Hammer Don’t Hurt’em!!!: The First Post

By: Erick | August 9th, 2007

“Welly, welly, welly, welly, welly, welly, well. To what do I owe the extreme pleasure of this surprising visit?” I suppose now that by reading this blog you are either a fan of one of the greatest football teams in England or some Man Utd Fan Glory Seeker looking for more validation on why your team will be in the top four of the Premiership again this season. All kidding aside I’d like to start my first post with a brief history of the club for all of you Neophytes out there who know nothing about West Ham’s illustrious elaborate history. Tomorrow I will begin anew with a preview of this years squad (who’s in, out, etc.) and a brief introduction of myself and what you can expect or should expect from this blog. Now without any further ado I present you with the first ever West Ham United post!!!

West Ham United was established in 1895 under the original name of Thames Ironworks FC. With somewhat blue collar beginnings, the team was comprised of laborers from the iron mill and were only involved in amateur competitions until 1898 were they officially turned pro and joined the Southern League Second Division. The following year they were promoted to the First Division (of the Southern League) where they had a relegation battle with local team Fulham FC (yes, THAT Fulham with Clint Dempsey & Brian McBride). Needless to say, Thames Ironworks won the playoff with a 5-1 goal margin and remained in the First division. By 1900, the team had officially changed it’s name to West Ham United FC and were sporting their new colors (claret and sky blue) thanks to a sprinting wager that was lost by four Aston Villa players against the father of right half player Charlie Dover.

Starting in 1901, West Ham United was playing in two different leagues, the Southern League (First Division) and now the Western League. In 1904, after a few years of being homeless, West Ham had finally moved their playing grounds to Upton Park where they have remained to this day. It wasn’t until 1923 that West Ham were finally promoted to Division One and subsequently made it to the FA Cup final. Sadly, after only a decade in top flight football, West Ham was relegated to Division Two where they would remain until 1958.

West Ham finally found success and promotion under the guidance of former player Ted Fenton, who was responsible for introducing a new style of play to the team. In 1964, Fenton’s protégé, Ron Greenwood would bring West Ham their first major trophy, The FA Cup. The very next year Greenwood brought European success to the club by winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup. West Ham gained even more notoriety in the summer of 1966 when England’s World Cup winning squad was composed of key West Ham players Bobby Moore, Martin Peters, and Geoff Hurst.

By 1978, West Ham had been relegated back to Division Two, but in spite of that they were the first and only team to win an FA Cup trophy outside of the top division in 1980. In 1981 they were again promoted to Division One and in 1986 they managed to come to an impressives 3rd place finish. After several years of flip-flopping from Division One to Division Two and missing out on the inaugural Premier League Season (1992-1993) West Ham managed to win promotion and some consistency under the guidance of Harry Redknapp (current manager of Portsmouth) in 1994. After several years of ~~decent~~ non-relegating Premier League finishes, Harry Redknapp was replaced by Glenn Roeder who was previously in charge of the youth squad in 2001. Roeder’s somewhat controversial tenure lasted only until August of 2003 after only 3 games played in the Championship League (Formerly Division One). He was later replaced by Alan Pardew (current manager of Charlton Athletic) who not only managed to get West Ham promoted to the Premier League, but also got them to the FA Cup Final (a classic match) against Liverpool in 2006 where they were narrowly defeated in penalties.

I think that is enough to get by for now, but stay tuned for more West Ham United Madness in the coming days!!!