Blast from the past
Saturday 5th November 1960 was to prove an exceptional day for a player who enjoyed a brief career with West Ham United. Dave Dunmore, who had arrived from Tottenham the previous season and would go on to play over 100 games for Leyton Orient, provided the Bonfire Night fireworks by bagging a hat-trick as the Hammers defeated Arsenal by a resounding six goals to nil in front of 29,375.
The other three goals came courtesy of John Dick, Andy Malcolm and Phil Woosnam. The Hammers also managed to keep a clean sheet against a side containing David Herd, a Scottish international forward who would score 29 goals for the Gunners to be the First Division’s second-highest goalscorer that season.
West Ham would finish the 1960/61 season in 16th position, while Arsenal would end up in 11th.
West Ham United: Brian Rhodes, John Bond, Bobby Moore, Ken Brown, John Lyall, Derek Woodley, Andy Malcolm, Mike Grice, Phil Woosnam, Dave Dunmore, John Dick.
Arsenal: Jack Kelsey, Len Wills, John Snedden, Billy McCullough, Tommy Docherty, John Barnwell, Vic Groves, Geoff Strong, David Herd, Mel Charles, Joe Haverty.
Club Connections
A large group of players have turned out for West Ham United and Arsenal. Carl Jenkinson is currently on loan from the Gunners but will be unable to play against his parent club on Sunday. Alex Song played for Arsenal before signing for Barcelona, from whom he is on loan at the Hammers. Other players to have represented both clubs have been divided by position.
Goalkeepers: Richard Wright, Manuel Almunia, Jim Standen.
Defenders: Matthew Upson, Nigel Winterburn, Bernard Joy, Steve Walford, Eddie Hapgood, Bob Stevenson.
Midfielders: Liam Brady, Stewart Robson, Yossi Benayoun, Archie Macauley, David Bentley, Les Henley, James Bigden, Luis Boa Morte, Roddy McEachrane, Jimmy Jackson, Henri Lansbury, Fred Kemp, Fredrik Ljungberg.
Strikers: Bobby Gould, Jeremie Aliadiere, Jimmy Marshall, Kaba Diawara, Jimmy Bloomfield, Charlie Satterthwaite, Marouane Chamakh, Lee Chapman, Tom Lee, John Hartson, Ted Drake, John Radford, Ian Wright, Davor Suker.
Ron Greenwood was also assistant manager at Arsenal before becoming manager of West Ham.
Today’s focus though falls on a star Hammer from the latter half of the 1920s who signed for the Irons from the Gunners. Stan Earle was born on the 6th September 1897 in Stratford and played for England Schoolboys before signing as an amateur with Clapton. He played there with future Hammers team-mate Viv Gibbins but also turned out for Arsenal, still as an amateur, between 1922 and 1924. He played four games for Arsenal in two years, scoring three goals. Despite such limited playing time with his club, Earle made his international debut for England against France on 17th May 1924. He continued to play for Clapton, winning the 1924 FA Amateur Cup.
Three months after his England debut, Earle signed for West Ham United and scored 6 goals in 18 games in his first season. He played in 37 of the 42 league games the following season, 1925/26, as the Hammers developed a fine forward line of Earle, Vic Watson and Jimmy Ruffell, the trio notching 41 goals between them that season. Earle impressed sufficiently to earn his second England cap on 22nd October 1927, against Northern Ireland. After eight seasons at the Boleyn Ground, Earle departed at the end of the 1931/32 campaign having scored 58 goals in 273 appearances in all competitions. He ended his career back at Clapton before coaching amateur club Walthamstow Avenue and managing Leyton FC. Earle died in Colchester on the 26th September 1971 at the age of 74.
Referee
Sunday’s referee will be Neil Swarbrick. The Lancashire-based official took charge of two of West Ham United’s highlights from last season, the 0-0 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and the 2-1 League Cup quarter-final victory against Tottenham at White Hart Lane. He also took charge of two league matches involving the Hammers in 2012/13, those being the 4-1 home win over Southampton and the 3-0 defeat at Sunderland.
Possible line-ups
West Ham United will be without Arsenal loanee Carl Jenkinson who is unavailable due to Premier League rules; Joey O’Brien is the likely replacement, with Guy Demel another option. Alex Song is likely to start against his former club while Sam Allardyce will hope that James Tomkins can recover from his hamstring strain in time to face the lively and mobile Arsenal attack, with James Collins the man likely to make way. Big Sam may go for a midfield and forward line consisting of players who did not play 90 minutes at Chelsea on Boxing Day, meaning Cheikhou Kouyate, Kevin Nolan and Enner Valencia could drop to the bench.
Arsenal could recall Calum Chambers at centre-back if Laurent Koscielny loses his fitness battle. Tomas Rosicky scored on his first start of the season on Boxing Day but Francis Coquelin could start in midfield if it is deemed that starting two games in two days is beyond Rosicky after his recent recovery from injury. Olivier Giroud is suspended after his red card against QPR; Danny Welbeck could consequently play in his preferred position of centre-forward while Theo Walcott could start. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Yaya Sanogo will face late fitness tests but Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil, Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere are all out.
Possible West Ham United XI: Adrian; O’Brien, Tomkins, Reid, Cresswell; Song, Noble, Amalfitano; Downing; Sakho, Carroll.
Possible Arsenal XI: Szczesny; Debuchy, Chambers, Mertesacker, Gibbs; Flamini, Coquelin; Walcott, Sanchez, Cazorla; Welbeck.
Enjoy the game – Up The Hammers!