Blast from the past
West Ham United’s most recent FA Cup meeting with West Bromwich Albion came in the third round at The Hawthorns in front of 25,896 on the 2nd January 1993. The second-tier Hammers emerged victorious against their opponents from the division below courtesy of a 2-0 win, with both goals arriving in the first half. Martin Allen played his cousin Clive in with a sliderule pass and the much-travelled striker (pictured) scored via a deflection. As thick fog continued to descend, Julian Dicks sprayed a delightful ball wide with the outside of his trusty left foot to fleet-footed winger Mark Robson who delivered a low cross which nestled in the back of the net after Dicks jumped over the ball, deceiving Stuart Naylor in the Albion goal.
The Hammers progressed to the fourth round, only to be knocked out by fellow First Division side Barnsley in a 4-1 defeat at Oakwell.
West Ham United: Ludek Miklosko, Tim Breacker, Steve Potts, Alvin Martin, Julian Dicks, Mark Robson, Peter Butler, Martin Allen, Kevin Keen, Trevor Morley, Clive Allen.
Aside from this third round victory in 1993, West Ham’s remaining FA Cup record against West Brom is as follows:
1913 – West Brom 1-1 West Ham (1st round)
1913 – West Ham 2-2 West Brom (1st round Replay)
1913 – West Brom 0-3 West Ham (1st round 2nd Replay)
1933 – West Ham 2-0 West Brom (4th round)
1953 – West Ham 1-4 West Brom (4th round)
1980 – West Brom 1-1 West Ham (3rd round)
1980 – West Ham 2-1 West Brom (3rd round Replay)
The video below shows brief highlights from the 1993 victory at West Brom.
Club Connections
West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion have shared a decent number of players over the years; Morgan Amalfitano is one of these and he should face the club he spent a season with on loan last term. Other players to represent both clubs include: Sir Geoff Hurst, Jeroen Boere, Alan Dickens, David Burrows, John Hartson, Franz Carr, Steve Walford, Gary Strodder, Peter Butler, Frank Nouble, David Cross, Danny Gabbidon and Nigel Quashie.
Bobby Gould played for the Hammers and the Baggies and also spent a period as manager at The Hawthorns.
This week’s focus though is on a player who played for West Ham and managed West Brom. Archie Macaulay was born in Falkirk on 30th July 1915. He joined Glasgow Rangers in 1933 and soon found himself playing at inside-right in the first team, winning a Scottish Cup medal in 1935/36 and a Scottish League Championship medal in the following season.
In 1937 Charlie Paynter managed to persuade Macaulay to join West Ham United for a fee of £6,000. He made his debut against Aston Villa on 28th September 1937 – the Hammers went on to finish in 9th place in the Second Division that season with Macaulay joint top-scorer with 10 goals in 39 games. On 24th September 1938 he scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 victory against Tranmere and ended the 1938/39 season as top-scorer with 16 goals in 36 games.
With the outbreak of war in September 1939 the government imposed a ban on the assembly of crowds and as a result the Football League competition was brought to an end. Macaulay joined the Essex Regiment and eventually became a Physical Training instructor at Aldershot. The Football League War Cup was set up though and, despite the fears that London would be bombed by the Luftwaffe, over 42,300 fans decided to take the risk of visiting Wembley on 8th June 1940 to see West Ham beat Blackburn 1-0, with Macaulay winning the third medal of his football career. As he was based in England for the duration of the war, Macaulay was able to make 59 appearances for the Hammers during this period, scoring 17 goals.
In the 1945/46 season he played for West Ham United in the First Division South league. However, he only played in 8 games the following season before being transferred to First Division Brentford in October 1946 for a fee of £7,500. His new manager, Tom Whittaker, later recalled: “Macaulay, a brilliant ball player and magnificently balanced, had the reputation of a temper in keeping with his red hair”. Macaulay later played for Arsenal and Fulham before joining Guildford City as player-manager.
In 1957 he was appointed manager of Norwich. He led the Third Division side to the FA Cup semi-final in his first season and won promotion to the Second Division in his second campaign. In 1961 he moved on to West Bromwich Albion; however, this was not a success and after winning only 26 of 67 games he was sacked in 1963. Macaulay’s next appointment was as manager of Brighton, leading the club to promotion from the Fourth Division in 1965. Macaulay left football management in 1968 and later worked as a traffic warden in Chelsea. Archie Macaulay died on 10th June 1993.
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 nine of our league matches, officiating in five wins for the Hammers, one draw and three defeats. This season Atkinson has been the man in the middle for the Irons’ 2-2 draw at Hull, as well as for our home victories over Manchester City, Leicester and Hull.
Possible line-ups
New signing and former Hammers target Darren Fletcher is cup-tied for West Bromwich Albion. Tony Pulis could replace Fletcher with an orthodox midfielder in Craig Gardner or go all-out to avoid a potential replay by selecting the more attacking Stephane Sessegnon. Fellow new boy Callum McManaman, the Man of the Match in the 2013 Final, did not play for Wigan in their third-round exit to Bolton and so is eligible to play on Saturday.
For West Ham United, Adrian is suspended unless the Hammers’ appeal against his red card at Southampton is successful. Hopefully the panel will see sense as the Spanish goalkeeper was clearly fouled by Sadio Mane which led to him falling and subsequently handling the ball. Sam Allardyce should have Kevin Nolan (foot) and Mark Noble (virus) available again but Andy Carroll is set for a spell on the sidelines with a knee injury. Allardyce may opt to start Carlton Cole considering the problems Carroll, as a big target man, caused West Brom in the game at The Hawthorns in December, particularly from set-pieces. Although Tony Pulis has since taken over as manager and will be more guarded against this sort of threat, Cole will no doubt be keen to show the Baggies what he is capable of after the recent collapse of his transfer to the West Midlands and considering he may be a free agent in the summer.
Possible West Bromwich Albion XI: Foster; Dawson, McAuley, Lescott, Brunt; Yacob; McManaman, Sessegnon, Morrison; Berahino, Ideye.
Possible West Ham United XI: Jaaskelainen; Jenkinson, Tomkins, Kouyate, Cresswell; Song, Noble, Amalfitano; Downing; Sakho, Cole.
Enjoy the game – Up the Hammers!