History of West Ham United F.C.

It was announced in the Thames Ironworks Gazette in June 1895 under the heading "The importance of co-operation between workers and management" in an effort to "wipe away the bitterness left by the recent strike": "Mr. Taylor, who is working in the shipbuilding department, has undertaken to get up a football club for next winter and I learn that quoits and bowls will also be added to the attractions.

[10] Hills made enough funds available for the formation of the team, contributed the club's first kit, an all navy blue strip, and saw a fine opportunity to take up the ground rent of the recently dissolved Old Castle Swifts at Hermit Road.

These experiments, which utilised docking equipment and a ball dipped in whitewash, were seen in a number of trials against London and Essex sides, including one against the aptly named Vampires, and culminated in high-profile games against Woolwich Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion.

The venue would not merely be a playing ground for the football team (indeed Hills himself described it foremostly as "the largest cycle track in London") but would incorporate all Thames Ironworks societies as well as open access for the community at large.

[26][27] Following Payne's resignation, the role of club secretary went to full-back George Neil, who signed a number of players, including Charlie Craig and Syd King (two fullbacks with a good reputation in the league), and Tottenham Hotspur forwards Bill Joyce, Kenny McKay and Harry Bradshaw.

Despite the shift in team name, the club and its fans are to this day referred to as "The Irons" and "The Hammers" due to the original connection[32] and still retains many rivalries (both friendly, and competitive) and community associations from these formative years.

[16] The Daily Mirror wrote on 2 September 1904: "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 Millwall by 3 goals to 0 on their new enclosure at Upton Park.

Through this contrivance of association the club's 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.

Previously, Fenton had played for West Ham from 1934 through to 1946 (he had been on the field when the club triumphed in the War Cup over Blackburn) making 201 appearances and scoring 44 goals and garnering five caps in the process as a wing half for England.

Other players of the day included John Bond, Dave Sexton, Jimmy Andrews and Frank O'Farrell (later swapped for Eddie Lewis) and Tommy Moroney all part of an original "Cafe Cassettari" club started by Fenton as a result of the restrictive budget.

There [Cafe Cassateri], Allison would hold court and the players would exchange views on the game and make tactical plans around the dinner table, illustrating their ideas with the use of salt and pepper pots.

The pair went on to feature for the club for the remainder of Fenton's tenure with the team, though Allison had to retire through illness and instead became mentor to Bobby Moore alongside Irish international full back Noel Cantwell and all the other young players on the squad.

Moore had made his debut for West Ham in 1958, replacing an unwell Malcolm Allison, who had been a stalwart for the team at the back for a decade, taking the number 6 shirt at age 17 and was not to relinquish the position for another 16 years.

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 following a 2–0 home defeat of Cambridge United on 8 May 1993.

Cottee started the second spell of his West Ham career well, forming a solid partnership with Trevor Morley that was aided by Ian Bishop, Dale Gordon and the aggressive Martin Allen in midfield.

[66] Old hand Alvin Martin partnered Steve Potts, Tim Breacker and Dicks with longterm custodian Luděk Mikloško in goal to form a stout defence that made up for the deficiencies elsewhere in midfield and up front, which had seen a number of players move on, including fan favourite Matty Holmes, to newly christened league champions Blackburn Rovers for £1.5 million.

The following summer, going into the historic 1996–97 season, Redknapp continued looking abroad and made two of the most ambitious but perhaps least productive signings in the club's history – the Romanian national team's striker Florin Răducioiu and Portuguese winger Paulo Futre (formerly a £10 million man) from Milan.

Coupled with the equally-disastrous Marco Boogers affair; the drawn-out work permit wrangle involving Răducioiu's compatriot Ilie Dumitrescu, who had been signed six months earlier from Tottenham Hotspur but had failed to play the required number of games whilst at Spurs; and the lack of a quality second striker, West Ham struggled.

Hartson and Kitson gave the team an exciting frontline, whilst in the midfield Redknapp added Eyal Berkovic from Southampton and Trevor Sinclair and Andy Impey from Queens Park Rangers.

The pacey Stan Lazaridis and Andy Impey took over wingback roles, whilst the centre of midfield was contested by Lampard, Lomas and Berkovic, with Moncur preferred over Ian Bishop in reserve and Michael Hughes out in the cold.

Redknapp, however, did not neglect home-grown talent, adding the experienced Ian Wright and Neil Ruddock, whilst also bringing Scott Minto back from abroad and Shaka Hislop in as goalkeeper on a free transfer from Newcastle.

These transfers were later used as ammunition against the departing Redknapp, with aspersions cast regarding agent fees and the expensive nature of Camara's alleged Pay-As-You-Play contract that would have seen further monies paid after a relatively small number of games.

New signing David James was injured before he even made an appearance whilst on International duty; Frédéric Kanouté, Michael Carrick and Paolo Di Canio nursed groin and knee problems.

[89] The relegation forced the sale of key players Joe Cole and Glen Johnson both to Chelsea; Kanouté and later Jermain Defoe to Tottenham; and Trevor Sinclair and David James to Manchester City in a bid to prevent a financial crisis at Upton Park.

The team saw over 15 new players brought in on both short- and long-term deals, including Rob Lee, David Connolly, Marlon Harewood, Matthew Etherington, Kevin Horlock, Hayden Mullins, Nigel Reo-Coker, Andy Melville, Bobby Zamora and Brian Deane.

These signings were backed by defensive reinforcements in the form of young Calum Davenport from Tottenham (who had previously been loaned to West Ham during their Championship years) and Australian captain Lucas Neill from Blackburn.

Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool), Paul Konchesky (Fulham), Nigel Reo-Coker, Marlon Harewood (both to Aston Villa) and, most notably, Carlos Tevez (Manchester United) all headed for the Upton Park exit door.

Results on the pitch improved slightly with November finishing with two wins, one draw and one defeat, but Zola's men were given a swift reminder of the up hill battle they faced to survive in the Premier League at the hands of Manchester United,[111] as they lost 4–0 at home.

[156] A busy transfer window for the summer of 2012 saw Allardyce bring in 11 players for West Ham, including Jussi Jääskeläinen,[157] Mohamed Diamé,[158] Modibo Maïga,[159] James Collins,[160] Alou Diarra,[161] Matt Jarvis,[162] Andy Carroll[163] and Yossi Benayoun for his second stint.

This culminated on 10 March 2018 during a 3–0 home defeat by Burnley when fans invaded the pitch four times, protested against the board such that owner, David Sullivan was escorted from his seat and unfurled a banner saying "$old a dream given a nightmare".