Blast from the past
Today’s blast from the past features a pre-war Second Division victory at the home of this weekend’s opponents, Manchester United. It arrived on the 22nd of April 1933, a 2-1 win at Old Trafford in front of 14,958 spectators.
The 1932/33 season was a tempestuous campaign in West Ham United’s history – it was the club’s first season back in the Second Division following relegation the previous campaign. The club were managed at the start of the season by Syd King but, two days after losing their ninth game of the season, King was sacked on 7th November 1932 having been reputed to have had problems with alcohol and having previously insulted a director at a board meeting after turning up drunk. King had taken the Hammers’ relegation the previous season so badly that it had affected his mental health and, a month after his sacking, he committed suicide by drinking alcohol laced with a “corrosive substance”. An inquest into his death concluded that he had been suffering from paranoia and that he had taken his life “whilst of unsound mind”.
A run of four wins in the last five games moved the club out of the relegation places with one game of the season remaining. This run included the Hammers’ only away win of the season, at Old Trafford against Manchester United. The winning goal in the 2-1 victory was scored by Arthur Wilson who many years later recalled the goal – “It was a real belter from 30 yards. The ball hit the underside of the bar and struck the goalkeeper on the back of the neck before crossing the line. The force of the shot knocked him to the floor”. Jackie Morton (pictured) scored the Irons’ other goal, while Neil Dewar struck for Manchester United. West Ham’s players were promised a continental tour if they managed to beat relegation – this did not materialise.
West Ham were by now under the management of Charlie Paynter – the second manager in West Ham’s history, Paynter first became involved with the club in 1897 and worked his way up from reserve-team trainer in 1902 to first-team trainer under King in 1911. Paynter remained West Ham manager for 18 years, from 1932 until 1950 when he was made an ‘ambassador-at-large’ and replaced as first-team manager by Ted Fenton. The Irons finished 1932/33 in 20th place, just one point clear of relegation and having not been higher than 16th all season. Manchester United finished sixth but the Hammers’ Old Trafford triumph completed a double over the Red Devils after a 3-1 win at Upton Park the previous December. West Ham’s defence was also the poorest in the league, conceding 93 goals in 42 matches. The club’s top scorer was Vic Watson with 28 goals; 24 in the league and four in the FA Cup. The Irons reached the semi-final of the FA Cup where they lost to eventual winners Everton.
Manchester United: John Moody, John Mellor, Henry Topping, Jimmy J Brown, Thomas Frame, Ernest Vincent, Tommy Manley, Ernest Hine, Neil Dewar, William McDonald, George McLachlan.
West Ham United: Pat McMahon, Alf Chalkley, Albert Walker, Joe Cockroft, Jim Barrett, Jimmy Collins, Jim Wood, Arthur Wilson, Vic Watson, Len Goulden, Jackie Morton.
Club Connections
Michael Carrick is in line to face his former club. Alongside the Academy graduate, a largely impressive list of players have turned out for both West Ham United and Manchester United over the years. These include:
Goalkeepers: Roy Carroll, Les Sealey.
Defenders: Noel Cantwell, Jonathan Spector.
Midfielders: Paul Ince, Ravel Morrison, Ralph Milne, Luke Chadwick.
Strikers: Billy Grassam, Stuart Pearson, Teddy Sheringham, Carlos Tevez.
In addition, Dave Sexton and Frank O’Farrell both played for the Hammers before going on to manage the Red Devils.
Today’s focus though is on one of the best defenders of the modern era – Rio Ferdinand was born in King’s College Hospital, Denmark Hill on 7th November 1978. He joined the West Ham United Academy in 1992 having been scouted by Frank Lampard Senior and made his first team debut on 5th May 1996 as a 17-year-old, coming on for Tony Cottee in the 68th minute of the final day 1-1 home draw with Sheffield Wednesday. Ferdinand’s first appearance for the club coincided with legendary centre-back Alvin Martin’s final outing in claret and blue – it was hoped that this was a symbolic changing of the guard, a passing of the baton with Rio seen as the long-term successor to ‘Stretch’. Further substitute appearances arrived in the early stages of 1996/97 at both Arsenal on the opening day and Sunderland a month later before a League Cup appearance from the bench in a 1-0 win over Barnet, with the winning goal in that game scored by Slaven Bilic.
Ferdinand joined Bournemouth on loan in November 1996 and Sir Alex Ferguson, who had Ferdinand watched during his two months with the Cherries, said he was “graceful, balanced, first touch like a centre-forward”. Having collected valuable first-team experience to go alongside his obvious natural talent, Ferdinand returned to Upton Park and made his first Hammers start in a disastrous 1-0 FA Cup third round replay defeat at the hands of Wrexham. With the Hammers also knocked out of the League Cup the previous month by another lower league side in Stockport and entrenched in a fierce battle for survival, Ferdinand had to grow up quickly. Coming on as a half-time substitute in midfield, he notched his first West Ham goal in a 2-1 defeat at Blackburn the following week, controlling a loose ball in the box expertly with his right foot before firing beyond Tim Flowers with his left. Ferdinand would miss only two of the remaining fourteen matches in 1996/97 (with the Hammers failing to win either of those he missed), with the young defender playing a crucial role alongside the likes of Bilic, Julian Dicks and new signings Paul Kitson, John Hartson and Steve Lomas in ensuring the Hammers successfully staved off the threat of relegation. The video below shows highlights of a crucial 3-1 win at Coventry in March 1997, when Rio grabbed his second and ultimately final goal for West Ham United.
After rounding off the 1996/97 campaign with a 2-0 defeat at the home of champions Manchester United, Ferdinand became a transfer target of Old Trafford boss Ferguson. Writing in his autobiography, Fergie states “Martin [Edwards, former Manchester United chairman] called the West Ham chairman, Terry Brown, who said: ‘Give us a million plus David Beckham.’ In other words: he’s not for sale”. Ferdinand made 35 Premier League appearances in 1997/98 as the Hammers improved and finished eighth and, at the age of 19, was voted Hammer of the Year by the club’s supporters – he remains, to this day, the youngest-ever recipient of the prestigious award. Having handed Ferdinand his full international debut against Cameroon in November 1997, Glenn Hoddle named Rio alongside cousin Les in his World Cup squad for France ’98, although the young centre-half did not receive any game time at the tournament. Rio is pictured here making his first competitive start for his country against Luxembourg in a 3-0 win in October 1998.
Ferdinand played a key role in securing West Ham’s highest-ever Premier League finish of fifth in 1998/99 and subsequently experienced European football with the Hammers the following season, playing every match in the successful Intertoto Cup campaign and appearing in three of the club’s four UEFA Cup fixtures. He played 47 games in total in 1999/2000, which was to prove his final full campaign in east London, but was left out of Kevin Keegan’s England squad for Euro 2000. His last game for the club was to be against his next employers, as West Ham went to Elland Road in November 2000 and beat big spenders Leeds 1-0 – Ferdinand was outstanding as Nigel Winterburn’s sole strike for the club won the match and, by the end of the following week, Rio was heading north for a fee of £18m, a transfer record between two British clubs and still the highest fee ever received for a player by the Hammers. It was also a world record fee for a defender. Rio had made 158 appearances for West Ham United in all competitions, scoring two goals. Chairman Terry Brown and manager Harry Redknapp claimed that, due to the uncertainty regarding the transfer system at the time, there was a possibility that no club would be in a position to be offered that type of money again. Nearly 15 years on, the current world record fee stands at £85.3m…
The transfer heralded the beginning of the end for West Ham United’s modern-day Golden Generation – six months later, Redknapp had left and Ferdinand’s team-mate from youth team to first team, Frank Lampard Junior, was quick to follow. Within two further years, Joe Cole and Glen Johnson had departed, with Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe also consigned to Upton Park history by the end of summer 2004. This collection of players have earned a total of 385 England caps, winning the Champions League, Europa League, Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup between them along the way. The proceeds from Ferdinand’s sale were spent on Christian Dailly, Rigobert Song, Titi Camara, Ragnvald Soma and Svetoslav Todorov – only one of those players (Dailly) made more than 25 league appearances for West Ham. The West Stand was coined by some fans as ‘The Rio Stand’ with many believing that some of the funds generated from Ferdinand’s transfer had helped complete a side of the ground which, by next summer, will have stood for just 15 years before it is to be knocked down.
As Leeds struggled financially, Ferdinand left the Elland Road club just under two years after signing for them, moving on to Manchester United for a fee of £29.1m – manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s long-standing interest had not waned. After leaving the Hammers, Ferdinand was named in the Premier League PFA Team of the Year six times by his fellow professionals, won six Premier League titles, three League Cups, six Community Shields, one Champions League and one FIFA Club World Cup. In September 2003, however, he missed a drugs test and was banned from competitive football for eight months from January until September 2004, causing him to miss half a Premier League season, Manchester United’s most recent FA Cup triumph, and Euro 2004. He still won 81 caps for England though, scoring 3 goals, and captained his country on numerous occasions.
After 12 years, 455 appearances and eight goals with the Red Devils, he left Old Trafford for QPR in 2014, spending one year at Loftus Road before hanging up his boots in the summer. Former Manchester United and England team-mate Paul Scholes said of Ferdinand: "He was such a pleasure to play with and play in front of. To play in front of him, he made your job so easy. He was a great player, without a doubt the best centre-half I ever played with. I would say for a time as well he was the best centre-half in the world”.
Referee
This Saturday’s referee is Mark Clattenburg. The Durham-based official’s record when taking charge of Hammers matches generally bodes well for us – he was the man in the middle for our 3-1 victories at Crystal Palace both this and last season, refereed our 3-1 home win over Southampton in 2013/14 and, in the previous year, took charge in 2-1 wins at QPR and at home against Norwich. On the flip side, he had no choice but to send off Kevin Nolan in a 2-1 defeat at Fulham two seasons ago and was also the man in black for a woeful away showing at Villa Park in a 2-1 defeat in February 2013. Clattenburg also officiated in the 2-1 defeat at Leicester in April which followed his part in the controversial 2-1 league defeat at Everton last November when Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring from an offside position and various tackles, clashes and simulation went unpunished.
Possible line-ups
Manchester United are set to be without Antonio Valencia, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera, while Jesse Lingard and Wayne Rooney are both doubts. Marouane Fellaini, who played 90 minutes for the Development Squad on Monday, will compete with Memphis Depay for a starting place, should Louis van Gaal decide to rest England captain Rooney for the must-win Champions League match at Wolfsburg on Tuesday. United are unbeaten in six league games and have only conceded one goal at Old Trafford this season.
West Ham United are now without influential forward Diafra Sakho, who joins Dimitri Payet and Enner Valencia on the injured list. Darren Randolph could return after a knee injury, while James Collins is available again after suspension. Skipper Mark Noble faces a fight to reclaim his place after Pedro Obiang impressed against West Brom last weekend. The Hammers failed to record a win in November and haven’t picked up a single point at Old Trafford in their last seven visits, stretching back to May 2007.
With one eye on next weekend’s visit of Stoke, midfielders Charlie Adam and Glenn Whelan are both one yellow card away from missing the match against the Hammers – the Potters play Manchester City at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.
Possible Manchester United XI: De Gea; Smalling, Blind, McNair; Darmian, Carrick, Mata, Schweinsteiger, Young; Martial, Depay.
Possible West Ham United XI: Adrian; Jenkinson, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Obiang; Moses, Kouyate, Lanzini, Zarate; Carroll.
Enjoy the game – Come On You Irons!