West Ham United F.C.

West Ham United Football Club are a professional English football club based in East London. They play their home matches at Upton Park. They are nicknamed "The Hammers" and "The Academy of Football" by the media, but are better known as "The Irons" by their own fans (due to the club's origins at the Thames Ironworks - see below). The club has a training facility at Chadwell Heath, adjacent to the railway line from which the team may occasionally be viewed at practice during the week. The club has recently been promoted to the Premiership for the 2005/06 season.

History

The club was founded in 1895 as the works side of the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd by the company chairman Arnold Hills, playing in the London League. They joined the Southern League Second Division in 1899. When the club became a limited company in 1900 the club name was changed to West Ham United. West Ham's club colours are claret and blue.

Related Topics:
Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd - Arnold Hills - Southern League - 1899

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The club moved to the Memorial Ground in Plaistow in 1900 and then to a pitch in the Upton Park area, originally named The Castle for the 1905-06 season. They joined the Football League in 1919 and were first promoted to the top division in 1923. They have won the FA Cup three times in 1963-64, 1974-75 and 1979-80. They also won the (now defunct) European Cup Winners' Cup in 1964-65, beating 1860 Munich 2-0 in the final at Wembley Stadium, London. They also appeared in the final of the same competition in 1975-76, losing 4-2 to Anderlecht of Belgium.

Related Topics:
Plaistow - The Football League - FA Cup - Cup Winners' Cup - Wembley Stadium - London - Anderlecht - Belgium

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West Ham have never been hugely successful in the League, their highest ever position being a third-place finish in the old First Division in 1985-86. They have been in the Premiership for most of the seasons since its inception in 1992-93; however, in 2002-2003, after a poor campaign in which it took them nearly six months to win their first home match, they were relegated from the Premiership. The following season they reached the playoff final but were defeated by Crystal Palace. At the end of the 2004-05 season, which saw huge pressure placed on manager Alan Pardew by the team's supporters, West Ham managed to finish sixth in the Championship, securing a play-off place for the second successive season. After a 2-2 draw at Upton Park, West Ham went on to beat Ipswich (who had finished 3rd, 12 points ahead of West Ham) 2-0 at their homeground of Portman Road, and thereby qualifying for the playoff final. The Hammers went on to win the promotion final 1-0 over Preston North End to secure a return to the Premiership.

Related Topics:
First Division - Premiership - Crystal Palace - Ipswich - Portman Road - Preston North End

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Greenwood and Lyall: Glory Days

West Ham United first established themselves in 1964, when manager Ron Greenwood guided the club to their first major trophy in the shape of an FA Cup final victory over Preston North End. Their captain, Bobby Moore, would skipper the England team to World Cup success in 1966, while striker Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick in the final against West Germany. The success of 1964 was repeated a year later, this time with a European Cup Winners Cup triumph over 1860 Munich at Wembley. Greenwood guided West Ham to another FA Cup success in 1975, this time against Fulham, before being promoted to the position of general manager - a role which he occupied for two years before beginning a five-year reign as England manager.

Related Topics:
England team - Geoff Hurst - West Germany

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Ron Greenwood was succeeded as team manager by John Lyall, who guided West Ham to another Cup Winners Cup final in his first season in charge (1975-76). But this time West Ham were on the losing side, and were relegated to the Second Division soon afterwards. In 1980, while still a Second Division side, Lyall inspired West Ham to an FA Cup victory - a feat which no side outside the top division has achieved since. It is also West Ham's most recent major trophy to date. Lyall helped West Ham achieve their highest league finish (third) in 1986, but was sacked three years later as they suffered relegation to the Second Division.

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The Billy Bonds Era: Up and Down

Lyall was replaced by Lou Macari for the 1989-90 season, but Macari resigned after just one season as manager to concentrate on clearing his name in connection with financial irregularities at his previous club Swindon Town. The next manager to occupy the hot seat at West Ham was Billy Bonds, whose first season at the helm (1990-91) ended with runners-up spot in the Second Division and a place back in the top division. But West Ham struggled throughout the 1991-92 season and were relegated in bottom place, missing the first season of the new Premier League.

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West Ham regained their top flight status at the first attempt, finishing Division One runners-up in 1992-93 and securing promotion to the Premiership. They survived relegation by a comfortable margin in 1993-94, but Bonds walked out on the club the following summer to be succeeded by Harry Redknapp.

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The Harry Redknapp Era: Consolidation

One of Harry Redknapp's first actions as West Ham manager was to re-sign striker Tony Cottee from Everton. He also signed Liverpool's Don Hutchison and Julian Dicks, as well as re-signing striker Iain Dowie from Southampton. West Ham avoided relegation again in 1994-95 and played their part in the final-day drama of the season, holding Manchester United to a 1-1 draw at Upton Park and denying them a third successive Premiership title.

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West Ham progressed to 10th place in 1995-96. That summer Redknapp made two of the most unproductive signings in the club's history - Romanian striker Florin Radaciou and Portuguese winger Paulo Futre. Radaciou left after six months at the club and returned to Romania after falling out with the manager, while Futre played just one first-team game before being beaten by a long-term knee injury and announcing his retirement. But Redknapp's remaining players pulled together and achieved Premiership survival, bolstered by the £3.3million acquisition of 21-year-old striker John Hartson from Arsenal in March.

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West Ham progressed further in 1997-98, finishing eighth in the Premiership and missing European qualification by just one place - they were in the hunt for a UEFA Cup place right up to the last day of the season. They progressed further in 1998-99, finishing fifth in the Premiership and qualifying for the UEFA Cup - ending an absence of almost 20 years from European competition.

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A 10th place finish followed in 1999-2000, but West Ham's form slipped in 2000-01 after the (then) record English fee of £18million which saw brilliant central defender Rio Ferdinand move to Leeds United. This saw West Ham finish 15th in the final table, their lowest-ever finish in the history of the Premiership, and Redknapp left in mysterious circumstances before the end of the season: did he resign or was he sacked?

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The Glenn Roeder Era: Down Again

Several big names were linked with the vacant manager's job. Former West Ham player Alan Curbishley, who had rebuilt Charlton Athletic on and off the field since becoming their manager in 1991, instantly became favourite for the job but insisted he wasn't interested. Steve McClaren, who had been assistant manager of Manchester United in three successive title-winning seasons (including the 1999 treble campaign), was also linked with the job, but he was then appointed manager of Middlesbrough. So West Ham turned to youth team manager Glenn Roeder for the manager's job. People doubted Roeder's suitability for the job, as his only managerial exploits had been short-lived and unsuccessful with Gillingham (1992-93) and Watford (1993-96).

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West Ham had a slow start to the 2001-02 season and manager Glenn Roeder was under immense pressure from fans who were calling for him to be sacked. But he responded by turning the club's fortunes around and guiding them to a seventh-place finish in the final table, just one place short of European qualification - although there was a 12-point gap between West Ham and sixth-placed Chelsea. Had West Ham been consistent all season, then UEFA Cup or even Champions League qualification could have been achieved.

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Another poor start plagued West Ham United through to 2002-03, and this time Roeder was unable to turn things round quickly enough. They finished 18th in the final table and their 10-year spell in the Premiership was over, the fact that no other club had ever being relegated from the division with 40+ points (West Ham had 42) was no consolation for a disappointed West Ham side. The relegation forced the sale of key players Joe Cole and Glen Johnson (both to Chelsea) in a bid to prevent a financial crisis at Upton Park. Glenn Roeder was sacked soon after the start of the 2003-04 season, and replaced by Reading boss Alan Pardew who was head hunted by West Ham and given the objective of promotion back to the FA Premier League within two seasons.

Related Topics:
Head hunted - FA Premier League

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