(-:  UP THE HAMMERS  :-)         

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                                                                                                                        WEST HAM UNITED F.C

                                                                                                        THE BOLEYN GROUND , UPTON PARK , WEST HAM

                                                                                                                                THE EAST STAND        

                                                                                                                              THE WEST STAND

                                                                                                                         THE BOBBY MOORE STAND

                                                                                                                A Bit about the Hammers

Nationality : 

ENGLAND

Founded : 

1895

Town : 

London

Year Formed:  

1895 as Thames Iron Works FC
1900 as West Ham United FC

Turned Professional: 

1898 as Thames Iron Works FC


Limited Company: 

1900


Former Name: 

Thames Iron Works FC (1895-1900)


Club Nicknames: 

'Irons' or 'Hammers'


Colours: 

Home
Claret and sky blue shirts, white shorts, claret socks with sky blue trim.

Away
Dark blue shirts with light blue and white trim, dark blue shorts and socks.


Previous Grounds: 

1895-96 Hermit Road Ground
1896-97 Browning Road
1897-1904 Memorial Grounds
1904 Boleyn Ground, Upton Park

Pitch measurements: 

112 x 72 yards


Managers since 1902: 

1902 - 32 Syd King
1932 - 50 Charlie Paynter
1950 - 61 Ted Fenton
1961 - 77 Ron Greenwood
1977 - 89 John Lyall
1989 - 90 Lou Macari
1990 - 94 Billy Bonds
1994 - 2001 Harry Redknapp
2001 - 2003 Glenn Roeder                            

Football League & Premiership Record: 

Southern League : 1898-1915.
Div. Two : 1919-23 : 1932-58 : 1978-81 : 1989-91 : 1992-93.
Div. One : 1923-32 : 1958-78 : 1981-89 : 1991-92.
Div. One (formerly Div. Two) : 1992-93.
FA Premiership : 1993-


Honours : 

Division 2: Champions 1957-58, 1980-81. Runners-up 1922-23, 1990-91. FA Cup: Winners 1964, 1975, 1980. Runners-up 1923. Football League Cup: Runners-up 1966, 1981. European Cup Winners’ Cup: Winners 1964-65. Runners-up 1975-76.


Victory/Defeat : 

Record Victory: League - 8-0 v Rotherham United, Division Two, 8 March 1958 and 8-0 v Sunderland, Division One, 19 October 1968 Cup - 10-0 v Bury, League Cup 2R 2L, 25 October 1983 Record Defeat: 2-8 v Blackburn Rovers, Division One, 26 December 1963 . 7-1 v Blackburn Rovers, Premiership, 14 October 2001.

Biggest Transfer fee  paid/received : 

£4.2m, Marc-Vivien Foe, Lens (1999) / £7.5m, John Hartson, Wimbledon (1999) 18m, Rio.  Ferdinand  (2000) 11m, Frank. Lampard   Jnr. (2000)

Most capped player : 

Bobby Moore, 108 England

Highest league scorer in a season : 

Vic Watson, 42, 1929-30

Best Attendance : 

42,322 v Tottenham Hotspur, Division One, 17 October 1970

In (signed) : 

Sebastien Schemmel from Metz - £465,000; David James from Aston Villa - £3.5m;


Out (signed) : 

Frank Lampard to Chelsea - £11million; Davor Suker - released; Stuart Pearce to Man City - Bosman; Tommy Williams to Peterbrough - free; Amos Foyewa - released; Jimmy Bullard to Peterbrough - free; Igor Stimac to Hajduk Split - free; Stephan Bywater to Wolves - loan;
 

Contact : 

West Ham United Green Street Upton Park London E13 9AZ Club Number: 020 8548-2748 E-mail: feed back@hammersfan.net

CLUB HISTORY

The Club was founded in 1895 as a company team of the Thames Ironworks. Many of the star players have been local men while the Board has mainly been comprised of people from generations of the local families most prominently the Cearns and the Pratt family. 
The Thames Ironworks was a famous ship building yard and the Club had as a sponsor the head of the Company, Mr Arnold Hills. Mr Hills was responsible for the Club moving to a new arena at the Memorial Ground which was equipped with a grandstand. This also became well known as a venue for athletics and cycling meetings. 


In 1900 two events took place which were vital to the progress of the Club. Firstly, they were elected to the Southern League and they then became a Limited Liability Company under the name of West Ham United which severed it's former association with the Ironworks. In 1904 the Club decided to move to its present ground at Upton Park. In the period between 1900 and 1914, the Hammers had a good record in the Southern League and when soccer was resumed on a national level after World War 1, the Club obtained entry into the 2nd Division of the Football League. 1922/23, they ended as runners up in the 2nd Division and appeared in the first ever Wembley FA Cup Final - a match famous for the White Horse incident. The Club lost to Bolton by two goals to nil.

                                                                                                                   

The Club enjoyed nine seasons in the 1st Division but was relegated to the 2nd Division and did not regain it's senior rating until 1958 when it won the 2nd Division Championship. Meanwhile, it had won the Football League war-time Cup in 1940 at Wembley by defeating Blackburn Rovers 1-0. The Club then went on to win the FA Cup three times at Wembley in 1964, 1975 and 1980. They won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1964/65 beating TSV Munich by 2-0 at Wembley in a game which thrilled many millions on European TV and is still rated as one of the finest games at the Stadium. In 1965/66, the Club were defeated in the Semi-final of the European Cup Winners Cup. They reached the final of the European Cup again in 1976 but this time lost 4-2 to Anderlecht in a Brussels Final. The Club were relegated to the 2nd Division in 1978 after 20 seasons in the top section of the League. 

The 1980/81 season was another remarkable year for the Club and the team went to Wembley to play in the League Cup Final against Liverpool. In the same year the Club reached the quarter finals of the European Cup Winners Cup and finished the year in style by clinching the 2nd Division. The Club's most successful season in the 1st Division was in 1985/86 when it finished third. The Club was relegated to the 2nd Division in the season 1988/89 and in the same year reached the semi-final of the Littlewoods Cup. In the 1990/91 season the Club reached the FA Cup semi-final and were runners-up in the 2nd Division. In the 1991/92 season the Club were relegated to the new Football League Division One but in the following year, season 1992/93, the Club were promoted to the F.A. Premier League. 

There have been three major visits by Royalty to the Boleyn Ground. The Prince of Wales attended a Charity match between West ham United and Tottenham Hotspur on 8th December 1930. It was in aid of the East Ham Branch of the British Legion Earl Haig Memorial Building Fund. King Olav of Norway has been a visitor on two occasions. The first on 6th November 1971 for a League match v Sheffield United; and the second on 12th November 1988, when Nottingham Forest were the opponents in a First Division game. 

The Club is noted for the long service record of its players and officials and, during it's history, there have been nine managers; Syd King, Charlie Paynter, Ted Fenton, Ron Greenwood, John Lyall, Lou Macari, Billy Bonds, Harry Redknapp, and the present manager, Glenn Roeder. 


During the history of the Club, five West Ham United players have appeared in the Royal Honours List. They are Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters, Trevor Brooking and Billy Bonds. 

The Clubs appearance record for a player currently stands at 663 League games and 132 Cup games with Billy Bonds. The previous total appearances record was held by Bobby Moore with 554 League and 98 Cup games. Close to him was Frank Lampard with 551 League and 114 Cup. 

In 1966, three players from the Club played for England in the World Cup Final at Wembley, a record for an English Club. Bobby Moore was the captain of the team which won by 4-2 (Geoff Hurst scored three and Martin Peters scored one). 

West Ham United has always been noted as a Club for developing its own players. The Youth section for players under the age of 19 has recently produced well over 30 Youth Internationals. The Club has won many trophies including the FA Youth Cup on two occasions in 1962/63 and 1980/81 and have been beaten finalists four times. In the Southern Junior Floodlit Cup they have been winners four times, joint holders once and runners-up twice. They won the South East Counties League Championship for the first time in 1984/85. 

The Boleyn Ground takes its name from the house which stood in Green Street, next to the ground, until the 1950's. It became known as the Boleyn Castle after Anne Boleyn, but this was not founded on fact, as the "castle" was indeed a building known as Green Street House. When West Ham United left the Memorial Grounds at Canning Town in May 1904, their new home at Upton Park was originally a cabbage patch where a Catholic School and reformatory stood. The first buildings were a small grandstand on the West side and a covered bank opposite. A Director's Box with press facilities was situated in the South-West corner of the Ground and in the North-West corner was the changing rooms hut.