Greetings from the homeland of West Ham legend Ludek Miklosko and West Ham liability Tomas Repka! This week’s preview comes direct from a short break in Prague, the beautiful capital city of the Czech Republic which, it turns out, is not that “near Moscow” after all…
Blast from the past
2nd September 1981 – Soft Cell were number one with ‘Tainted Love’ but there was nothing soft about David ‘Psycho’ Cross as he astonishingly bagged all four goals in a 4-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in front of 41,200 at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham, having opened the 1981/82 season with a 3-1 win at Middlesbrough, were making their first appearance at White Hart Lane since winning the 1981 FA Cup. The Hammers, meanwhile, were back in the top flight after the Second Division title-winning campaign the previous year and had drawn 1-1 at home with Brighton in their opening fixture.
It was the visitors who opened the scoring in the first half though when a Jimmy Neighbour cross from the right beat a crowd of players to find Cross who fired a low first-time shot underneath the body of England goalkeeper Ray Clemence, who was making his home debut for Spurs.
The second half was a treat for the travelling Claret and Blue Army – Cross grabbed his second when firing in at the near post at the second attempt. His hat-trick goal was a cracker after neat, one-touch build-up play; Frank Lampard’s lofted pass found Paul Goddard who sent a side-foot volleyed pass down the left for Geoff Pike who, in turn, centred first-time for Cross to finish expertly into the net. ‘Psycho’ grabbed his, and the Hammers’, fourth when Clemence went walkabout in his own penalty area and Cross provided the finishing touch after a goalmouth melee by hammering home from within the six-yard box.
Cross later said of his four-goal salvo: "For me to get four goals against Tottenham in a West Ham shirt was the pinnacle of my career in terms of the joy it brought to the West Ham fans”. The Hammers would end the 1981/82 season in ninth position, while Tottenham would finish fourth.
The goals from this match, as well as an interview with ‘Psycho’ from that evening, can be seen in the video below.
Tottenham Hotspur: Ray Clemence, Paul Price (Gordon Smith), Graham Roberts, Paul Miller, Steve Perryman, Micky Hazard, Glenn Hoddle, Garry Brooke, Ricky Villa, Tony Galvin, Mark Falco.
West Ham United: Phil Parkes, Ray Stewart, Alvin Martin, Billy Bonds, Frank Lampard, Jimmy Neighbour, Geoff Pike, Paul Allen, Alan Devonshire, Paul Goddard, David Cross.
Club Connections
A large group of players have turned out for Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United. Divided here by position, they include:
Goalkeepers: Bill Kaine, Tony Parks, Fred Griffiths.
Defenders: Calum Davenport, Paul Konchesky, Mark Bowen, Mauricio Tarrico, Steve Walford, Simon Webster, Chris Hughton, Mitchell Thomas, Neil Ruddock.
Midfielders: Paul Allen, Jimmy Neighbour, Matthew Etherington, Mark Robson, David Bentley, Ilie Dumitrescu, Martin Peters, John Smith, Michael Carrick, John Moncur.
Strikers: Mido, Frederic Kanoute, Clive Allen, Sergei Rebrov, Dave Dunmore, Teddy Sheringham, Jermain Defoe, Bill Joyce, Robbie Keane, Fred Massey, Bobby Zamora, Les Ferdinand, Jimmy Greaves.
Both Jack Tresadern and Harry Redknapp played for the Hammers and managed Spurs.
This week’s focus though is on one of West Ham United’s greatest players of the twenty-first century who also spent two years with Tottenham Hotspur. Scott Parker was born in Lambeth on 13th October 1980. A Lilleshall graduate, Parker was the 13-year-old keepie-uppie star of a McDonalds advert during the 1994 World Cup. He began his professional career at Charlton, making his debut in 1997; he also had a brief loan spell with Norwich in 2000. He joined Chelsea in the winter window of 2004 for a fee of £10m but found first team opportunities hard to come by and signed for Newcastle in July 2005 for £6.5m. He was made captain the following summer by Glenn Roeder but left for West Ham United to be reunited with his former Charlton manager, Alan Curbishley, in a £7m deal in the summer of 2007.
Injury played a large part in Parker’s early career in east London, with the midfielder unable to make his debut until a League Cup win over Plymouth at the Boleyn Ground in late September. Three days later Parker was injured again during a home defeat to Arsenal and ruled out for a further two months. His first goal for the club came three days before Christmas, the last-minute winner in West Ham’s first ever victory at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium.
Parker’s second goal for the club was over a year later, from close range in a 2-1 defeat at Bolton in February 2009, by which time Gianfranco Zola had taken over from Curbishley. His season was ended by injury the following month but he had still done enough to win the 2008/09 Hammer of the Year prize. The Irons struggled in 2009/10 and were second bottom of the Premier League when Parker was sent off for two yellow cards in the 2-2 home draw with Arsenal in October. His first goal of that season was a stunning, dipping half-volley from distance to bring the Hammers level at the home of his old club Chelsea in March, although the match would ultimately be lost 4-1. His only other goal that season was infinitely more significant, the winner in a tense 3-2 victory over Wigan at Upton Park on 24th April which secured the Hammers’ survival – Parker’s sensational 77th-minute strike from 25 yards was followed by an emotionally-charged celebration. Two weeks later, he would become the first player to retain the Hammer of the Year trophy since Julian Dicks in 1997.
A 17th-placed finish in 2009/10 resulted in Zola being replaced by Avram Grant and the Hammers would endure a turbulent 2010/11 campaign. Parker was the bright light shining in the east end gloom as he displayed the fight, determination and character sadly lacking in many of his team-mates – he was often mistaken as the club’s captain by an inattentive national media. This was epitomised by his best goalscoring season during his time with the club, Parker opening with three goals in his first six games (the injury-time winner against Oxford in the League Cup, a wonderfully-lofted volley in a 3-1 defeat to Chelsea and a scrambled effort in a 1-1 draw at Stoke). Another three-goals-in-six-games spell followed in October/November as he scored the equaliser in a 3-1 extra-time win over the Potters in the League Cup, struck a thunderbolt in a 2-2 draw with West Brom and grabbed the clincher in a 3-1 win over Wigan. On 9 February 2011, he became the first England player to receive his first four full caps whilst playing for four different teams, coming on as a second-half substitute for Frank Lampard in a friendly against Denmark. Three days later, Parker’s inspirational half-time team-talk when 3-0 down at The Hawthorns would be the catalyst for a stirring comeback to claim a 3-3 draw. Parker was to score once more for the Hammers that season, a beautifully-executed effort with the outside of his right foot from the edge of the area in a 3-1 home victory over Liverpool in late February. The following month, Parker played in a 0-0 draw at Tottenham hours after the death of his father. He also started in England’s victory over Wales at the Millennium Stadium. Parker would again be crowned Hammer of the Year, the only player other than Sir Trevor Brooking to claim the award three seasons in a row. He was also named as the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year, an incredible feat considering his club were relegated in bottom place. In doing so, he became the only Hammer aside from Bobby Moore to win the award.
Parker started West Ham’s 2011/12 Championship campaign, notching one goal in four league appearances, this coming in a 4-0 win at Watford. At the age of 30, Parker knew he may only have one opportunity left to play in an international tournament and, with Euro 2012 on the horizon, was aware that he would have to be playing Premier League football. With his children in school in the local area, Parker opted to remain in London and signed for close rivals Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £5.5m. Parker made 129 appearances for West Ham in all competitions, scoring 12 goals.
Parker was named Tottenham’s Player of the Year in his first season with the club, playing in 29 league matches as the club finished fourth but were denied Champions League qualification as Chelsea won that competition and would compete as holders despite finishing sixth in the Premier League. Parker’s move to Spurs paid off in that he cemented his England place, being named Man of the Match in a friendly against European and World champions Spain in November 2011 and appearing as captain of his country against the Netherlands in February 2012. Parker started all four matches at Euro 2012 as England made the quarter-finals. However, an Achilles injury picked up during the tournament would keep him out of the first four months of 2012/13. After 63 matches without scoring for Tottenham, he was on the move to Fulham in August 2013, for whom he still plays today.
Scott Parker, disappointingly, received a mixed reception when he returned to Upton Park as a Tottenham player in February 2013. I was one of the many who gave him a standing ovation when he left the field that night, remembering his four years of exceptional service rather than focusing on the club he left us for. For me, Parker was a perfect picture of passion, perseverance and pirouettes and I am sure he will be long remembered as a West Ham United great. The video below is a tribute to his time in claret and blue.
Referee
The referee on Sunday will be Jonathan Moss. West Ham lost all three games in which Moss officiated in during 2013/14 – a 1-0 home defeat to Stoke, the 3-1 loss at Norwich and the 1-0 reverse at Everton. Moss was the man in the middle for our 1-0 victory at Stoke the season before. He also took charge of our home draws against Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion earlier this season
Possible line-ups
Tottenham Hotspur have a fully fit squad to call upon for the visit of the Hammers. Harry Kane is almost certain to be restored to the starting line-up after being rested against Fiorentina on Thursday.
West Ham United will be without Morgan Amalfitano who serves the first of a three-match suspension for his red card at West Brom. Winston Reid and James Collins are back in contention, as is Matt Jarvis. Cheikhou Kouyate injured an arm in training earlier this week and is a doubt, as is Diafra Sakho who has reportedly suffered a slight recurrence of his back injury.
Possible Tottenham Hotspur XI: Lloris; Walker, Fazio, Vertonghen, Davies; Paulinho, Bentaleb; Lamela, Dembele, Eriksen; Kane.
Possible West Ham United XI: Adrian; Jenkinson, Tomkins, Reid, Cresswell; Song, Noble, Nolan; Downing; Cole, Valencia.
Enjoy the game – Up The Hammers!