Blast from the past
Saturday 25th September 1982 was an astonishing day for goalscoring in English football’s First Division. Fifty goals were scored, including an 8-0 victory for Watford over Sunderland (probably a scoreline the Wearsiders have seen enough of this week!), a 6-0 away win for Ipswich at Notts County and a 4-4 draw between Stoke and Luton. With Survivor’s ‘Eye of the Tiger’ at the top of the charts, it was Manchester City who endured a ‘Rocky’ time at Upton Park, in front of 23,883.
Scottish striker Sandy Clark packed the biggest punch, bagging a brace in a match which was to prove his finest hour in claret and blue after signing from Airdrie for £200,000 that summer. Paul Goddard and Francois van der Elst were also on the scoresheet in a game which saw the Hammers tie down fourth place in the top flight (something Hammers fans have loved seeing over the last seven days!). Phil Boyer managed a consolation effort for City, who were managed that day by ex-Hammer John Bond.
In a season that would see a goalscoring debut for Tony Cottee on New Year’s Day against Tottenham, West Ham would finish in eighth position, while Manchester City would be relegated.
West Ham United: Phil Parkes, Ray Stewart (Neil Orr), Billy Bonds, Alvin Martin, Frank Lampard, Alan Devonshire, Paul Allen, Geoff Pike, Francois van der Elst, Sandy Clark, Paul Goddard.
Manchester City: Alexander Williams, Bobby McDonald (Dennis Tueart), Paul Power, Ray Ranson, Kevin Bond, Tommy Caton, Graham Baker, Age Hareide, Asa Hartford, Kevin Reeves, Phil Boyer.
Club Connections
A large group of players have turned out for West Ham United and Manchester City. They include Marc-Vivien Foe, Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy, David Cross, Phil Woosnam, Justin Fashanu, Stuart Pearce, Trevor Sinclair, David James, Kevin Horlock, Tal Ben Haim, Mark Ward, Steve Lomas, Trevor Morley, Paulo Wanchope, Michael Hughes, Ian Bishop and Tyrone Mears. Ex-Hammers Frank Lampard and Richard Wright are currently on the Citizens’ playing staff. Malcolm Allison and John Bond join Pearce as West Ham players who have gone on to manage City.
Today’s focus though falls on a player who played an ill-fated eighteen matches in all competitions for West Ham in 2011, having joined on loan from this weekend’s visitors – Wayne Bridge.
Bridge started his career at Southampton before joining Chelsea in a deal worth just over £7m in 2003. The left-back moved on to Manchester City in the January transfer window of 2009 for a reported fee of £10m. He is perhaps most remembered for an episode which culminated in his much-publicised refusal of a handshake from John Terry, which was interlinked with Bridge’s self-imposed termination of his England career – he won 36 caps for his country, scoring one goal. Bridge’s first-team opportunities at City faded with the arrival of Aleksandar Kolarov and, later, Gael Clichy. He made 58 appearances for the club, without scoring.
Bridge was offered an escape route in January 2011 by the relegation-haunted Hammers. He played in both the semi-final of the League Cup and the quarter-final of the FA Cup during his brief West Ham career but these Cup successes were not supplemented by points in the Premier League and the club was relegated as the division’s bottom side. Bridge would return to his parent club but was shipped out on loan again, this time to Sunderland.
Bridge would later have to drop a division for regular football, joining Brighton for a successful 2012/13 campaign. He turned down the chance of an extension to his time with the Seagulls, opting instead to join newly-relegated Reading. The ex-England left-back announced his retirement from the game in May this year.
Referee
Saturday’s referee will be Martin Atkinson; 2014/15 is Atkinson’s tenth as a Premier League referee. Since West Ham United achieved promotion back to the top flight in 2012 Atkinson has refereed six of our league matches, officiating in two wins for the Hammers, one draw and three defeats. Atkinson was the man in the middle for an away victory for Manchester City at Newcastle on the opening day of this season and the Hammers’ 2-2 draw at Hull in September.
Possible line-ups
West Ham United’s squad is set to be boosted by the return of James Tomkins and Cheikhou Kouyate for this clash between two of the top four (!). James Collins was fantastic last week at Burnley but the extra mobility offered by Tomkins may see him earn an immediate recall to the starting XI. Kouyate could replace Morgan Amalfitano, joining Mark Noble and Alex Song in midfield, with Stewart Downing at the tip of the diamond.
Manchester City’s line-up is difficult to predict following the long and arduous journey to and from Moscow this week, coupled with the fact they return to Premier League action swiftly with this Saturday lunchtime kick-off. They travel to Upton Park knowing, however, that a win will close the gap to Chelsea at the Premier League summit to just two points, with Mourinho’s men facing a trip to Old Trafford on Sunday. The Manchester press seem to suggest that Edin Dzeko’s poor recent Premier League form could see Manuel Pellegrini start with Sergio Aguero as a lone striker with Yaya Toure pushed into an advanced role off the Argentinian striker and David Silva and Jesus Navas wide.
Possible West Ham United XI: Adrian; Jenkinson, Tomkins, Reid, Cresswell; Kouyate, Song, Noble; Downing; Sakho, Valencia.
Possible Manchester City XI: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Mangala, Kolarov; Fernandinho, Fernando; Navas, Toure, Silva; Aguero.
Enjoy the game – Come On You Irons!