Liverpoo ...
for £5 million and Czech centre back Tomáš Řepka
Tomáš Řepka (born 2 January 1974) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a defender for Baník Ostrava, Sparta Prague, Fiorentina, West Ham United and České Budějovice, and the Czech national team. Currently, Řepka is p ...
. Finishing seventh in his first season Roeder, in his office at Upton Park, suffered a blocked blood vessel in his brain.[ As Roeder needed medical help and recuperation, former stalwart ]Trevor Brooking
Sir Trevor David Brooking, (born 2 October 1948) is a former England international footballer, manager, pundit and football administrator; he now works as director of football development in England.
He spent almost his entire career at West Ha ...
stood in as caretaker manager. Despite not losing another game, the Hammers were relegated on the last day of the season at Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
with a record for a relegated club of 42 points from a 38-game season. Ten seasons of top-tier football were over. Many top players including Joe Cole
Joseph John Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger in the Premier League, Ligue 1, League One and United Soccer League. He is regarded as one ...
, Di Canio and Kanouté all left the club.
The next season, now in the second tier, Roeder resumed his stint as manager. Results were still poor, however, and after an away defeat to Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
, he was sacked on 24 August 2003.[ Brooking again took over as caretaker. He lost only one game, a 2–0 away defeat to Gillingham and is known as "the best manager West Ham never had."
Former ]Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building
* ...
player and manager of Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
Alan Pardew
Alan Scott Pardew (born 18 July 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who is the current manager of Greek Super League club Aris.
Pardew's highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup Final th ...
was lined up to be the next bench boss. Reading and their chairman, John Madejski
Sir John Robert Madejski, (; born Robert John Hurst; 28 April 1941) is an English businessman, with commercial interests spanning property, broadcast media, hotels, restaurants, publishing and football. He changed his name when his stepfather, ...
, however, were reluctant to let him leave. After serving a period of notice and gardening leave, and with West Ham paying Reading £380,000 in compensation, he was appointed manager on 18 October 2003, their tenth manager. Pardew set out to rebuild the side bringing in Nigel Reo-Coker
Nigel Shola Andre Reo-Coker (born 14 May 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, as well as a football commentator and pundit for CBS Sports.
Reo-Coker came through the youth team ranks at Wimbledon, and h ...
, Marlon Harewood
Marlon Anderson Harewood (born 25 August 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Harewood started his career at Nottingham Forest. During his career there, he had loan spells at Haka and Ipswich Town before j ...
and Brian Deane
Brian Christopher Deane (born 7 February 1968) is an English football coach and former player. His most recent managerial position was as the manager of the Norwegian side Sarpsborg 08.
During his playing career, he played as forward from 1985 ...
. In his first season in charge, they made the playoff final only to lose to Crystal Palace. His signings of Bobby Zamora
Robert Lester Zamora (born 16 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. Zamora began his career at Football League club Bristol Rovers, but was soon signed by Brighton & Hove Albion, where he found first ...
, Matthew Etherington
Matthew Etherington (born 14 August 1981) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Crawley Town. As a player, Etherington played as a winger, most notably in the Premier League for ...
and veterans Chris Powell
Christopher George Robin Powell (born 8 September 1969) is an English football coach and former player, who is currently head of coaching at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur's Academy and a coach for the England national team. As a left b ...
and Teddy Sheringham
Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham, MBE (born 2 April 1966) is an English football manager and former player. He played as a forward, mostly as a second striker, in a 24-year professional career.
Sheringham began his career at Millwall, where he ...
saw West Ham finishing sixth and subsequently beat Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
1–0 thanks to a Zamora goal in the 2005 playoff final, securing a return to the Premier League. After ensuring promotion, Pardew said, "It's a team effort. We defended well and we're back where we belong."
Final years at the Boleyn (2005–2016)
On their return to the top division, West Ham finished in ninth place, The highlight of the 2005–06 season, however, was reaching the FA Cup final
The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...
and taking favourites Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
to a penalty shootout
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...
after a 3–3 draw. West Ham lost the shootout, but nonetheless gained entry to the following season's UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
as Liverpool had already qualified for the Champions League. In August 2006, West Ham completed a major coup on the last day of the transfer window after completing the signings of Carlos Tevez
Carlos Alberto Tevez (; born 5 February 1984) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. A quick, tenacious, powerful, hard-working and dynamic forward in his prime, Tevez was capable of playing as a striker, as a winger ...
and Javier Mascherano
Javier Alejandro Mascherano (born 8 June 1984) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player who is the head coach of the Argentina national under-20 team. As a player, he played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder, most not ...
. The club was eventually bought by an Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
ic consortium, led by Eggert Magnússon
Eggert Magnússon (born 20 February 1947) is an Icelandic businessman and former president of the Football Association of Iceland and ex-chairman of West Ham United. Eggert is a former owner and CEO of an import/export and bread and biscuit manufa ...
, in November 2006. Manager Alan Pardew was sacked after poor form during the season and was replaced by former Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
manager Alan Curbishley
Llewellyn Charles "Alan" Curbishley (born 8 November 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a midfielder for West Ham United, Birmingham City, Aston Villa, Charlton Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion and has worke ...
.
The signings of Mascherano and Tevez were investigated by the Premier League, who were concerned that details of the transfers had been omitted from official records. The club was found guilty and fined £5.5 million in April 2007. However, West Ham avoided a points deduction which ultimately became critical in their avoidance of relegation at the end of the 2006–07 season. Following on from this event, Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
chairman Dave Whelan
David Whelan (born 24 November 1936) is an English businessman and former footballer. During his football career, he played for Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra. Whelan is the former owner of club Wigan Athletic, having also been the chai ...
, supported by other sides facing possible relegation, including Fulham and Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
, threatened legal action. West Ham escaped relegation by winning seven of their last nine games, including a 1–0 win over Arsenal, and on the last day of the season defeated newly crowned League Champions Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
1–0 with a goal by Tevez to finish 15th.
In the 2007–08 season, West Ham remained reasonably consistently in the top half of the league table, with Freddie Ljungberg
Karl Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg (; born 16 April 1977) is a Swedish former professional footballer and manager who played as a winger. He was most recently a former assistant coach, and interim head coach of Arsenal.
He began his career at Hal ...
in the team, despite a slew of injuries; new signing Craig Bellamy
Craig Douglas Bellamy (born 13 July 1979) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward and is current assistant manager at EFL Championship side Burnley. Born in Cardiff, Bellamy began his senior playing career with Norw ...
missed most of the campaign, while Kieron Dyer
Kieron Courtney Dyer (born 29 December 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was recently the U23s manager at Ipswich Town.
Born in Ipswich, Dyer played youth football for his home club Ipswich Town ...
was out from August 2007. The last game of the season, at the Boleyn Ground
The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...
, saw West Ham draw 2–2 against Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
, ensuring a tenth-place finish three points ahead of rivals Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
. It was a five-place improvement on the previous season, and most importantly West Ham were never under any realistic threat of relegation.
After a row with the board over the sale of defenders Anton Ferdinand
Anton Julian Ferdinand (born 18 February 1985) is an English former footballer who most recently played for St Mirren as a centre back. He was a product of the West Ham United academy and has also played for their senior team, Queens Park Ran ...
and George McCartney
George McCartney (born 29 April 1981) is a Northern Irish former footballer who is currently a coach at Linfield. He began his career at Sunderland in 1998 before having two spells each with West Ham United and Leeds United. He won the 2004–0 ...
to Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
, manager Alan Curbishley resigned on 3 September 2008. His successor was former Chelsea striker Gianfranco Zola
Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a forward. He was most recently the assistant manager of Chelsea.
He spent the first decade of his playing career playing in ...
, who took over on 11 September 2008 to become the club's first non-British manager. In the 2008–09 season, West Ham finished ninth, a single place improvement.
In the 2009–10 season, West Ham started strongly with a 2–0 win over newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
with goals from Mark Noble
Mark James Noble (born 8 May 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder and is well remembered for his time at English club West Ham United, spending eighteen years with the club. Apart from two sh ...
and newly appointed captain Matthew Upson
Matthew James Upson (born 18 April 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Upson played for England at full international level including at the 2010 World Cup.
Upson started his career with Bedfordshire ...
. A League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
match
A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...
against old rivals Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...
brought about violent riots outside the ground as well as pitch invasion
A pitch invasion (known in North America as field storming or rushing the field) occurs when a person or a crowd of people spectating a sporting event run onto the competition area, usually to celebrate or protest an incident, or sometimes as ...
s and crowd trouble inside Upton Park.
In August 2009, the financial concerns of Icelandic owners parent companies left the current owners unable to provide any funds until a new owner was found. The club's shirt sponsor SBOBET
SBOBET.com is an online bookmaker. The website has operations in Asia licensed by the Philippines and operations in Europe licensed by the Isle of Man to operate as an international sports bookmaker. The company offers online gambling on all major ...
provided the club with help to purchase a much needed striker, the Italian Alessandro Diamanti
Alessandro Diamanti (; born 2 May 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for A-League club Western United. At club level, he has previously played for Prato, Empoli, Fucecchio, Fiorentina, AlbinoLeffe, West Ham Uni ...
.
West Ham had a poor season which involved a prolonged battle against relegation. They finally secured their survival with two games remaining by defeating Wigan 3–2. The club managed to take 35 points from 38 games, seven fewer than the total they had when relegated seven years prior.[
On 11 May 2010, two days after the end of the 2009–10 season, West Ham announced the termination of Zola's contract with immediate effect. On 3 June 2010, ]Avram Grant
Avraham "Avram" Grant ( he, אברהם "אברם" גרנט; born Avraham Granat; ) is an Israeli professional football manager. He has spent the majority of his career coaching and managing in Israel, winning a number of national league and cup ...
signed a four-year deal to become the next manager of West Ham subject to a work permit. West Ham's form continued to be poor with the team seldom outside the relegation zone, placing Grant's future as manager under serious doubt. A 4–0 Football League Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
quarter-final win over Manchester United was an otherwise bright spot in a disappointing season. West Ham's form in the Premier League did not affect their form in the two domestic cups. The Hammers reached the semi-final of the League Cup before being eliminated by eventual winners Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
as well as the quarter final of the FA cup before a 2–1 defeat at Stoke City
Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
.
On 15 May 2011, West Ham's relegation to the Championship
The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...
was confirmed after a comeback from Wigan at the DW Stadium
The DW Stadium is a stadium in Robin Park, in Wigan, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ground is owned and managed by Wigan Football Company Limited, which is 85% owned by Wigan Athletic and 15% owned ...
. With West Ham leading 0–2 at half-time through two Demba Ba
Demba Ba (born 25 May 1985) is a former professional footballer. He serves as the chairman of National Independent Soccer Association side ASC San Diego.
He made his first-team debut with French team Rouen in 2005 before moving to Mouscron an ...
goals, Wigan battled back to win 3–2 thanks to an added-time strike from Charles N'Zogbia
Charles Humphrey N'Zogbia (born 28 May 1986) is a French former professional footballer who played as a right or left winger, but also as an attacking midfielder. He was capped for the France under-21 team on thirteen occasions, and made his de ...
. Following the loss, West Ham announced the sacking of manager Avram Grant just one season into his tenure. On 1 June 2011, Sam Allardyce
Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English association football, football manager and former professional player.
Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent most ...
was appointed as manager as Grant's replacement.
The club finished third in the 2011–12 Football League Championship
The 2011–12 Football League Championship (known as the npower Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the league under its current title and nineteenth season under its current league division format.
Reading secured the ...
with 86 points and took part in the play-offs. They beat Cardiff City
Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...
in the play-off semi-final 5–0 on aggregate to reach the final against Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
at Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
on 19 May 2012. Carlton Cole
Carlton Michael George Cole (born 12 October 1983) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored 52 goals in 288 Premier League appearances for four clubs.
Cole began his career at Chelsea ...
opened the scoring, and although Blackpool equalised early in the second half, Ricardo Vaz Tê
Ricardo Jorge Vaz Tê (born 1 October 1986) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward.
Vaz Tê has previously played for English clubs Bolton Wanderers, Hull City, Barnsley and West Ham United, Greek club Panionios, Scottis ...
scored the winner for West Ham in the 87th minute.
West Ham, on their return to the Premier League, signed former players James Collins James, Jim, Jimmy, or Jamie Collins may refer to:
Sports Association football
* Jimmy Collins (footballer, born 1872) (1872–1900), Scottish footballer
* Jimmy Collins (footballer, born 1895), Scottish footballer
* Jimmy Collins (footballer, born ...
and George McCartney
George McCartney (born 29 April 1981) is a Northern Irish former footballer who is currently a coach at Linfield. He began his career at Sunderland in 1998 before having two spells each with West Ham United and Leeds United. He won the 2004–0 ...
on permanent deals, as well as record signing Matt Jarvis
Matthew Thomas Jarvis (born 22 May 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger.
After an unsuccessful spell as a youth-team player for Millwall, Jarvis began his professional career with Gillingham, making his ...
and Andy Carroll
Andrew Thomas Carroll (born 6 January 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championship side Reading. He has played in the Premier League and English Football League for Newcastle United, Preston North End, Liv ...
on loan. They won their first game of the season, on 18 August 2012, 1–0 against Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
thanks to a Kevin Nolan
Kevin Anthony Jance Nolan (born 24 June 1982) is an English former professional footballer and current first team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He has represented England at under-21 level.
After growing up in Toxteth, Liver ...
goal. The highlight of the first half of the season was a 3–1 home win against reigning European champions Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
on 1 December 2012 which saw them in eighth position and 12th at the end of the year. On 22 March 2013, West Ham secured a 99-year lease deal on the Olympic Stadium
''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...
, with it planned to be used as their home ground from the 2016–17 season. Tenth place was secured at the end of the season with nine home wins and only three away from home. Only 11 away goals were scored, the lowest of the entire league.
In 2013–14, West Ham finished 13th in the Premier League. They also reached the semi-finals of the League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
before losing 9–0 on aggregate to eventual cup-winners Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
. A feature of the season were the criticisms of manager Sam Allardyce by supporters relating to his perceived negative playing tactics. West Ham finished 12th in the 2014–15 Premier League, one place higher than the previous season. Minutes after the last game of the season, on 24 May 2015, the club announced that Allardyce's contract would not be renewed and that they were seeking a new manager. By winning the Premier League Fair Play league, Fair Play table for 2014–15, West Ham qualified for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, entering at the first qualifying round.
On 9 June 2015, former West Ham player Slaven Bilić was appointed as manager on a three-year contract. In Bilić's fourth game in charge, the team won at Anfield for the first time in 52 years, beating Liverpool 0–3, with goals from Manuel Lanzini, Mark Noble and Diafra Sakho. At the end of the season, West Ham finished 7th in the Premier League. The team broke several records for the club in the Premier League era, including the highest number of points (62), the highest number of goals in a season (65), the fewest games lost in a season (8) and the lowest number of away defeats (5). The season also marked the last season where the team played at the Boleyn Ground, with them moving to the London Stadium from next season - ending their 112-year stay at the stadium.
Move to London Stadium and recent years (2016–)
Following Manchester United's win in the 2016 FA Cup Final, West Ham took their Europa League place and qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, 2016–17 edition. At the end of the tough 2016–17 Premier League, first season at the London Stadium, the team finished 11th, along with having to deal with the departure of star man Dimitri Payet. However, the team suffered a poor start to the following season, taking only two wins in their opening 11 games. Following a 4–1 defeat to Liverpool at home and with the team threatened by relegation, Bilić was sacked on 6 November 2017. He was replaced by former Sunderland boss David Moyes on a contract till the end of the season. The team battled inconsistent form for the rest of the season but managed to avoid relegation and finish 13th. Moyes was not offered a new contract and left the club on the expiration of it on 16 May 2018.
On 22 May 2018, the club appointed former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini as the new manager on a three-year deal contract. In his first season in charge, the Hammers finished 10th, once again suffering from inconsistent form. However, after a poor first half to the following season, Pellegrini was sacked in December 2019 with the team only one point above the relegation zone. His last game in charge was a 2–1 home loss to Leicester City. He was replaced by David Moyes, who returned for a second spell in charge a day later.
On 22 July 2020, the club secured their Premier League status for another season, following a 1–1 draw away to Manchester United. Ahead of the 2020–21 West Ham United F.C. season, 2020–21 season, West Ham's ownership attracted criticism, including from club captain Mark Noble who publicly criticized the sale of academy graduate Grady Diangana. Despite losing the opening two games of the season, West Ham's form improved and by the end of November, the club sat in fifth place. The club would not drop out of a European spot for the rest of the season and went on to qualify for the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League group stages after finishing in 6th - exceeding many expectations. Moyes signed a new 3-year contract on 12 June 2021.
On 26 August 2021, West Ham were drawn in group H in the Europa League, alongside GNK Dinamo Zagreb, Dinamo Zagreb, K.R.C. Genk, Genk and SK Rapid Wien, Rapid Wien. 2021 culminated with West Ham sitting fifth in the Premier League, having reached the fifth round of the EFL Cup and winning group H of the Europa League. West Ham won their first three games of 2022, temporarily elevating the club to fourth place in the Premier League. On 10 March 2022, West Ham lost 1–0 away to Sevilla FC, Sevilla in the Europa League round of 16, before a 2–0 win after extra time seven days later secured West Ham's place in a European quarter-final for the first time in 41 years. On 14 April 2022, following a 1–1 draw a week prior at the London Stadium, West Ham defeated French club Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon 3–0 at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais to set up West Ham's first European semi-final since 1976. Playing the same opposition they met in their 1976 European Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
semi-final, Eintracht Frankfurt, the ''Hammers'' were knocked out of the Europa League, following a 3–1 aggregate loss to the German side. At the end of the 2021–22 Premier League season, West Ham confirmed a second successive season of European football, qualifying for the UEFA Europa Conference League after finishing seventh. The season was also notable for being Mark Noble's final as a West Ham player, with the midfielder retiring from football after 18 years as a first team player at the club, making 550 appearances in all competitions, scoring 62 times. By finishing 7th in the 2021–22 Premier League, West Ham qualified for the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League, 2022–23 Europa Conference League entering at the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying phase and play-off round#Play-off round, play-off stage.
Crest
Thames Ironworks FC
The Thames Ironworks Team (1895–1900) used the Union Flag as its badge.
Rivet Hammers
The principal element of the badge is the crossed pair of rivet hammers, tools that were used in the shipbuilding industry. The Blackwall and Canning Town
Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation ...
neighbourhoods surrounding the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Thames Ironworks echoed to the sound of hammers; steam hammers, sledge hammers and rivet hammers.
Seven large mechanical steam hammers would punch small holes near the edges of the iron plates which would be joined to build the ships. The plates would be put in place and fixed together with rivets by teams of five, three inside the emerging vessel and two outside.
Inside the ship one member of the team would heat the rivets till they were white hot and, using ''Iron Fingers'' (blacksmith, blacksmith's tongs), throw them to a second person known as a 'catch-boy' or 'putter-in' who would pick the rivet up and place it the hole, also using tongs. The third person was known as the 'holder-on' and he would then smash the rivet home with a sixteen-pound sledge hammer and then use his sledgehammer to hold the rivet in place while the men on the other side flattened the other end of the rivet.
Outside the ship, exposed to the elements, two men with rivet hammers – one right-handed, one left-handed – would hammer the protruding and still glowing rivet flat, so securing one of the many points necessary to link each of the ship's large plates.
The crossed hammers were also incorporated into the coat of arms of the County Borough of West Ham and those of its successor, the modern London Borough of Newham. The Thames Ironworks lay partly within what is now the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, however the blacksmiths tongs in London Borough of Tower Hamlets#Coat of Arms, that Borough's coat of arms represent the local saint, Dunstan, the patron saint of Stepney and metalworkers, rather than the Ironworks.
Tower
A yellow or white tower was added, intermittently, from the 1950s onwards. The primary reason for this seems to be to represent ''Anne Boleyn’s Tower'', the most notable feature of Green Street House, an originally Tudor group of buildings which stood next to the Boleyn Ground
The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...
until demolished in 1955. Green Street House was also known as ''Boleyn Castle'' through an association with Anne Boleyn. The manor was reputedly one of the sites at which Henry VIII courted his second queen, though there is no documentary evidence to support the tradition.
There are a number of other factors which may have influenced the inclusion of the stylised castle feature, for instance:
* to reflect the contribution made to the club by players of Old Castle Swifts
* The imposing towers, roofs and doorway of the Engineering Department of the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Thames Ironworks bore a strong resemblance to the castle feature in earlier iterations of the badge.
* The first verse of the club's anthem I'm forever blowing bubbles begins "I'm dreaming dreams, I'm scheming schemes, I'm building castles high".
* The White Tower (Tower of London), White Tower of the Tower of London as emblematic of East London
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
. For hundreds of years, up until 1900, inner East London
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
had been known as the Tower division, Tower Division, an area which owed military service to the Tower of London. The (originally whitewashed) White Tower (Tower of London), White Tower was used as insignia for the area, for instance on cap badges of local units of the army.
* In recognition of the ‘West Ham Pals’, the 13th Battalion of the Essex Regiment which was raised in Stratford in 1915 and saw extensive action and heavy losses on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in the World War I. The Battalion was formed from volunteers from West Ham
West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham.
The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...
and East London
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
generally. Their battle cry, war cry was “Up the Hammers”. The cap badge of the Essex Regiment was the castle and key of Gibraltar, though the unit made an unsuccessful request to the War Office that crossed hammers could be used instead.
* The adoption (in 1904) of Boleyn Castle FC as the club's reserve side when they took over their grounds on the site.
Shield
A shield has been used in many iterations of the club badge, and the shape of the 2016 version matches the cross-section on the hull of HMS Warrior (1860), HMS Warrior, the most famous ship built by the Thames Ironworks. However examining draughtsman's diagrams of the ship casts doubt on the resemblance between the shield and the ship.
Iterations
The crest was redesigned and updated in the late 1990s, featuring a wider yellow castle with fewer cruciform "windows" along with the peaked roofs being removed; the tops of the towers had previously made the castle appear more akin to Disneyland Park (Anaheim), Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty's Castle than a functioning fortress. The designer also altered other details to give a more substantial feel to the iconography.
When the club rebuilt the west stand of the Boleyn Ground
The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...
(construction finished 2001–02) the "castle" from the redesigned badge was incorporated into the structure at the main entrance to the ground. A pair of towers were prominent features of the ground's appearance, both bearing large club badges.
A new badge was introduced following the end of the 2015–16 West Ham United F.C. season, 2015–16 season, when the club moved into the Olympic Stadium
''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...
. It removes the Boleyn Castle due to the club moving away, leaving just the crossed hammers, which the club says is inspired by the crest before and during the career of Bobby Moore
Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England natio ...
. The word "London" was introduced below to "establish the club firmly on the international stage", and the more minimalist approach is to give a "strong statement that is instantly West Ham United". The shape of the crest is that of the Hull (watercraft), hull of , the first ironclad warship in the Royal Navy, which was built by Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Thames Ironworks.
Colours
The original colours of the team were dark blue, due to Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Thames Ironworks chairman Arnold Hills
Arnold Frank Hills (12 March 1857 – 7 March 1927) was an English businessman, sportsman, philanthropist, and promoter of vegetarianism.
Biography
Hills was born in Denmark Hill, Surrey, son of a manufacturing chemist.
Arnold Hills was also a ...
being a former student of Oxford University (see Oxford Blue (colour), Oxford blue). However, the team used a variety of kits including the claret and sky blue house colours of Thames Ironworks, as well as sky blue or white kit.
The Irons permanently adopted claret and blue for home colours in 1903.
One story suggests that Thames Ironworks right-half Charlie Dove
Charlie Dove (1879–?) was an English footballer.
Career
Dove was regarded as being very physically fit for a footballer; in 1895 he stood nearly 6 feet tall and weighed 12 stone, which was considered large for a sixteen-year-old from a worki ...
received the Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
kit from William Belton, who was a professional sprinter of national repute, as well as being involved with the coaching at Thames Ironworks. Belton had been at a fair in Birmingham, close to Villa Park, the home ground of Aston Villa and was challenged to a race against four Villa players, who wagered money that one of them would win. Belton defeated them and, when they were unable to pay the bet, one of the Villa players who was responsible for washing the team's kit offered a complete team's "football kits" to Belton in payment. The Aston Villa player subsequently reported to his club that the kit was "missing." This, however, is often disputed.
Thames Ironworks, and later West Ham United, retained the claret yoke/blue sleeves design, but also continued to use their previously favoured colours for their away kits.
Supporters, hooliganism and rivalries
Supporters
The team's supporters are famous for their rendition of the chorus of their team's anthem, "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" introduced to the club by former manager Charlie Paynter in the late 1920s. A Pears soap commercial featuring the curly haired child in the John Everett Millais, Millais' "Bubbles (painting), Bubbles" was well known at the time. The child resembled a player, Billy J. "Bubbles" Murray, from local schoolboy team, Park School, where the headmaster was Cornelius Beal. Beal was known locally for his music and rhyme and wrote special words to the tune of "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" whenever any player was having a good game.
Beal was a friend of Paynter, while Murray was a West Ham trialist and played football at schoolboy level with a number of West Ham players such as Jim Barrett Sr., Jim Barrett. Through this contrivance of association the club's fans took it upon themselves to begin singing the popular music hall tune before home games, sometimes reinforced by the presence of a house band requested to play the refrain by Charlie Paynter.
The FA Cup Final 1975, 1975 FA Cup version – which contains the original lyrics, and features vocals from the team's then-current players – is always played before home games, with the home crowd joining in and carrying the song on after the music stops at the verse line "Fortune's always hiding". Bubbles was published as a waltz whereas during the game the crowd sing it in common time.[
Since the 1950s, fans have also sung the ]East London
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
pub song Knees Up Mother Brown. The song title is also the name of an internet forum related to the club.
Like other teams, the team also have a history of adopting or adapting popular songs of the day to fit particular events, themes, players or personas. These have included serious renditions of theatre and movie classics such as "Me And My Girl, The Bells are Ringing," along with more pun-laden or humorous efforts, such as chanting former player Paolo Di Canio
Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals as a forward. He primarily played as a deep-lying forward, ...
's name to the canzone "La donna è mobile" by Giuseppe Verdi, or D.I. Canio to the tune of Ottawan's "D.I.S.C.O.", or the chant of "Who Let The Potts Out?" to the tune of Baha Men's "Who Let the Dogs Out?" when Steve Potts (footballer), Steve Potts could be seen warming up to come on as substitute late on in his career, or "That's Zamora" to the tune of Dean Martin's 1953 "That's Amore" in honour of former striker Bobby Zamora
Robert Lester Zamora (born 16 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. Zamora began his career at Football League club Bristol Rovers, but was soon signed by Brighton & Hove Albion, where he found first ...
. Other former players to be serenaded include Christian Dailly with vastly-altered lyrics to Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", Joe Cole
Joseph John Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger in the Premier League, Ligue 1, League One and United Soccer League. He is regarded as one ...
and Carlton Cole
Carlton Michael George Cole (born 12 October 1983) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored 52 goals in 288 Premier League appearances for four clubs.
Cole began his career at Chelsea ...
with Spandau Ballet's "Gold (Spandau Ballet song), Gold" song title sung as "Cole" and Luděk Mikloško. A song for West Ham favourite Bobby Moore
Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England natio ...
, "Viva Bobby Moore", is also sung based on The Business (band), The Business's "Oi!" rendition of the song, based on The Equals' 1969 release "Viva Bobby Joe". In 2016, supporters adapted the lyrics of Billy Ray Cyrus' "Achy Breaky Heart" in honour of Dimitri Payet.
When the players come onto the pitch, and at other times of celebration, as the song ''I'm forever blowing bubbles'' is being sung, around 60 bubble machines produce copious bubbles that rise high into the stadium.
Fans gained national attention after giving a torrid time to David Beckham in his first away match of 1998–99 the season after the England midfielder was sent off for a petulant foul on Diego Simeone. Coinciding with the game, there were claims (and an image taken) that fans, organised by a hardcore, had hung an effigy of the player outside a local pub. Although it was later revealed that the pub was in South East (London sub region), South-East London, the heartland of West Ham's greatest rivals Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...
. The West Ham fans did, however, boo Beckham's every touch of the ball during the game.
They have also displayed a particular zeal when it comes to abusing former players, particularly those who are perceived to have abandoned the club or performed some disservice. Paul Ince, Frank Lampard, Jermain Defoe, Nigel Reo-Coker
Nigel Shola Andre Reo-Coker (born 14 May 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, as well as a football commentator and pundit for CBS Sports.
Reo-Coker came through the youth team ranks at Wimbledon, and h ...
and Jesse Lingard have famously borne the brunt of verbal assaults and a guaranteed hostile reception at Upton Park. However, players such as Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Rio Ferdinand
Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for BT Sport. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and was ...
, Bobby Zamora and Carlos Tevez
Carlos Alberto Tevez (; born 5 February 1984) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. A quick, tenacious, powerful, hard-working and dynamic forward in his prime, Tevez was capable of playing as a striker, as a winger ...
receive applause and even standing ovations in honour of their contributions during their time at the club. Joe Cole subsequently rejoined West Ham from Liverpool midway through the 2012–13 season.
Hooliganism
The origins of West Ham's links with Football hooliganism, organised football-related violence starts in the 1960s with the establishment of The Mile End Mob (named after an area of the East End of London). During the 1970s and 1980s (the main era for organised football-related violence), West Ham gained further notoriety for the levels of hooliganism in their fan base and antagonistic behaviour towards both their own and rival fans, and the police. During the 1970s in particular, rival groups of West Ham fans from neighbouring areas often did battle with each other at games, most often groups from the neighbouring districts of Barking, London, Barking and Dagenham.
The Inter City Firm were one of the first "Casual (subculture), casuals", so called because they avoided police supervision by not wearing football-related clothing and travelled to away matches on regular InterCity (British Rail), InterCity trains, rather than on the cheap and more tightly policed "football special" charter trains. The group were an infamous West Ham-aligned gang. As the firm's moniker "inter city" suggests violent activities were not confined to local derbies – the hooligans were content to cause trouble at any game, though nearby teams often bore the brunt.
Both the 1989 film ''The Firm (1989 film), The Firm'' (starring Gary Oldman), and the 2005 film ''Green Street (film), Green Street'' (starring Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnam) are based upon West Ham hooligan firms.
Rivalries
West Ham have strong rivalries with several other clubs. Most of these are with other London clubs, especially with Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
in an East versus North London derby and with Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
in an East versus West London rivalry. The rivalry between West Ham and Tottenham has been fuelled by players such as Michael Carrick, Martin Peters
Martin Stanford Peters (8 November 1943 – 21 December 2019) was an English footballer and manager. As a member of the England team which won the 1966 FIFA World Cup, he scored the second of England's four goals in the final against West Germa ...
, Paul Allen (footballer), Paul Allen, Jermain Defoe and Scott Parker leaving the Hammers to join Tottenham. The rivalry deepened with the appointment of former Hammers manager Harry Redknapp
Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. In his ...
as Tottenham's manager. Since the 2006–07 FA Premier League, 2006–07 Premier League season, West Ham have developed a strong rivalry with Yorkshire club Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
due to the dubious circumstances surrounding the transfer of Carlos Tevez
Carlos Alberto Tevez (; born 5 February 1984) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. A quick, tenacious, powerful, hard-working and dynamic forward in his prime, Tevez was capable of playing as a striker, as a winger ...
, who helped West Ham avoid relegation at Sheffield United's expense.
The oldest and fiercest Millwall F.C.–West Ham United F.C. rivalry, rivalry is with Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...
. The two sides are local rivals, having both been founded by employees of local companies, with players living in the same localities. The early history of both clubs are intertwined, with West Ham proving to be the more successful in a number of meetings between the two teams at the time, resulting in West Ham being promoted at the expense of Millwall. Millwall later declined to join the fledgling Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
while West Ham went on to the top division and an FA Cup final. Later in the 1920s, the rivalry was intensified during strike action which Isle of Dogs-based companies (i.e., Millwall fans) refused to support, breeding ill will between the two camps, the bitterness of this betrayal enduring for years. In 1972, a Millwall supporter died at New Cross station after falling out of a train during a fight with West Ham fans.
The rivalry between West Ham and Millwall has involved considerable violence and is one of the most notorious within the world of football hooliganism
Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting, constitutes violence and other destructive behaviours perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism normally involves ...
. The teams were drawn against each other in the second round of the 2009–10 Football League Cup, 2009–10 League Cup and met on 25 August 2009 at Upton Park. This was the first time in four years that the two clubs had played each other, and the first ever in the League Cup. 2009 Upton Park riots, Clashes between fans occurred outside the ground, resulting in violence erupting up to half a mile away from the stadium, with serious injuries, including the stabbing of a Millwall supporter, damage to property and several arrests reported by police. There were also several pitch invasions by West Ham supporters which brought a temporary halt to the game. In January 2010, West Ham were fined after being found guilty of violent, threatening, obscene and provocative behaviour and of failing to prevent their fans entering the field of play. Millwall were cleared of all charges.
Nicknames
The team and supporters are known as The Hammers, in part because of the club's origins as Thames Ironworks. They are also known as The Irons.[
]
Stadium
Until 2016, West Ham were based at the Boleyn Ground
The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...
, commonly known as Upton Park, in London Borough of Newham, Newham, East London. The capacity of the Boleyn Ground was 35,016, and had been West Ham's ground since 1904. Prior to this, in their previous incarnation of Thames Ironworks, they played at Hermit Road in Canning Town
Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation ...
and briefly at Browning Road in East Ham, before moving to the Memorial Grounds
Memorial Grounds was the home stadium of East London football club Thames Ironworks from the beginning of the 1897–98 season, until the end of the 1899–1900 season. The team continued to play at the stadium, under its new name of West Ham ...
in Plaistow in 1897. They retained the stadium during their transition to becoming West Ham United and were there for a further four seasons before moving to the Boleyn Ground in 1904.
Former chairman Eggert Magnússon
Eggert Magnússon (born 20 February 1947) is an Icelandic businessman and former president of the Football Association of Iceland and ex-chairman of West Ham United. Eggert is a former owner and CEO of an import/export and bread and biscuit manufa ...
made clear his ambition for West Ham to move to the Olympic Stadium (London), Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Summer Olympics, a desire reiterated by current chairmen Gold and Sullivan when they assumed control of the club stating that they felt it was a logical move for the Government as it was in the borough of Newham.
In February 2010, however, the British Olympic Minister stated that West Ham would not get the stadium, and it would instead be used for track and field. On 17 May 2010, West Ham and Newham London Borough Council submitted a formal plan to the Olympic Park Legacy Company for the use of the Olympic Stadium following the 2012 Summer Olympics. The proposal was for a stadium with a capacity of 60,000 which would retain a competition athletics track. The proposal was welcomed by the chairman of UK athletics, Ed Warner, who said, "I think it will feel great as a football stadium and I speak as a football fan as well the chairman of UK Athletics. I think you'd find West Ham would cover the track in the winter season so it wouldn't look like you had a track between you and the pitch."
On 30 September 2010, the club formally submitted its bid for the Olympic Stadium with a presentation at 10 Downing Street, and on 8 October 2010 the world's largest live entertainment company, Live Nation, endorsed the club's Olympic Stadium plans. Three days after Live Nation's endorsement, UK Athletics confirmed its formal support for West Ham United and Newham Council in their joint bid to take over the Olympic Stadium in legacy mode. In November 2010, West Ham began a search for potential developers for "informal discussions" about what would happen to the ground if it were to win its bid to take over the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games. According to the club, the site could be vacated and open to redevelopment by summer 2014. On 11 February 2011, the Olympic Park Legacy Committee selected West Ham as the preferred club to move into the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games.
The decision in favour of West Ham's bid was unanimous, although controversial as local Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur had also been bidding for the venue. Hopes of moving to the stadium, however, were since placed under doubt following a legal challenge by Tottenham and Leyton Orient F.C., Leyton Orient, with Leyton Orienta perennial (since 1980) EFL League One, tier 3 to National League (division), tier 5 clubfearful that having West Ham playing less than a mile away from their Brisbane Road, Brisbane Road ground could steal support from the club and put them out of business. Both clubs' appeal for a judicial review, however, were rejected on 23 June 2011. On 3 March 2011, West Ham's proposed move to the Olympic Stadium was formally approved by the British government and Mayor of London Boris Johnson.
On 8 June 2011, it was confirmed that the Westfield Stratford City, Westfield Shopping Centre had been in detailed talks with West Ham for naming rights of the new Olympic stadium which could be called the Westfield Stadium. West Ham announced plans to move from the Boleyn Ground from the 2014–15 season. In August 2011, an independent investigation initiated by the Olympic Park Legacy Company upheld the decision to award West Ham the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games. On 29 June 2011, however, Tottenham announced that they were returning to the High Court again to fight the decision to award West Ham the stadium, in an oral hearing, to try to overturn the original High Court appeal being rejected. On 25 August 2011, Tottenham and Leyton Orient were in fact granted a judicial review by the High Court into the Olympic Stadium bidding process. On 11 October 2011, the deal to award West Ham the Olympic Stadium collapsed over concerns of legal pressure, with the government deciding that the stadium will stay in public ownership. Six days later, Tottenham and Leyton Orient announced they had ended their legal challenge after the deal collapsed.
Once the original deal collapsed, a new process to select a tenant was begun. West Ham immediately announced plans to become tenants of the stadium. By March 2012, West Ham was one of the four bidders for the Stadium. With a decision due by the Olympic Park Legacy Company in May 2012, Mayor of London Boris Johnson delayed the final selection of future tenants until completion of the 2012 Summer Olympics, stating that it was "overwhelmingly likely" that the tenants would be West Ham.
It was announced on 22 March 2013 that West Ham had signed a 99-year lease for the Olympic Stadium after the government agreed to put in an extra £1 million towards the costs of converting the site. The club's plan was to move into the stadium prior to the start of the 2016–17 in English football, 2016–17 season. Supporters of rival clubs had pressed for an inquiry into the granting of West Ham's tenancy, arguing that West Ham were being given an unfair advantage by the arrangement. In September 2015, however, the government rejected holding such an inquiry.
The Academy of Football
The club promotes the popular idea of West Ham being "The Academy of Football", with the moniker adorning the ground's new stadium façade. The comment predominantly refers to the club's youth development system which was established by manager Ted Fenton
TED may refer to:
Economics and finance
* TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar
Education
* ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association
** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey
** Transvaal Education Depart ...
during the 1950s, that has seen a number of international players emerge through the ranks. Most notably, the club contributed three players to the 1966 FIFA World Cup, World Cup-winning England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
side of 1966, including club icon Bobby Moore
Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England natio ...
, as well as Martin Peters
Martin Stanford Peters (8 November 1943 – 21 December 2019) was an English footballer and manager. As a member of the England team which won the 1966 FIFA World Cup, he scored the second of England's four goals in the final against West Germa ...
and Geoff Hurst
Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst (born 8 December 1941) is an English former professional footballer. A striker, he became the first man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final when England recorded a 4–2 victory over West Germany at Wembley St ...
who between them scored all of England's goals in the eventual 4–2 victory. Other academy players that have gone on to play for England have included Trevor Brooking
Sir Trevor David Brooking, (born 2 October 1948) is a former England international footballer, manager, pundit and football administrator; he now works as director of football development in England.
He spent almost his entire career at West Ha ...
, Alvin Martin, Tony Cottee and Paul Ince.
Since the late 1990s, Rio Ferdinand
Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for BT Sport. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and was ...
, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole
Joseph John Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger in the Premier League, Ligue 1, League One and United Soccer League. He is regarded as one ...
, Michael Carrick and Glen Johnson (English footballer), Glen Johnson began their careers at West Ham and all went on to play for much bigger clubs. Most recently, the likes of first teamers Mark Noble
Mark James Noble (born 8 May 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder and is well remembered for his time at English club West Ham United, spending eighteen years with the club. Apart from two sh ...
and James Tomkins (footballer), James Tomkins, as well as Welsh international Jack Collison, have emerged through the . Frustratingly for fans and managers alike, the club has struggled to retain many of these players due to (predominantly) financial reasons. West Ham, during the 2007–08 season, had an average of 6.61 English players in the starting line up, higher than any other Premier League club, which cemented their status as one of the few Premier League clubs left that were recognised to be bringing through young English talent and were recognised as having "homegrown players." Between 2000 and 2011, the club produced eight England players, as many as Manchester United and one fewer than Arsenal. Much of the success of the Academy has been attributed to Tony Carr, who was West Ham youth coach between 1973 and 2014.
Players
First-team squad
Other players under contract
Out on loan
Under-23s
Former players
Retired numbers
* 6 Bobby Moore
Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England natio ...
, Defender (association football), Defender (1958–74) – posthumous honour
* 38 Dylan Tombides, Striker (association football), Striker (2010–14) – posthumous honour
Club captains
West Ham dream team
In the 2003 book ''The Official West Ham United Dream Team'', 500 fans were quizzed for who would be in their all time Hammers Eleven. The voting was restricted to players from the modern era.
Hammer of the Year
The following is a list of recipients of the 'Hammer of the Year' award. The first award, to Andy Malcolm in 1957–58 West Ham United F.C. season, 1957–58, was nominated by a journalist at ''The Stratford Express''. Subsequent recipients would be awarded the title after a vote by supporters. Trevor Brooking was the first player for West Ham United to have been honoured with the title of Hammer of the Year three times in a row in 1976, 1977 and 1978. Scott Parker repeated this feat between 2009 and 2011. Brooking has won the award the most times, on five occasions: 1972, 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1984. Bobby Moore, Billy Bonds and Julian Dicks have each won it four times.
Bobby Moore has been runner-up four times, while Billy Bonds and Tony Cottee have both been runners-up three times.
Billy Bonds and Trevor Brooking's wins are notable in the amount of time between first and last Hammer of the Year award. Bonds has 16 years separating his wins whilst Brooking has 12.
Lifetime Achievement Award
In 2013, West Ham United introduced a new annual award, the West Ham United Lifetime Achievement Award.
The first award was presented to club-record appearance maker Billy Bonds
William Arthur Bonds (born 17 September 1946) is a former professional footballer and manager, who is most often associated with West Ham United with whom he spent 27 years as player and manager. He played 799 first-team games for West Ham in a ...
, who picked up the award on the pitch at Upton Park before kick-off against Cardiff City
Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...
on the opening day of the 2013–14 West Ham United F.C. season, 2013–14 season.
The 2014 award was presented to Sir Trevor Brooking
Sir Trevor David Brooking, (born 2 October 1948) is a former England international footballer, manager, pundit and football administrator; he now works as director of football development in England.
He spent almost his entire career at West Ha ...
, a record five-time winner of the Hammer of the Year award. Brooking received the award before the 2014–15 West Ham United F.C. season, 2014–15 season curtain-raiser against Tottenham Hotspur on 16 August 2014. Brooking had already had the Centenary Stand at the Boleyn ground named after him in 2009.
The 2015 award was awarded to Martin Peters
Martin Stanford Peters (8 November 1943 – 21 December 2019) was an English footballer and manager. As a member of the England team which won the 1966 FIFA World Cup, he scored the second of England's four goals in the final against West Germa ...
.
On 3 May 2016, it was announced via the club's official website that the fourth recipient of the award would be Sir Geoff Hurst
Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst (born 8 December 1941) is an English former professional footballer. A striker, he became the first man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final when England recorded a 4–2 victory over West Germany at Wembley St ...
, the club's second all-time leading goalscorer, and scorer of a hat-trick in the 1966 1966 FIFA World Cup, World Cup Final. Hurst would be honoured at the club's 2015/16 Player Awards Ceremony. Ken Brown (footballer), Ken Brown became the sixth recipient of the award, in April 2018. The 2019 honour was awarded to midfielder Ronnie Boyce who made his debut for West Ham in 1960.
Mark Noble Young Hammer of the Year Award
In honour of Mark Noble
Mark James Noble (born 8 May 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder and is well remembered for his time at English club West Ham United, spending eighteen years with the club. Apart from two sh ...
, who was also the award winner in 2004, and had been serving the club since 2000 and retired in 2022, the Young Hammer of the Year award was renamed to Mark Noble Young Hammer of the Year Award on 9 May 2022.
Current staff
Staff and directors
Coaching staff
Managers
West Ham United have had 17 permanent managers in their history and an additional three caretaker managers.
Ownership and chairmen
In January 2010, David Sullivan (businessman), David Sullivan and David Gold (businessman), David Gold acquired a 50% share in West Ham, given them overall operational and commercial control. At the end of May 2010, Gold and Sullivan purchased a further 10% stake in the club at a cost of £8 million. Taking their controlling stake to 60%, they announced that they could open up shares for fans to purchase. On 9 August 2010, Gold and Sullivan increased their shares up to 30.6% each with "minority investors", (which included former owner Terry Brown, purchasing a further 3.8% of the club at a cost of around −4 million) leaving Icelandic Straumur Investment Bank owning 35% of the club.
On 2 July 2013, Sullivan acquired a further 25% of shares after restructuring the debt of the club, leaving Straumur Bank with just 10%. In order to clear club debts before a move to the Olympic Stadium in 2016, in December 2014 Sullivan announced the availability for sale of 20% of the club. The clearing of club debts, given in July 2013 as £70 million, was given as a pre-condition to a move to the Olympic Stadium.
On 10 November 2021, the club announced Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský had acquired 27% of the shares of the club, reducing Gold and Sullivan's shares at the club.
European and international record
Honours
Domestic
Leagues
* List of English football champions, First Division/Premier League (Tier 1)[Up until 1992, the top division of Football in England, English football was the Football League First Division; since then, it has been the ]Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
. Similarly until 1992, the Football League Second Division, Second Division was the second tier of league football, when it became the First Division, and is now known as Football League Championship, The Championship. The third tier was the Third Division until 1992, and is now known as League One.
** Highest placing: 3rd, 1985–86 Football League#First Division, 1985–86
* List of winners of English Football League Championship and predecessors, Second Division/Championship (Tier 2)
** Champions (2): 1957–58 Football League#Second Division, 1957–58, 1980–81 Football League#Second Division, 1980–81
*** Runners-up: 1922–23 Football League#Second Division, 1922–23, 1990–91 Football League#Second Division, 1990–91, 1992–93 Football League#Second Division, 1992–93
*** EFL Championship play-offs, Play-off winners: 2005 Football League play-offs#Championship, 2005, 2012 Football League play-offs#Championship, 2012
* Southern Football League, Southern League First Division:
** Highest placing: 3rd, 1912–13 Southern Football League, 1912–13
* Western Football League:
** Champions: Western Football League, 1906–07
** Section A champions: 1906–07
Cups
* FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
** Winners (3): 1964 FA Cup Final, 1963–64, 1975 FA Cup Final, 1974–75, 1980 FA Cup Final, 1979–80
*** Runners-up: 1923 FA Cup Final, 1922–23, 2006 FA Cup Final, 2005–06
* EFL Cup, League Cup
** Runners-up: 1966 Football League Cup Final, 1965–66, 1981 Football League Cup Final, 1980–81
* FA Community Shield, FA Charity Shield:
** Winners: 1964 FA Charity Shield, 1964 (shared)
** Runners-up: 1975 FA Charity Shield, 1975, 1980 FA Charity Shield, 1980
* Football League War Cup
The Football League War Cup was an association football tournament held between 1939 and 1945. It aimed to fill the gap left in English football by the suspension of the FA Cup during the Second World War. Though it was often referred to in conte ...
:
** Winners: Football League War Cup, 1940
* Southern Floodlit Cup:
** Winners: 1956
** Runners-up: 1960
* London Challenge Cup
** Winners (9): 1924–25, 1925–26, 1929–30, 1946–47, 1948–49, 1952–53, 1956–57, 1967–68, 1968–69
* Essex Professional Cup:
** Winners (3): 1951, 1955 (shared), 1959
** Runners-up: 1952, 1958
* London Charity Cup
** Runners-up: 1902
Wartime
* The Football Combination, London Combination:
** Champions: 1916–17 in English football, 1916–17
** Runners-up: 1915–16 in English football, 1915–16 (Supplementary Tournament), 1917–18 in English football, 1917–18
* 1939–40 in English football, League South A:
** Runners-up: 1939–40 in English football, 1939–40
* 1939–40 in English football, League South C:
** Runners-up: 1939–40 in English football, 1939–40
* 1940–41 in English football, Regional League South:
** Runners-up: 1940–41 in English football, 1940–41
* Football League North and South, League South:
** Runners-up: 1943–44 in English football, 1943–44, 1944–45 in English football, 1944–45
As Thames Ironworks F.C.
* Southern Football League, Southern League Division Two
**Winners: 1898–99 Southern Football League, 1898–99
** London champions: Southern Football League 1898-99#Division Two London, 1898–99
* London League
**Winners: 1897–98 Thames Ironworks F.C. season, 1897–98
** Runners-up: 1896–97 Thames Ironworks F.C. season, 1896–97
* West Ham Charity Cup
The West Ham Charity Cup was an annual amateur football tournament which was contested by teams from West Ham and the surrounding area, an area of Essex that is now part of London. Only players that lived locally were eligible to compete. The compe ...
**Winners: 1895–96 Thames Ironworks F.C. season, 1896
** Runners-up: 1896–97 Thames Ironworks F.C. season, 1897
European
* European Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
** Winners: 1964–65 European Cup Winners' Cup, 1964–65
** Runners-up: 1975–76 European Cup Winners' Cup, 1975–76
* UEFA Intertoto Cup
** Winners: 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup, 1999
* Anglo-Italian League Cup
** Runners-up: 1975
International
* International Soccer League
** Winners: International Soccer League#League champions, 1963
* International Soccer League#American Challenge Cup winners, American Challenge Cup
** Runners-up: 1963 International Soccer League, 1963
Indoor
* London Five-a-Sides, London Fives
**Winners: 1967, 1970, 1984
**Runners-up: 1955, 1957, 1960, 1971, 1974, 1977, 1981
Other
* BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award: 1965
* Honorary Degree (awarded to the club) in 2009 by the University of East London
Statistics and records
Attendance
* Record attendance: 62,449 vs Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., Brighton & Hove Albion, Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
, 21 August 2022
**At the Boleyn Ground
The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...
: 42,322 v Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
, Football League First Division, Division One, 17 October 1970
*Lowest league attendance: 4,373 v Doncaster Rovers F.C., Doncaster Rovers, Football League Second Division, Division Two, 24 February 1955
Transfers
* Biggest transfer fee paid: £51.2 million to Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon for Lucas Paquetá, 29 August 2022
* Biggest transfer fee received: £25 million from Olympique de Marseille, Marseille for Dimitri Payet, 29 January 2017
Record results and performances
Victories
* League:
* Premier League:
** Home: 6–0 v Barnsley F.C., Barnsley, 10 January 1998
** Away: 5–0 v Derby County F.C., Derby County, 10 November 2007
* Division One:
** Home: 8–0 v Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
, 19 October 1968
** Away: 6–1 v Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
, 8 September 1962
* Division Two:
** Home: 8–0 v Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
, 8 March 1958
** Away: 6–0 v Leicester City F.C., Leicester City, 15 February 1923
* FA Cup:
** Home: 8–1 v Chesterfield F.C., Chesterfield (round one), 10 January 1914
** Away: 5–0 v Chatham Town F.C., Chatham Town (5th qualifying round), 28 November 1903
* League Cup:
** Home: 10–0 v Bury F.C., Bury (round two second leg) (12–1 aggregate scoreline), 25 October 1983
** Away: 5–1 v Cardiff City
Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...
(semi-final second leg) (10–3 aggregate scoreline), 2 February 1966
** Away: 5–1 v Walsall F.C., Walsall (round two), 13 September 1967
* European Cup Winners' Cup:
** Home: 5–1 v Real Madrid Castilla, Castilla CF (round one second leg) (6–4 aggregate scoreline), 1 October 1980
** Away: 2–1 v FC Lausanne-Sport, Lausanne (quarter final second leg), (6–4 aggregate scoreline) 16 March 1965
* UEFA Cup/Europa League:
** Home: 3–0 v NK Osijek, Osijek (round one first leg), 16 September 1999
** Home: 3–0 v FC Lusitanos, Lusitanos (first qualifying round first leg), 2 July 2015
** Home: 3–0 v K.R.C. Genk, Genk (group H), 21 October 2021
** Away: 3–0 v Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon (quarter final second leg), (4–1 aggregate score line) 14 April 2022
Defeats
* League:
* Premier League:
** Away: 0–6 v Everton, 8 May 1999
* Division One:
** Home: 2–8 v Blackburn Rovers F.C., Blackburn Rovers, 26 December 1963
** Away: 0–7 v Sheffield Wednesday F.C., Sheffield Wednesday, 28 November 1959
* Division Two:
** Away: 0–7 v Barnsley F.C., Barnsley, 1 September 1919
* FA Cup:
** Away: 0–6 v Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
(round four), 26 January 2003
* League Cup:
** Away: 0–6 v Oldham Athletic A.F.C., Oldham Athletic (semi-final first leg), 14 February 1990
** Away: 0–6 v Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
(semi-final first leg), 8 January 2014
* European Cup Winners' Cup:
** Home: 1–4 v FC Dinamo Tbilisi, Dinamo Tbilisi (quarter final first leg) (2–4 aggregate scoreline), 4 March 1981
** Away: 2–4 v ADO Den Haag, FC Den Haag (quarter final first leg) (5–5 aggregate scoreline, West Ham won on away goals), 3 March 1976
** Neutral: 2–4 v Anderlecht
Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...
(Final), 5 May 1976
* UEFA Cup:
** Home: 0–1 v Palermo F.C., Palermo (round one first leg), 14 September 2006
** Away: 0–3 v Palermo F.C., Palermo (round one second leg), 28 September 2006
Club league highs and lows
Club goal records
* Most league goals in a season:
** 101, Division Two (1957–58)
* Top league scorer in a season:
** Vic Watson (42) Div. One (1929–30)
* Top scorer in a season:
** Vic Watson (50) Div. One (1929–30)
* Most goals in one match:
** Vic Watson (6) v Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
(h) 9 February 1929
** Geoff Hurst
Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst (born 8 December 1941) is an English former professional footballer. A striker, he became the first man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final when England recorded a 4–2 victory over West Germany at Wembley St ...
(6) v Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
(h) 19 October 1968
''Follow link to Official West Ham United Records Page''
Player records
In popular culture
* In a Monty Python sketch four communist thinkers and leaders appear on a news show ''World Forum'', where they are asked football questions. Karl Marx fails to identify the nickname "the Hammers" as the nickname for West Ham.
* Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris, leader of Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Iron Maiden, is a West Ham fan and was once scouted by the club. He has long displayed its logo on his Fender Precision bass guitar. The band and club have also collaborated on some merchandise, such as special edition shirts.
* For the ''IT Crowd'' episode "Are We Not Men" Roy pretends to enjoy football and claims to be a follower of West Ham, thinking he made the team up. Instead, it turns out everyone at the table is a supporter and they invite him to a match.
* In the final episode of season two of ''Ted Lasso'', "Inverting the Pyramid of Success", former Richmond owner Rupert Mannion buys West Ham and installs Richmond's former kitman-turned-coach, Nate Shelley, as the head coach.
* In the Television in the United Kingdom, British Situation comedy, sitcom ''Till Death Us Do Part'' and its follow-on and spin-off series ''Till Death...'' and ''In Sickness and in Health'' the character Alf Garnett's biggest passion in life was his local association football, football team West Ham United.
* The action film ''Final Score (2018 film), Final Score'', a 2018 in film, 2018 release starring Dave Bautista and Pierce Brosnan, was filmed at the club's former Upton Park stadium shortly before its demolition. It concerns a takeover of the venue during a fictional European cup game between West Ham and a Russia, Russian team. Co-owner David Sullivan is credited as executive producer.
See also
References
Bibliography
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External links
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West Ham United News – Sky Sports
Knees up Mother Brown (KUMB.com) – the supporters' website
{{Good article
West Ham United F.C.,
Association football clubs established in 1895
Football clubs in England
Premier League clubs
Former English Football League clubs
FA Cup winners
Football clubs in London
Southern Football League clubs
1895 establishments in England
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup winning clubs
UEFA Intertoto Cup winning clubs