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{{Football club infobox
|clubname = West Ham United F.C.
|current = West Ham United F.C. season 2007-08
|image = [[Image:West Ham United FC.png|Crest|220px]]
|fullname = West Ham United Football Club
|nickname =''The Hammers'',''The Irons'' <br/> ''[[The Academy of Football]]''
|founded = [[1892 in football (soccer)|1895]] as [[Thames Ironworks F.C.|Thames Ironworks]]
|ground = [[Boleyn Ground|Boleyn Ground (Upton Park)]]
|capacity = 35,303<ref>[http://www.whufc.com/page/StadiumInformation/0,,12562,00.html Stadium information | West Ham United | Tickets | Stadium Information<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
|chairman = {{flagicon|Iceland}} [[Björgólfur Guðmundsson]]<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=501674&in_page_id=1779&ito=newsnow Eggert loses chairman's role at West Ham as owner Gudmondson closes in on new 60,000-seater stadium | the Daily Mail<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
|mgrtitle = Manager
|manager = {{flagicon|England}} [[Alan Curbishley]]
|captain = {{flagicon|Australia}} [[Lucas Neill]]
|league = [[Premier League]]
|season = [[Premier League 2006-07|2006–07]]
|position = Premier League, 15th
|shirtsupplier= Umbro
|shirtsponsors= XL.com (XL Leisure Group) [http://www.whufc.com/articles/article.php?page_id=9195]
|pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=_lightblueshoulders|pattern_ra1=
|leftarm1=1E90FF|body1=970045|rightarm1=1E90FF|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=FFFFFF
|pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=_shouldersonwhite|pattern_ra2=
|leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=970045|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=970045|socks2=970045
}}
''' West Ham United Football Club''' is an [[England|English]] [[football (soccer)|football]] club based in [[Upton Park]], [[London Borough of Newham]], [[East London, England|East London]], and have played their home matches at the 35,303 capacity [[Boleyn Ground]] stadium since [[1904 in football (soccer)|1904]].

The club was originally founded as [[Thames Ironworks F.C.]] in 1895 and later reformed, in [[1900 in football (soccer)|1900]], as their current incarnation. They initially competed in the Southern League and Western League before joining the full [[the Football League|Football League]] in [[1919 in football (soccer)|1919]] and enjoyed their first top flight season in [[1923 in football (soccer)|1923]], also featuring in the first FA Cup Final to be held at Wembley. The club has never fallen outside the top two divisions and has won the [[FA Cup]] three times: in 1964, 1975 and 1980, and also captured the now defunct [[UEFA Cup Winners' Cup|Cup Winners Cup]] in 1965 and the [[Intertoto Cup]] in 1999. They also won the first [[Football League War Cup|War Cup]] in 1940. The club's best league position was a third place finish in 1986 old top flight. West Ham currently holds the dubious distinction of being the only team in the history of the Premiership to breach the 40 point boundary and still be relegated (in 2003).<ref>[http://www.soccer-stats.com/divisions/league_table.asp?divno=1&asid=02 Footymad | 2002-2003 Premier League Table<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

They currently compete in the [[Premier League]], after finishing in 15th position in the [[2006-07 in English football|2006-07]] season.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/6652329.stm ''"Magnusson hails West Ham survival"''], BBC news report, 14 May 2007, retrieved 8 June 2007.</ref> The club's current manager is [[Alan Curbishley]] who was appointed on [[13 December]] [[2006]].<ref name="curb">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/6171205.stm ''"Curbishley named West Ham manager"''], BBC news report, 13 December 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2007.</ref> The club's current captain is Australian [[Lucas Neill]].

== History ==
{{main|History of West Ham United F.C.}}
:''See also [[West Ham United F.C. timeline]]''
[[Image:ThamesIronworksFC.gif|right|thumb|200px|Earliest club shot, during its founding year as [[Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company|Thames Ironworks]] in 1895.]]
The earliest generally accepted incarnation of West Ham United was founded in 1895 as the [[Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company|Thames Ironworks]] works team by foreman and local league referee [[Dave Taylor (Thames Ironworks F.C. founder)|Dave Taylor]] and owner [[Arnold Hills]]<ref name=Spartacus1>{{cite web |url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WHhistory1.htm|title=The History of West Ham United 1895-1896|publisher=Spartacus Schoolnet}}</ref> and was announced in the Thames Ironworks Gazette of June 1895.

The team played on a strictly amateur basis for 1895 at least, with a team featuring a number of works employees including Thomas Freeman (ships fireman), Walter Parks (clerk), Johnny Stewart, Walter Tranter and James Lindsay (all boilermakers), William Chapman, George Sage, and William Chamberlain and apprentice riveter [[Charlie Dove]].<ref name=Spartacus1/>

The club, [[Thames Ironworks F.C.]]<ref name="BBCh2g2">{{cite web | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A965054| title=West Ham United origins | date=[[2003-03-15]] | publisher=BBC | author=DogManStar}}</ref> were the first ever winners of the [[West Ham Charity Cup]] in 1895 contested by clubs in the locality, then won the [[London League]] in [[1897 in football (soccer)|1897]]. They turned professional in [[1898 in football (soccer)|1898]] upon entering the [[Southern Football League|Southern League]] Second Division, and were promoted to the First division at the first attempt.<ref name="Stats1">'{{cite web | url=http://www.fchd.info/THAMEIRO.HTM | title= Source for Thames Ironworks statistics | publisher=Football Club History Database | author=Richard Rundle}}</ref> 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 F.C.]] in a relegation play-off, 5-1 in late April [[1900 in football (soccer)|1900]] and retained their First Division status.<ref name="Stats1"/>

:''See also [[Thames Ironworks F.C.]]''

The team initially played in full dark blue kits, as inspired by Mr. Hills, who had been an Oxford University "[[University Sporting Blue|Blue]]", but changed the following season by adopting the sky blue shirts and white shorts combination worn through [[1897 in football (soccer)|1897]] to [[1899 in football (soccer)|1899]]. In 1899 they acquired their now traditional home kit combination of claret shirts and sky blue sleeves in a wager involving [[Aston Villa F.C.]] players.

:''See also [[West Ham Utd#Colours|Colours of West Ham Utd F.C.]]''

Following growing disputes over the running and financing of the club in June 1900 Thames Ironworks F.C. was wound up,<ref name="BBCh2g2"/> then almost immediately relaunched on [[5 July]] 1900 as West Ham United F.C. with [[Syd King]]<ref name="BBCh2g2"/> as their manager and future manager [[Charlie Paynter]] as his assistant. Because of the original "works team" roots and links (still represented upon the club badge), they are still known to this day as 'the Irons' or 'the Hammers' amongst fans and the media.<ref name="BBCh2g2"/><ref name="EastLon">{{cite web | url=http://www.eastlondonhistory.com/thames%20ironworks.htm |title=East London History regarding Thames Ironworks | publisher=EastLondonHistory.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.lmu.ac.uk/ces/lss/lsa/All%20abstracts.pdf | title=Pg24, citing study into West Hams community ties | publisher=Leeds Metropolitan University}}</ref>

The reborn club continued to play their games at the Memorial Ground in [[Plaistow, Newham|Plaistow]] (funded by Arnold Hills) but moved to a [[Football pitch|pitch]] in the Upton Park area when the team officially severed ties with the company (losing their works provisioned offices in the process). After being made groundless in 1901 the team became transient, playing their home games on a number of local teams grounds. However, in 1904 the team moved to its current home of [[Upton Park]] in the guise of the [[Boleyn Ground]] stadium.

Their first game in their new home was against local rivals [[Millwall F.C.]]<ref name="BBCh2g2"/> (themselves an Ironworks team, albeit for a rival company) drawing a crowd of 10,000 and with West Ham running out 3-0 winners,<ref>{{cite book|last = Northcutt| first =John | authorlink = | coauthors = Roy Shoesmith| title =West Ham United: A Complete Record | publisher =Breedon | date =1993 | location =Derby | pages =p. 198 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn =1873626444 }}</ref> and as the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' wrote on [[September 2]] [[1904]]:

{{cquote|''"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 Milwall by 3 goals to 0 on their new enclosure at Upton Park."''}}

West Ham Utd F.C. had joined the Western League for the 1901 season<ref name="Stats2">'{{cite web | url=http://www.fchd.info/W-HAMU.HTM | title=Source for West Ham statistics | publisher=Football Club History Database | author=Richard Rundle}}</ref> in addition to continuing playing in the Southern Division 1. In [[1907 in football (soccer)|1907]] West Ham were crowned the Western League Division 1B Champions, and then defeated 1A champions Fulham 1-0 to become the Western Leagues Overall Champions.<ref name="Stats2"/>

In [[1919 in football (soccer)|1919]], still under King's leadership, West Ham gained entrance to the [[Football League Second Division]] and were promoted to [[Division One]] in [[1923 in football (soccer)|1923]], making the [[FA Cup]] final at the same time. The team enjoyed mixed success in Division 1 but retained their status for 10 years and reached an FA Cup semi final in [[1927 in football (soccer)|1927]], 4 years later.

In [[1932 in football (soccer)|1932]] the club was relegated to Division Two and long term custodian Sydney King was sacked after serving the club in the role of Manager for 32 years, and as a player from 1899 to 1903. He was replaced with his assistant manager [[Charlie Paynter]] 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]]. Fenton succeeded in getting the club once again promoted to the top level of English football in 1958 and in helping develop both the initial batch of future West Ham stars and West Ham's approach to the game.

[[Image:1964 Cup final.jpg|200px|thumb|right|West Ham's Bobby Moore lifts the [[FA Cup]] at Wembley. West Ham's first major trophy.]]
[[Ron Greenwood]] was appointed as Fenton's successor in 1961 and he soon led the club to two major trophies, winning the [[FA Cup]] in 1964 and the [[1965 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final|European Cup Winners' Cup]] in 1965. During the [[1966 World Cup]], an important part of the [[England national football team]] was composed of West Ham players, including the captain, [[Bobby Moore]], [[Martin Peters]] (who scored in the final), and [[Geoff Hurst]], who scored the only ever [[hat-trick]] to-date in a [[FIFA World Cup|World Cup]] final. 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 to the role of Team manager. The result was instant success as the team went on an incredible goalscoring run hitting the net no fewer than 20 times in their first 4 games under the new Manager who then led them on to win the FA Cup in his first season.

Lyall then guided West Ham to another [[1976 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final|European Cup Winners' Cup]] final in 1976, though the team lost the match 4-2 to [[Anderlecht]]. Greenwood's new role within the club lasted less than three years as he was appointed to manage England in the wake of Don Revie's resignation in 1977.

In 1978, the club were again relegated to Division Two but the board stuck by their manager and Lyall was able to lead West Ham to another FA Cup win in 1980. No team since has won the trophy from outside the top division. They were promoted to Division One in 1981, having spent only 3 years in the lower league, although they were relegated after 8 seasons in 1989 This relegation resulted in John Lyall's sacking, in spite of the fact that this stay in Division One saw West Ham achieve their highest ever placing in the top division, finishing 3rd in 1986.

Very briefly, they were led by [[Lou Macari]], though he resigned after less than a single season in order to clear his name of allegations of illegal betting whilst manager of Swindon Town, and former player [[Billy Bonds]] was the next West Ham manager in charge. In his first full season, [[1990-91 in English football|1990-91]], West Ham again secured promotion to Division One. The following season, 1991-92, they were relegated, to the newly christened Division One (formerly Division 2), missing out on the inaugural [[Premier league]] season. West Ham again only spent one year in Division One, before finishing 2nd and gaining promotion to the Premier League in May 1993.

After a more stable season in the Premier League, Bonds acrimoniously and controversially quit, and was replaced by [[Harry Redknapp]] in August 1994. Redknapp was active in the [[transfer market]], and gained a reputation as a "wheeler-dealer" especially with foreign players being more available following the [[Bosman ruling]]. He led West Ham to 5th place in 1998/99 but they missed out on automatic qualification for the UEFA Cup (despite seasons prior to and since where 5th was good enough), but did indeed qualify for that competition as winners of the [[Intertoto Cup]]. Despite consolidating the league placings for a handful of seasons, a disagreement with the board of directors during the close of the [[2000-01 in English football|2000-01 season]], found Redknapp replaced with [[Glenn Roeder]], promoted from Youth team coach.

In Roeder's first season the team finished 7th (an improvement on Redknapp's last finish of 15th.), but there were worrying signs as West Ham lost 7-1 to Blackburn and 5-0 and 5-1 to Everton and Chelsea respectively. The subsequent season started poorly and eventually resulted in relegation. Following ill-health and poor results, Roeder was sacked in August 2003 after only 3 games in charge in Division 1. Trevor Brooking (who served as manager during Glenn's ill health the previous season) stepped in as interim manager before being replaced with [[Alan Pardew]] in October 2003, headhunted from promotion rivals Reading. Pardew led the team to a [[playoff]] final, though they were beaten by [[Crystal Palace F.C.|Crystal Palace]]. The club stayed in Division One for another season, when they again reached the playoff final, but this time won and gained re-entry to the Premiership.

On their return to the Premiership, West Ham finished in 9th place,<ref name="Final 2005/2006 English Premier Table">{{cite web
| title = Final 2005/2006 English Premier Table
| url = http://www.soccerbase.com/league2.sd?competitionid=7&seasonid=135&teamid=2802
| publisher = Soccerbase
| accessdate = 2007-08-12}}</ref> restoring pride to many West Ham supporters.{{Fact|date=August 2007}} The highlight of the 2005-06 season, however, was reaching the [[2006 FA Cup final|FA Cup final]], and taking favourites [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]] to a [[penalty shootout]] where they lost, but gained entry to the UEFA Cup as Liverpool had qualified for the Champions League through league position.
West Ham completed a major coup by the end of the 2006 transfer window, after completing the signings of [[Carlos Tévez]] and [[Javier Mascherano]].<ref name="West Ham sign Tevez & Mascherano">{{cite news
| title = West Ham sign Tevez & Mascherano
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/5301068.stm
| publisher = BBC Sport
| date = [[2006-08-31]]
| accessdate = 2007-08-12}}</ref> The club was eventually bought by an [[Iceland]]ic consortium, led by [[Eggert Magnússon]] in [[November]] [[2006]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/6165272.stm ''"West Ham accept £85m takeover bid"''], BBC news report, 21 November 2006. Retrieved 11 June 2007.</ref> Manager Alan Pardew was sacked after poor form during the season<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/6169349.stm ''"Pardew sacked as West Ham manager"''], BBC news report, 11 December 2006. Retrieved 11 June 2007.</ref> and was replaced by former Charlton manager [[Alan Curbishley]].<ref name="curb">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/6171205.stm ''"Curbishley named West Ham manager"''], BBC news report, 13 December 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2007.</ref>

The signings of Mascherano and Tévez were investigated by the Premier League, who were concerned that details regarding the transfers had been omitted from official records and the club was found guilty and in April 2007 fined 5.5 million pounds.<ref>''[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_page_id=1779&in_article_id=450986 Daily Mail article on fine.]''</ref> However, the Club was lucky to avoid any points deduction which ended up being critical in their fight to avoid relegation at the end of the 2006/07 Season. Following on from this event, the Wigan Athletic chairman [[Dave Whelan]] threatened legal action supported by other sides facing possible relegation, including Fulham and Sheffield Utd.<ref>[http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2071808,00.html Whelan on Warpath]</ref>

West Ham ultimately 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 defeating newly crowned League Champions [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] 1-0 with a goal by [[Carlos Tevez]] to finish outside the relegation zone in 15th. The contribution of [[Carlos Tevez]] ended up being critical to the survival of the club in the [[Premier League|Premiership]] as he scored seven goals, five of them crucial, in the last couple of months of the season to enable the team to stay up.

The signs after a dozen games of the 2007/08 season were that West Ham would produce a more stable season in mid-table of the Premier League.

==Crest==
[[Image:WestHamPreviousLogo.gif|200px|thumb|left|The previous club crest 1904-1996]]
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 1903/4) 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.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=42741 | title=East Ham: Manors and estates | publisher=University of London & History of Parliament Trust | Author=Various}}</ref>

The castle may have also been added as a result of the contribution made to the club by players of [[Old Castle Swifts F.C.|Old Castle Swifts]], or even the adoption (in 1904) of Boleyn Castle FC<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.eastlondonhistory.com/hilsdon.htm | title="Gatling Gun" George Hildson | publisher=Football Lives | author=Colm Kerrigan| ISBN=0-9530718-0-4.
}}</ref> 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 that had previously made it appear more akin to [[Disneyland Park (Anaheim)|Disneyland]] Sleeping Beauty's Castle than a functioning fortress. The designer also altered shape of the hammer heads, border and other small changes in order 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 are now prominent features of the grounds appearance, both bearing the clubs modern insignia (which is also located in the foyer, and other strategic locations).

==Colours==
{|align="right"
|{{Football kit box |
align = |
pattern_la = |
pattern_b = |
pattern_ra = |
leftarm = 000066 |
body = 000066 |
rightarm = 000066 |
shorts = 000066 |
socks = 000066 |
title = 1895-1896: First kit.
}}
|-West Ham kits [http://www.kitclassics.co.uk/kits/westham.gif][http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/West_Ham_United/West_Ham_United.htm]
|}
The original colours of the team were dark blue, due to [[Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company|Thames Iron Works]] 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 Iron Works, as well as sky blue or white uniforms.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kitclassics.co.uk/kits/westham.gif | title=West Ham kits since inception I | publisher=Various sources, image of kits | author=kitclassics.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/West_Ham_United/West_Ham_United.htm | title=West Ham kits since inception II| publisher=Various sources, images of kits | author=Dave Moor}}</ref>

The Irons permanently adopted claret and blue for home colours in the summer of 1899. [[Thames Ironworks F.C.|Thames Ironworks]] right-half [[Charlie Dove]] received the kit from his father William Dove, who was a professional sprinter of national repute, as well as being involved with the coaching at Thames Ironworks. Bill Dove had been at a fair in [[Birmingham]], close to [[Villa Park, England|Villa Park]], the home ground of [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] and was challenged to a race against four Villa players, who wagered money that one of them would win.

Bill Dove 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 Dove in payment. The Aston Villa player subsequently reported to his club that the kit was 'missing'.

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, and indeed, in recent years the club have committed to a dark blue-white-sky blue rotation for the away colours.

West Ham announced on [[2 March]] [[2007]] their new kit supplier will be [[Umbro]] for the next 3 seasons and on [[7 June]] [[2007]] announced their new kit sponsor will be [[XL.com]].<ref>http://www.whufc.com/articles/article.php?page_id=9195</ref><ref>[http://www.whufc.com/news/?page_id=8836 WHUFC.com]</ref>

==Supporters, and hooliganism and rivalries==
===Supporters===
{{rquote|right|
''I'm forever blowing bubbles, <br/>
''Pretty bubbles in the air.''<br />
''They fly so high, nearly reach the sky,''<br />
''And like my dreams they fade and die.''<br />
''Fortune's always hiding,''<br />
''I've looked everywhere...''<br />
''I'm forever blowing bubbles,''<br />
''pretty bubbles in the air.''<br />|original lyrics to "Bubbles"| from John Helliar<ref name="Bubbles">{{cite web |url=http://www.whufc.com/claret/?page_id=3595 | title=The Story of Bubbles | publisher=West Ham Utd | author=John Helliar}}</ref>}}
The team's supporters are well known 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 1920's. At the time, a [[Pears soap]] commercial featuring the curly haired child in the Millais "[[Bubbles (painting)|Bubbles]]" painting who resembled a player Billy J. "Bubbles" Murray in a local schoolboy team of Park School for whom the headmaster Cornelius Beal coined singing the tune "[[I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles]]" with amended lyrics.

Beal was a friend of Paynter, whilst 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 clubs 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.<ref name="Bubbles"/>

There is a slight change to the lyrics sung by the Upton Park faithful. The second line's ''"nearly reach the sky"'' is changed to ''"they reach the sky"'', ''"Then like my dreams"'' is also changed to ''"And like my dreams"''. In addition the fans begin a chant of ''"United, United!"'' to cap it off.

{{rquote|right|
''Bow Bells are ringing, for the Claret and Blue, <br/>
''Bow Bells are ringing, for the Claret and Blue,<br/>
''When the Hammers are scoring, and the South Bank are roaring,<br/>
''And the money is pouring, for the Claret and Blue,<br/>
''Claret and Blue,<br/>
''No relegation for the Claret and Blue,<br/>
''Just celebration for the Claret and Blue,<br/>
''One day we'll win a cup or two, or three,<br/>
''Or four or more, for West Ham and the Claret and Blue.<br/>
|Supporters song to the tune of [[Bells Are Ringing (musical)|'The Bells are Ringing']]|circa 1960<ref name="Cassell">{{cite book | title=The Cassell Soccer Companion | pages=343-344| publisher=Cassell | author=David Pickering}}</ref>}}The [[FA Cup Final 1975|1975 FA Cup]] version - which contains the original lyrics, and features vocals from the teams 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". The song was originally released as a single by the 1975 Cup Final squad and has been covered on occasion by such as the [[Cockney Rejects]].

Like other teams (such as Liverpool F.C.'s adoption of ''"[[Ferry Cross the Mersey]]"'' and ''"[[You'll Never Walk Alone (song)|You'll Never Walk Alone]]"'') 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]]'s name to the canzone ''[[La donna è mobile]]'' by [[Verdi]], or [[Paolo Di Canio|D.I.Canio]] to the tune of [[Ottawan]]s [[D.I.S.C.O.]], or singing [[Bobby Zamora|That's Zamora]] to the tune of [[Dean Martin]]s 1953 classic [[That's Amore]] in honour of Bobby Zamora.

On the fans' darker side, they gained national attention after giving a torrid time to [[David Beckham]] in his first away match of 1998-9 the season after the England midfielder was sent off for a petulant foul on [[Diego Simeone]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/fa_carling_premiership/156542.stm |title=Beckham runs gauntlet at West Ham |publisher=BBC.co.uk}}</ref> 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]], the heartland of West Ham's greatest rivals [[Millwall FC|Millwall]]. The West Ham fans did boo Beckham's every touch of the ball during the game, however.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/world/events/1998/worldcup/news/1998/07/14/beckham_safety/|title=Beckham still subject of fans' ire | publisher=CNN - Sports Illustrated}}</ref>

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. Famously [[Paul Ince]] (''"Judas, Judas"''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=252&id=239352002 |title=Football's Tribal Instincts |author=Neil Drysdale |publisher=The Scotsman}}</ref>), [[Frank Lampard]](''"Fat Lumpolard"''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishcouncil.org/japan-sport-footballculture-players-lampard.htm |title=Practice Makes Perfect |Author=Ben Lupton|Publisher=British Council}}</ref>) and [[Jermain Defoe]] (''"You're just a small Paul Ince"''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/03/05/sfgwes05.xml|title=West Ham stunned by Stalteri strike|publisher=The Telegraph}}</ref>) have bore the brunt of verbal assaults and a guaranteed hostile reception at Upton Park. However, players such as [[Joe Cole]], [[Michael Carrick]], [[Rio Ferdinand]] and [[Carlos Tevez]] receive applause and even standing ovations in honour of their contributions during their time at the club..

===Hooliganism===
The origins of West Hams links with [[Football (soccer) hooliganism|organised football-related violence]] starts in the 1960's with the establishment of The Mile End Mob (named after a particularly tough area of the East End of London)<ref>[http://www.casspennant.com/bookaggroReviews.html "Want Some Aggro" by Cass Pennant]</ref>

During the [[1970s]] and [[1980s]] (the main era for [[Football (soccer) hooliganism|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.

The [[Inter City Firm]] were one of the first "[[casuals]]" (so called because they avoided police supervision by not wearing football-related clothing) and travelled to away matches on regular "Inter City" trains, rather than on the cheap and more tightly-policed "football special" charter trains). The group were an infamous West Ham-aligned gangs. As the firm's name 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.

During the 1990s, and to the present day, sophisticated surveillance and policing coupled with club supported promotions and community action has reduced the level of violence, though the intense rivalry and association with Millwall, Chelsea and other major players in the 'firm' scheme remains.

The 2005 film "[[Green Street]]" (an allusion to the road on which the Boleyn Ground stands) depicted an American student played by [[Elijah Wood]] becoming involved with a fictional firm associated with West Ham, with an emphasis on the rivalry with [[Millwall F.C.|Millwall]]. The two teams and their Chairmen moved to distance the clubs from the movie.

===Rivalries===
West Ham have strong rivalries with several other clubs. Most of these are with other [[London]] clubs, especially with their neighbours [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]], [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] and also with [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]], which sublimates the age-old [[East London, England|East]] versus [[West London]] rivalry.

The strongest and oldest rivalry is with [[Millwall F.C.|Millwall]]. The two sides are local rivals, having both formed originally around the works sides Thames Iron Works and Millwall Iron Works [[shipbuilding]] companies. They were rivals for the same contracts and the players lived in the same locality. 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, resulting in West Ham being promoted at the expense of Millwall. Millwall later declined to join the fledgling [[the Football League|Football League]] 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]] started by the [[East End of London|East End]] (perceived to be West Ham fans) which [[Isle Of Dogs]]-based companies (i.e. Millwall fans) refused to support, breeding ill will between the two camps.

The rivalry between West Ham and Millwall has involved considerable violence and is one of the most notorious within the world of football hooliganism. However, the two clubs have not played each other in 4 years.

Another rivalry which has recently developed is with [[Sheffield United]]. The ''Blades'' have tried to sue West Ham and the [[Premier League]] for damages, over their claim that West Ham had an unfair advantage by playing [[Carlos Tevez]] when he was supposedly not a Premier league registered player. The FA fined West Ham a record £5.5 million for a third party contract agreement (illegal in the English Premier League) in the deal that brought Tevez to [[Upton Park]], but ruled that the player was registered to play and had always been registered. The FA has sat twice on the matter and have thrown the case out twice. Sheffield United still continue to pursue damages, as they think that West Ham should have been docked points instead of fined.

The day after West Ham were fined, they continued their fight to stay in the Premier League by defeating Wigan Athletic 3-0. In their last 9 games West Ham picked up 21 points by winning 7 of their last 9 games. Sheffield United only won 2 of their last 9 games, one of which was by defeating West Ham 3-0 at home to initially go 5 points above them. Their 2-1 defeat by Wigan on the last day of the season sealed their relegation. Meanwhile, West Ham won 1-0 away to Manchester United, with Carlos Tevez scoring the only goal, to ensure that they remained in the Premier league. This action by Sheffield United has increased fan and club rivalry and they are now seen as fierce rivals.

==Nicknames==
The fans and club alike are known as "The Hammers" by the media, partly because of the club's origins as Thames Ironworks company football team (see club crest) and also (incorrectly) due to the clubs name. However, they are also known as "The Irons" by their own supporters (again, from the club's origins at the [[Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd|Thames Ironworks]]). They are also known as "The Cockney Boys" from their history of being a cockney team. Also known as The Academy of Football, or just The Academy, a nickname given, then adopted by West Ham United by the media.

==Trivia==
{{trivia|date=August 2007}}
[[Image:whitehorse.jpg|200px|thumb|right|''Billie'' the White Horse, saviour of the 1923 [[FA Cup]] Final.]]
*The first ever [[FA Cup]] final to be held at the old [[Wembley Stadium (1924)|Wembley]] stadium, in 1923, featured West Ham United vs [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]]. This was also known as the [[White Horse Final]]. This is because so many people turned up to the game, (estimated at 200,000), that they spilled out on to the pitch. The pitch had to be cleared prior to kick-off, by ''Billie'', a giant white horse (actually grey) being ridden by P.C. George Scorey. The cup final match itself ended at 2-0 to Bolton Wanderers. It was considered that it was very appropriate that West Ham United appeared at the first Wembley final on the basis that the club name is an anagram of "The New Stadium". Had the new Wembley Stadium been completed on schedule for the 2006 FA Cup final West Ham would also have featured in the opening of the new stadium.

*West Ham are the most recent team to win the FA Cup with an all English side, and the last team to win the competition whilst outside of the top flight of English football. Both of these occurred when they beat Arsenal 1-0 in the 1980 FA Cup Final.

*West Ham are the last team to ever win at Arsenal's old ground Highbury, and became the first team to win at Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium on April 7th 2007 winning 1-0. In that same season West Ham did the league 'double' over Arsenal and Manchester United winning all four games 1-0.

[[Image:champions statue.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Champions Statue on Barking Road.]]
*There is a "Champions" statue in [[Barking Road]], opposite The Boleyn pub, 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]].

* The character [[Alf Garnett]] in the TV series [[Till Death Us Do Part (British TV series)|Till Death Us Do Part]] is a West Ham supporter. Episodes of the series<ref >{{cite web | url =http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0793373/maindetails | title =A Wapping Mythology | accessdate = 2007-11-03 }}</ref><ref >{{cite web | url =http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0723622/maindetails | title =Up The Hammers | accessdate = 2007-11-03 }}</ref> featured Bobby Moore and other members of the team.

* A 2005 film entitled [[Green Street]] is based around the exploits of a fictional West Ham firm (loosely based on the [[Inter City Firm|ICF]]).

* [[Iron Maiden]] founder and bassist [[Steve Harris (musician)|Steve Harris]] is a die-hard fan of the team, and it shows on his bass guitar, which sports the Ham United crest. During the mid 1970s he was a youth team footballer for West Ham United. He still is a talented amateur football player, and he has stated his first ambition in life before music was to become a professional footballer.

* Leading candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 [[United States]] presidential election [[Barack Obama]] has been a fan of West Ham since a trip to the UK.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/01/28/ufnbarack228.xml Up the Irons - Barack Obama is West Ham fan] </ref>

==Stadium==
{{seealso|Boleyn Ground|}}
[[Image:West Ham match Boleyn Ground 2006.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Boleyn Ground.]]
West Ham are currently based at the [[Boleyn Ground]], commonly known as [[Upton Park]], in [[Newham]], [[East London, England|East London]]. The capacity of the Boleyn Ground is 35,303.<ref>[http://www.whufc.com/page/StadiumInformation/0,,12562,00.html Stadium information | West Ham United | Tickets | Stadium Information<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> This has been West Ham's ground since 1904. Prior to this, in their previous incarnation of [[Thames Ironworks F.C.]], they played at [[Hermit Road]] in [[Canning Town]] and briefly at [[Browning Road]] in [[East Ham]], before moving to the [[Memorial Grounds]] in [[Plaistow, Newham|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]] made clear his ambition for West Ham United to move to the [[Olympic Stadium (London)|Olympic Stadium]] after the [[2012 Olympics]]. However, the move to the Olympic Stadium was abandoned when it was revealed that the stadium would have a reduced capacity from the current Boleyn Ground, and would have to remain primarily an athletics venue.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/6320267.stm|title=Hammers' Olympic move ruled out |publisher=The BBC|date=07-02-2007}}</ref>

As the move is no longer possible, Magnússon is eager to find another venue, and insists West Ham will preferably move from the Boleyn Ground in the future.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buckingham|first=Mark|url=http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=446872&CPID=8&clid=21&lid=&title=Hammers+to+look+elsewhere&channel=&|title=Hammers to look elsewhere|publisher=[[Sky Sports]]|date=8-2-2007|accessdate=2007-02-08}}</ref>

Magnusson along with Legal and Commercial Director,- Scott Duxbury, have said that a move to a new ground is likely by approximately 2011, with the site for the new stadium likely to be the current Royal Mail depot next to West Ham station.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2145830,00.html|title=Magnusson in talks over new West Ham stadium |publisher=Guardian Unlimited|date=10-08-2007}}</ref>

==The Academy of Football==
[[Image:Footballacademy.JPG|200px|right|thumb|"Academy of Football".]]
{{main|The Academy of Football}}
The club promotes the popular idea of West Ham being [[The Academy of Football|"The Academy of Football"]], with the monicker 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 during the 1950's, that has seen a number of international players emerge through the ranks.<ref>''[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/1192517.stm BBC article on "House of Legends"]''</ref> Most notably the club contributed three players to the [[1966 FIFA World Cup|World Cup winning]] England side of 1966 including club icon [[Bobby Moore]], as well as [[Martin Peters]] and [[Geoff Hurst]] 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]], [[Alvin Martin]], [[Tony Cottee]] and [[Paul Ince]]. More recently, [[Rio Ferdinand]], [[Joe Cole]], [[Michael Carrick]], [[Glen Johnson (English footballer)|Glen Johnson]], and [[Frank Lampard]] have begun their careers at the club. Frustratingly, for the fans and managers alike,<ref>''[http://www.squarefootball.net/article/article.asp?aid=1080 The lost generation]''</ref> the club has struggled to retain many of these players due to (predominantly) financial<ref>''[http://www.kumb.com/0506_story.php?id=10182 Terry Brown letter to Shareholders]''</ref> reasons.

==Players==
=== Current squad ===
''As of [[March 15]], [[2008]].''<ref>{{cite web

| url=http://www.whufc.com/page/FirstTeamProfiles/0,,12562,00.html
| title=West Ham United Player Profiles
| work=WHUFC.com
| accessdate=2008-01-12
}}</ref>

{{football squad start}}
{{fs player |no=1| nat=England| pos=GK | name=[[Robert Green]]}}
{{fs player |no=2| nat=Australia| pos=DF | name=[[Lucas Neill]] |other=[[captain]]}}
{{fs player |no=3| nat=Northern Ireland|pos=DF | name=[[George McCartney]]}}
{{fs player |no=4| nat=Wales| pos=DF | name=[[Daniel Gabbidon]]}}
{{fs player |no=5| nat=England| pos=DF | name=[[Anton Ferdinand]]}}
{{fs player |no=6| nat=England| pos=DF | name=[[Matthew Upson]]}}
{{fs player |no=7| nat=Sweden| pos=MF | name=[[Fredrik Ljungberg]]}}
{{fs player |no=8| nat=England| pos=MF | name=[[Scott Parker (footballer)|Scott Parker]]}}
{{fs player |no=9| nat=England| pos=FW | name=[[Dean Ashton]]}}
{{fs player |no=10| nat=Wales| pos=FW | name=[[Craig Bellamy]]}}
{{fs player |no=11| nat=England| pos=MF | name=[[Matthew Etherington]]}}
{{fs player |no=12| nat=England| pos=FW | name=[[Carlton Cole]]}}
{{fs player |no=14| nat=Ghana| pos=DF | name=[[John Paintsil]]}}
{{fs player |no=15| nat=Peru| pos=MF | name=[[Nolberto Solano]]}}
{{fs player |no=16| nat=England| pos=MF | name=[[Mark Noble (footballer)|Mark Noble]]}}
{{fs player |no=17| nat=England| pos=MF | name=[[Hayden Mullins]]}}
{{Fs mid}}
{{fs player |no=18| nat=United States| pos=DF | name=[[Jonathan Spector]]}}
{{fs player |no=19| nat=Wales| pos=DF | name=[[James Collins (footballer)|James Collins]]}}
{{fs player |no=20| nat=France| pos=MF | name=[[Julien Faubert]]}}
{{fs player |no=23| nat=England| pos=GK | name=[[James Walker (footballer born 1973)|James Walker]]}}
{{fs player |no=25| nat=England| pos=FW | name=[[Bobby Zamora]]}}
{{fs player |no=26| nat=Scotland| pos=MF | name=[[Nigel Quashie]]}}
{{fs player |no=27| nat=England| pos=DF | name=[[Calum Davenport]]}}
{{fs player |no=29| nat=England| pos=MF | name=[[Lee Bowyer]]}}
{{fs player |no=30| nat=England| pos=DF | name=[[James Tomkins (footballer)|James Tomkins]]}}
{{fs player |no=32| nat=England| pos=MF | name=[[Kieron Dyer]]}}
{{fs player |no=33| nat=Senegal| pos=FW | name=[[Henri Camara]] |other=on loan from [[Wigan Athletic]]}}
{{fs player |no=34| nat=Portugal| pos=MF | name=[[Luís Boa Morte]]}}
{{fs player |no=39| nat=Wales| pos=MF | name=[[Jack Collison]]}}
{{fs player |no=40| nat=England| pos=FW | name=[[Freddie Sears]]}}
{{football squad end}}

===Out on loan===
{{football squad start}}
{{fs player |no=21| nat=England| pos=GK | name=[[Richard Wright (footballer)|Richard Wright]]|other=on loan to [[Southampton F.C.|Southampton]]}}
{{fs player |no=22| nat=England| pos=MF | name=[[Tony Stokes]]|other=on loan to [[Stevenage Borough F.C.|Stevenage]]}}
{{fs player |no=28| nat=England| pos=MF | name=[[Kyel Reid]]|other=on loan to [[Crystal Palace F.C.|Crystal Palace]]}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=MF | name=Lee Hales|other=on loan to [[Rushden and Diamonds F.C.|Rushden and Diamonds]]}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=FW | name=[[Jack Jeffery]]|other=on loan to [[Cambridge United F.C.|Cambridge United]]}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=DF | name=Robbie Blackwell|other=on loan to [[Grays Athletic F.C.|Grays Athletic]]}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=FW | name=[[Zavon Hines]]|other=on loan to [[Coventry City F.C.|Coventry City]]}}
{{Fs blank column}}
{{football squad end}}

=== Reserves and Youths ===

{{football squad start}}
{{fs player |no=35| nat=Czech Republic| pos=GK | name=[[Marek Štěch]]}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=Canada| pos=GK | name=Adam Street}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=DF | name=Ashley Miller}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=DF | name=Jordan Spence}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=DF | name=[[Joe Widdowson]]}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=DF | name=Tony Brooks}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=DF | name=Josh Payne}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=DF | name=Matthew Fry}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=DF | name=Anthony Ashman}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=DF | name=Ryan O'Neill}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=MF | name=[[Bondz Ngala]]}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=MF | name=Junior Stanislas}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=MF | name=Tom Harvey}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=MF | name=Oliver Lee}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=MF | name=Daniel Kearns}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=MF | name=Anthony Edger}}
{{fs player |no=| nat=England| pos=FW | name=Ben Hunt}}
{{Fs blank column}}
{{football squad end}}

===Notable former players===
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.

{| table width="180px" style="float: left"
|-
|<div style="position: relative">
[[Image:Soccer.Field Transparant.png|175px]]
{{Image label|x=0.22|y=0.05|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Green">[[Phil Parkes (footballer born 1950)|Parkes]]</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.04|y=0.22|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Purple">[[Ray Stewart (footballer)|Stewart]]</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.15|y=0.15|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Purple">[[Alvin Martin|Martin]]</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.30|y=0.15|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Purple">[[Bobby Moore|Moore]]</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.42|y=0.22|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Purple">[[Julian Dicks|Dicks]]</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.06|y=0.45|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Purple">[[Martin Peters|Peters]]</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.23|y=0.28|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Purple">[[Billy Bonds|Bonds]]</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.21|y=0.40|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Purple">[[Trevor Brooking|Brooking]]</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.16|y=0.54|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Purple">[[Geoff Hurst|Hurst]]</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.28|y=0.54|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Purple">[[Paolo Di Canio|Di Canio]]</font>}}
{{Image label|x=0.35|y=0.45|scale=350|text=<font size=1 color="Purple">[[Alan Devonshire|Devonshire]]</font>}}
</div>
|}

{|
{{Fs player|no=1|nat=England|name=[[Phil Parkes (footballer born 1950)|Phil Parkes]]|pos=GK}}
{{Fs player|no=2|nat=Scotland|name=[[Ray Stewart (footballer)|Ray Stewart]]|pos=DF}}
{{Fs player|no=3|nat=England|name=[[Julian Dicks]]|pos=DF}}
{{Fs player|no=4|nat=England|name=[[Billy Bonds]]|pos=MF}}
{{Fs player|no=5|nat=England|name=[[Alvin Martin]]|pos=DF}}
{{Fs player|no=6|nat=England|name=[[Bobby Moore]]|pos=DF}}
{{Fs player|no=7|nat=England|name=[[Martin Peters]]|pos=MF}}
{{Fs player|no=8|nat=England|name=[[Trevor Brooking]]|pos=MF}}
{{Fs player|no=9|nat=England|name=[[Geoff Hurst]]|pos=FW}}
{{Fs player|no=10|nat=Italy|name=[[Paolo Di Canio]]|pos=FW}}
{{Fs player|no=11|nat=England|name=[[Alan Devonshire]]|pos=MF}}
|}

:''See also [[:Category:West Ham United F.C. players]]''

===Hammer of the Year===
{|
|valign="top"|
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Winner
|-
|1958||{{flagicon|England}} [[Andy Malcolm]]
|-
|1959||{{flagicon|England}} [[Ken Brown (footballer)|Ken Brown]]
|-
|1960||{{flagicon|England}} [[Malcolm Musgrove]]
|-
|1961||{{flagicon|England}} [[Bobby Moore]]
|-
|1962||{{flagicon|Scotland}} [[Lawrie Leslie]]
|-
|1963||{{flagicon|England}} [[Bobby Moore]]
|-
|1964||{{flagicon|England}} [[Johnny Byrne (footballer)|Johnny Byrne]]
|-
|1965||{{flagicon|England}} [[Martin Peters]]
|-
|1966||{{flagicon|England}} [[Geoff Hurst]]
|-
|1967||{{flagicon|England}} [[Geoff Hurst]]
|-
|1968||{{flagicon|England}} [[Bobby Moore]]
|-
|1969||{{flagicon|England}} [[Geoff Hurst]]
|-
|1970||{{flagicon|England}} [[Bobby Moore]]
|-
|}

|valign="top"|
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Winner
|-
|1971||{{flagicon|England}} [[Billy Bonds]]
|-
|1972||{{flagicon|England}} [[Trevor Brooking]]
|-
|1973||{{flagicon|England}} [[Bryan 'Pop' Robson]]
|-
|1974||{{flagicon|England}} [[Billy Bonds]]
|-
|1975||{{flagicon|England}} [[Billy Bonds]]
|-
|1976||{{flagicon|England}} [[Trevor Brooking]]
|-
|1977||{{flagicon|England}} [[Trevor Brooking]]
|-
|1978||{{flagicon|England}} [[Trevor Brooking]]
|-
|1979||{{flagicon|England}} [[Alan Devonshire]]
|-
|1980||{{flagicon|England}} [[Alvin Martin]]
|-
|1981||{{flagicon|England}} [[Phil Parkes (footballer born 1950)|Phil Parkes]]
|-
|1982||{{flagicon|England}} [[Alvin Martin]]
|-
|1983||{{flagicon|England}} [[Alvin Martin]]
|-
|}

|valign="top"|
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Winner
|-
|1984||{{flagicon|England}} [[Trevor Brooking]]
|-
|1985||{{flagicon|England}} [[Paul Allen (footballer)|Paul Allen]]
|-
|1986||{{flagicon|England}} [[Tony Cottee]]
|-
|1987||{{flagicon|England}} [[Billy Bonds]]
|-
|1988||{{flagicon|England}} [[Stewart Robson]]
|-
|1989||{{flagicon|England}} [[Paul Ince]]
|-
|1990||{{flagicon|England}} [[Julian Dicks]]
|-
|1991||{{flagicon|Czech Republic}} [[Luděk Mikloško]]
|-
|1992||{{flagicon|England}} [[Julian Dicks]]
|-
|1993||{{flagicon|England}} [[Steven Potts|Steve Potts]]
|-
|1994||{{flagicon|England}} [[Trevor Morley]]
|-
|1995||{{flagicon|England}} [[Steven Potts|Steve Potts]]
|-
|1996||{{flagicon|England}} [[Julian Dicks]]
|-
|}

|valign="top"|
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Winner
|-
|1997||{{flagicon|England}} [[Julian Dicks]]
|-
|1998||{{flagicon|England}} [[Rio Ferdinand]]
|-
|1999||{{flagicon|Trinidad and Tobago}} [[Shaka Hislop]]
|-
|2000||{{flagicon|Italy}} [[Paolo Di Canio]]
|-
|2001||{{flagicon|England}} [[Stuart Pearce]]
|-
|2002||{{flagicon|France}} [[Sebastian Schemmel]]
|-
|2003||{{flagicon|England}} [[Joe Cole]]
|-
|2004||{{flagicon|England}} [[Matthew Etherington]]
|-
|2005||{{flagicon|England}} [[Teddy Sheringham]]
|-
|2006||{{flagicon|Wales}} [[Danny Gabbidon]]
|-
|2007||{{flagicon|Argentina}} [[Carlos Tevez]]

|}
|}

==Current staff==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Position !! Name
|-
|'''Technical Director''' || [[Gianluca Nani]]<ref>{{cite news | date=[[2008-03-16]] | url=http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_3312656,00.htmlstm| title=Nani confirms Hammers deal| publisher=[[Sky Sports]] | accessdate=2008-03-16}}</ref>
|-
|'''Manager''' || [[Alan Curbishley]]
|-
|'''Assistant Manager''' || [[Mervyn Day]]
|-
|'''First-Team Coach''' || [[Glynn Snodin]]
|-
|'''Reserve Coach''' || [[Kevin Keen]]
|-
|'''Head of Sports Science''' || Nick Davies
|-
|'''Head of Physiotherapy''' || George Cooper
|-
|'''Reserve Team Physiotherapist''' || Dave Singleton
|-
|'''Conditioning Coach''' || Alex Dyer
|-
|'''Youth Academy Director''' || [[Tony Carr]]
|-
|'''Goalkeeping Coach''' || [[Luděk Mikloško]]
|-
|'''Chief Scout''' || [[Roger Cross (footballer)|Roger Cross]]
|-
|'''Kit Manager''' || Steve Rigby
|-
|}

==Managers==
West Ham have had only 12 managers in their history, fewer than any other major English club. Up until [[1989]] the club had only had five different managers. The club have never had an overseas manager, with the only non-Englishman being Lou Macari, who is Scottish. Former Hammers player and board member [[Trevor Brooking]] was briefly in charge during two separate spells as [[caretaker manager]] in 2003, first during the illness of Glenn Roeder and again between Roeder's sacking and the appointment of Alan Pardew.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Manager !! Period
|-

|-
|{{flagicon|England}} [[Alan Curbishley]] ||align="center"| [[2006]] - present
|-
|{{flagicon|England}} [[Alan Pardew]] ||align="center"| [[2003]]- 2006
|-
|{{flagicon|England}} [[Glenn Roeder]] ||align="center"| [[2001]]-2003
|-
|{{flagicon|England}} [[Harry Redknapp]] ||align="center"| [[1994]]-2001
|-
|{{flagicon|England}} [[Billy Bonds]] ||align="center"| [[1990]]-1994
|-
|{{flagicon|Scotland}} [[Lou Macari]] ||align="center"| [[1989]]-1990
|-
|{{flagicon|England}} [[John Lyall]] ||align="center"| [[1974]]-1989
|-
|{{flagicon|England}} [[Ron Greenwood]] ||align="center"| [[1961]]-1974
|-
|{{flagicon|England}} [[Ted Fenton]] ||align="center"| [[1950]]-1961
|-
|{{flagicon|England}} [[Charlie Paynter]] ||align="center"| [[1932]]-1950
|-
|{{flagicon|England}} [[Syd King]] ||align="center"| [[1901]]-1932
|}

==Ownership==
West Ham United was owned by [[Terry Brown (football chairman)|Terry Brown]] until 2006, when [[Eggert Magnússon]] and an associated consortium bought the club, sacked manager [[Alan Pardew]], and employed ex-[[Charlton Athletic]] Manager Alan Curbishley. In a bizarre twist of fate, the two managers met each other in a relegation battle where the Hammers lost 4-0 to their South East London rivals. However, West Ham eventually stayed up and Charlton were relegated. Terry Brown was criticised by some sections of the fans (including pressure group [[Whistle (organisation)|Whistle]] specifically formed for this purpose) due to a perception of financial and staff mis-management.

==Shirt Sponsors and Kit Suppliers==
===Shirt Sponsors===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! Years !!Sponsor
|-
| 1983-89 || [[AVCO Trust]]
|-
| 1989-93 || [[BAC Windows]]
|-
| 1993-97 || [[Dagenham Motors]]
|-
| 1998-2003 || [[Dr. Martens]]
|-
| 2003-07 || [[JobServe]]
|-
| 2007-present || [[XL.com]]
|-
|}

===Kit Suppliers===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! Years !!Kit Supplier

|-
| 1976-80 || [[Admiral]]
|-
| 1980-87 || [[Adidas]]
|-
| 1987-89 || [[Scoreline]]
|-
| 1989-93 || [[Bukta]]
|-
| 1993-99 || [[Pony International|Pony]]
|-
| 1999-2003 || [[Fila (company)|Fila]]
|-
| 2003-07 || [[Reebok]]
|-
| 2007 - present || [[Umbro]]
|-
|}

==Honours==
{|
|valign="top"|
''Senior''</br>
'''European'''
*[[Cup Winners' Cup|European Cup Winners' Cup]] Winners: [[West Ham United F.C. 1964-1965|1964-65]]
*[[UEFA Intertoto Cup]] Winners: [[West Ham United F.C. 1999-2000|1999]]
'''League'''
*[[Football League Second Division|Division Two]] Champions: 1957-1958, [[West Ham United F.C. 1980-1981|1980-81]]
*[[International Soccer League (1960-1965)]] Champions: 1963
*[[Football League Championship|Football League Championship Play-Off]] Winners: [[West Ham United F.C. 2004-2005|2005]]
*[[Western Football League]] Champions 1907/8
'''Cup'''
*[[FA Cup]] Winners: [[West Ham United F.C. 1963-1964|1964]], [[West Ham United F.C. 1974-1975|1975]], [[West Ham United F.C. 1979-1980|1980]]
*[[Charity Shield]]: [[West Ham United F.C. 1964-1965|1964]] (shared)
*[[Football League War Cup]] Winners: 1940
*[[Milk Cup]] Winners: 1996 (Junior) & 1997 (Junior)
'''Other'''
*[[BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award]]: 1965

''Follow link to Official West Ham United Honours Page''[http://www.whufc.com/claret/?page_id=1263]

|width="80"|&nbsp;
|valign="top"|
''Youth''
*[[FA Youth Cup]] Winners: 1963, 1981, 1999
*South-East Counties Champions: 1984-85, 1995-96, 1997-98
*FA Premier Youth Academy Under-19 Champions: 1998-99, 1999-2000

''Antiquated''</br>
'''As Thames Ironworks F.C.'''
*[[Southern Football League|Southern League Division Two]] Champions: 1898-99
*[[London League]] Champions: [[Thames Ironworks F.C. 1897-1898|1897-98]]
*[[West Ham Charity Cup]] Winners: [[Thames Ironworks F.C. 1895-1896|1895-96]]

|}

==Statistics and records==
===Attendance===
* Highest league attendance: 42,322 v [[Tottenham Hotspur]], [[Division One]], [[17 October]] [[1970]]
* Lowest league attendance: 4,373 v [[Doncaster Rovers]], [[Football League Second Division|Division Two]], [[24 February]] [[1955]]

===Transfers===
* Biggest Transfer fee paid: £7.50 million to [[Liverpool FC]] for [[Craig Bellamy]] (July 2007)
* Biggest Transfer fee received: £18 million from [[Leeds United A.F.C.|Leeds United]] for [[Rio Ferdinand]] (November 2000)

===Record results and performances===

{|
|valign="top"|
===Victories===
*'''League''':
**'''Premiership''':
**Home: 6-0 v [[Barnsley F.C.|Barnsley]], 1998
**Away: 5-0 v [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]], 10/11/2007
**'''Division One''':
**Home: 8-0 v [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]], 19/10/68
**Away: 6-1 v [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]], 8/9/62
**'''Division Two''':
**Home: 8-0 [[Rotherham United F.C.|Rotherham United]], 8/3/58
**Away: 6-0 [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]],
**Home: 5-0 [[Plymouth Argyle F.C.|Plymouth Argyle]],

*'''[[FA Cup]]''':
**Home: 8-1 v [[Chesterfield F.C.|Chesterfield]] (Rd 1), 10/1/14
**Away: 5-0 v [[Chatham F.C.|Chatham]] (Rd 5 Q), 28/11/1903

*'''[[Football League Cup|League Cup]]''':
**Home: 10-0 v [[Bury F.C.|Bury]] (Rd 2 leg 2), 25/10/83
**Away: 5-1 v [[Cardiff City F.C.|Cardiff City]] (sf leg 2), 2/2/66 & 5-1 v Walsall (Rd 2), 13/9/67

*'''Europe''':
**Home: 5-1 v [[Real Madrid Castilla|Castilla]] (Rd 1 leg 2) Cup-Winners' Cup, 1/10/80

|width="80"|&nbsp;
|valign="top"|

===Defeats===
*'''League:'''
**'''Premiership''':
**Home: 0-4 v [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] 1997
**Home: 0-4 v [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]] 1996
**Home: 0-4 v [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] 2008
**Away: 0-6 v [[Reading F.C.|Reading]] 01/01/07
**'''Division One''':
**Home: 2-8 v [[Blackburn Rovers F.C.|Blackburn Rovers]] 26/12/63
**Away: 0-7 [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] 22/10/27 & 0-7 v [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]] 28/11/59
**'''Division Two''':
**Home: 0-6 v [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]] 8/12/51
**Away: 0-7 v [[Barnsley F.C.|Barnsley]] 1/9/19

*'''[[FA Cup]]''':
**Home: 1-5 v [[Huddersfield Town F.C.|Huddersfield Town]] (Rd 3 Replay) 13/1/60
**Away: 0-6 v [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] (Rd 4) 26/1/03

*'''[[Football League Cup|League Cup]]''':
**Home: 2-5 v [[Barnsley Football Club|Barnsley]] (Rd 2 leg 2) 6/10/87
**Away: 0-6 v [[Oldham Athletic A.F.C.|Oldham Athletic]] (SF leg 1) 14/2/90

|}

===Club League highs and lows===

:''See also [[West Ham United F.C. by season]]''
{|
|valign="top"|
*'''Home''':
**'''Most''':
**Most Home Wins: 19 (1980-81)
**Most Home Draws: 10 (1981-82)
**Most Home Defeats: 10 (1988-89)
**Most Home Goals Scored: 59 (1958-59)
**Most Home Goals Conceded: 44 (1930-31)
**'''Fewest''':
**Fewest Home Wins: 3 (1988-89)
**Fewest Home Draws: 1 (1934-35, 1980-81)
**Fewest Home Defeats: 1 (1957-58, 1980-81)
**Fewest Home Goals Scored: 19 (1988-89)
**Fewest Home Goals Conceded: 11 (1920-21, 1922-23)

|width="80"|&nbsp;
|valign="top"|
*'''Away''':
**'''Most''':
**Most Away Wins: 11 (1922-23, 1957-58)
**Most Away Draws: 10 (1968-69)
**Most Away Defeats: 17 (1932-33)
**Most Away Goals Scored: 45 (1957-58)
**Most Away Goals Conceded: 70 (1931-32)
**'''Fewest''':
**Fewest Away Wins: 1 (1925-26, 1932-33, 1937-38, 1960-61)
**Fewest Away Draws: 1 (1982-83)
**Fewest Away Defeats: 3 (1980-81)
**Fewest Away Goals Scored: 12 (1996-97)
**Fewest Away Goals Conceded: 16 (1990-91)

|width="80"|&nbsp;
|valign="top"|
*'''Total''':
**'''Most''':
**Most Total Wins: 28 (1980-81)
**Most Total Draws: 18 (1968-69)
**Most Total Defeats: 23 (1931-32)
**Most Total Goals Scored: 101 (1957-58)
**Most Total Goals Conceded: 107 (1931-32)
**'''Fewest''':
**Fewest Total Wins: 9 (1987-88, 1991-92)
**Fewest Total Draws: 4 (1934-35, 1964-65, 1982-83)
**Fewest Total Defeats: 4 (1980-81)
**Fewest Total Goals Scored: 37 (1988-89, 1991-92)
**Fewest Total Goals Conceded: 29 (1980-81)

|}

{|
|valign="top"|

===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 A.F.C.|Leeds United]] (h) 9/2/29
**[[Geoff Hurst]] (6) v [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]] (h) 19/10/68
**[[Brian Dear]] (5) v [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Brom]] (h) 16/4/65
''Follow link to Official West Ham United Records Page''<ref>''[http://www.whufc.com/claret/?page_id=1286 WHUFC.com list of Club Titles, honours and records]''</ref>

|width="80"|&nbsp;
|valign="top"|
===Player records===
{|
|valign="top"|
'''Appearances'''
#'''793''' [[Billy Bonds]] 1967-88
#'''674''' [[Frank Lampard Sr.]] 1967-85
#'''646''' [[Bobby Moore]] 1958-74
#'''635''' [[Trevor Brooking]] 1967-84
#'''601''' [[Alvin Martin]] 1977-96
#'''548''' [[Jimmy Ruffell]] 1921-37
#'''505''' [[Steven Potts|Steve Potts]] 1985-2002
#'''505''' [[Vic Watson]] 1920-35
#'''502''' [[Geoff Hurst]] 1959-72
#'''467''' [[Jim Barrett, Sr.|Jim Barrett]] 1924-43

* [[West Ham United F.C. appearance records]]

|width="100"|&nbsp;
|valign="top"|
'''Goals'''
#'''326''' [[Vic Watson]] 1920-35
#'''252''' [[Geoff Hurst]] 1959-72
#'''166''' [[John Dick (footballer b.1930)|John Dick]] 1953-63
#'''166''' [[Jimmy Ruffell]] 1921-37
#'''146''' [[Tony Cottee]] 1983-88/1994-96
#'''107''' [[Johnny Byrne (footballer)|Johnny Byrne]] 1961-67
#'''104''' [[Bryan 'Pop' Robson]] 1970-74/1976-79
#'''102''' [[Trevor Brooking]] 1967-84
#'''100''' [[Malcolm Musgrove]] 1953-63
#'''100''' [[Martin Peters]] 1962-70

* [[West Ham United F.C. goal records]]

|}
|}

==See also==
*[[Richest football clubs]]

==References==
===Books===
*{{cite book | author=Belton, Brian| title="BROWN OUT": The Biography of West Ham Chairmen, Terence Brown | publisher=Pennant Publishing Ltd| year=2007| id=ISBN 1-906015112 }}
*{{cite book | author=Belton, Brian| title=West Ham United Miscellany| publisher=Pennant Books | year=2006| id=ISBN 0-9550394-4-4}}
*{{cite book | author=Blows, Kirk & Hogg, Tony| title=The Essential History of West Ham United | publisher=Headline | year=2000| id=ISBN 0-7472-7036-8}}
*{{cite book | author=Hellier, John & Leatherdale, Clive | title=West Ham United: The Elite Era - A Complete Record | publisher=Desert Island| year=2000| id=ISBN 1-874287-31-7}}
*{{cite book |last=Hogg |first=Tony |title=Who's Who of West Ham United |year=2005 |publisher=Profile Sports Media| id= ISBN 1-903135-50-8}}
*{{cite book | author=Kerrigan, Colm | title=Gatling Gun George Hilsdon |publisher=Football Lives |year=1997 | id=ISBN 0-9530718-0-4}}
*{{cite book | author=Nawrat, Chris & Hutchings, Steve | title = The Sunday Times Illustrated History of Football | publisher =Hamlyn| year=1996 |id=ISBN 1-85613-341-9}}
*{{cite book | author=Pickering, David | title = The Cassell Soccer Companion | Publisher= Cassell | year=1994 |id=ISBN 0-304-34231-9}}
*{{cite book | author=Redknapp, Harry With Derek McGovern| title=Harry Redknapp - My Autobiography | publisher=HarperCollins | year=1998| id=ISBN 0-00-218872-4}}
*{{cite book | author=Ward, Adam & Smith, Dave| title=The Official West Ham United Dream Team | publisher=Hamlyn| year=2003| id=ISBN 0-600-60835-2}}

===Websites===
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons|Category:West Ham United FC|West Ham United F.C. }}
;Official
*{{BBC Football Info|BBClinkname=w/west_ham_utd}}
* [http://www.whufc.com West Ham United FC Official Website]
* [http://www.premierleague.com/west-ham-united.html Premierleague.com - West Ham United]

;Unofficial
* [http://www.kumb.com Knees Up Mother Brown (Fans Forum, Match Reports, Statistics, Articles)]
* [http://www.westhamonline.net Westhamonline (Match Reports and the fans forum from hell...)]
* [http://www.westhamutd-mad.co.uk Hammers Mad]
* [http://www.westhamblog.co.uk West Ham Blog (Previews and reports]

;External references
* [http://www.lalamy.demon.co.uk/whulist.htm West Ham players, past and present]
* [http://www.theyflysohigh.piczo.com West Ham Memorabilia Collection - Claret & Blue Reference Source: Steve Marsh]

{{fb start}}
{{West Ham United F.C.}}
{{FA Premier League}}
{{fb end}}

[[Category:Sport in London]]
[[Category:Football (soccer) clubs established in 1895]]
[[Category:English football clubs]]
[[Category:West Ham United F.C.| ]]
[[Category:Premier League clubs]]
[[Category:FA Cup winners]]

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Revision as of 02:28, 1 May 2008

West Ham suck

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