User:Nzd/sandbox2

Colours

OCS

[Flag/kit colours in Infobox]

TIW

The first, and only, known crest to be featured on a Thames Ironworks kit was the Union flag with Thames Ironworks initials ("TIWFC") surrounding it.

The original colours of the team were dark blue due to Arnold Hills being a former student and football Blue of Oxford University, although the team used a variety of kits. They often used the claret and sky blue house colours of the actual Iron Works and would also wear all sky blue or white uniforms. They permanently adopted claret and blue for home games in the summer of 1899. Irons right-half Charlie Dove had got the kits for the club 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 side's 'uniforms' to him in payment of the bet. The Aston Villa player subsequently reported to his club that the kit was 'missing'. Thames Ironworks, and later West Ham United, would continue to use their previously favoured colours for their away kits. In recent years the club have committed to a sky blue-white-dark blue rotation, each kit having a one-season shelf life.

History

[Various kit boxes]

Old Castle Swifts F.C.
The colours were later re-used by Thames Ironworks for the 1897–98 season. They were inspired by his House Flag

The Castle Swifts colours were re-used on several occasions by the Thames Ironworks team as an alternative to their traditional Oxford Blue kit.

Hills contributed the club's first kit, an all navy blue strip. Hills was a former Oxford Blue in cricket...

WH

The original colours of the team were dark blue, due to Thames Ironworks chairman Arnold Hills being a former student of Oxford University. 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 received the Aston Villa 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. The predecessors of Thames Ironworks, Old Castle Swifts FC, played in pale blue shirts, white shorts and claret socks as early as 1892.

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.

Crest

TIW

The first, and only, known crest to be featured on a Thames Ironworks kit was the Union flag with Thames Ironworks initials ("TIWFC") surrounding it.

WH

The original club crest was a crossed pair of rivet hammers; tools commonly used in the iron and shipbuilding industry. A castle was later (circa 1903–04) added to the crest and represents a prominent local building, Green Street House, which was known as "Boleyn Castle" through an association with Anne Boleyn. The manor was reportedly one of the sites at which Henry VIII courted his second queen, though in truth there is no factual evidence other than the tradition of rumour.

The castle may have also been added as a result of the contribution made to the club by players of Old Castle Swifts, or even the adoption (in 1904) of Boleyn Castle FC. as their reserve side when they took over their grounds on the site.

The crest was redesigned and updated by London design agency Springett Associates 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'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 redesigned the facade of the stadium (construction finished 2001–02) the "castle" from the later 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 the club's modern insignia (which was also located in the foyer and other strategic locations).

A new badge was approved by supporters in July 2014 and was introduced following the end of the 2015–16 season, when the club moved into the Olympic Stadium. 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 during the career of Bobby Moore. 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 of HMS Warrior, the first ironclad warship in the Royal Navy, which was built by Thames Ironworks.