Blast from the past
West Ham United have met Chelsea in the League Cup twice before, with both games coming in the third round of the competition. The Blues emerged victorious from the last tie between the two clubs with a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge in October 2004, a game which saw an incredible goalkeeping performance from Hammers stopper Jimmy Walker who memorably saved a Frank Lampard penalty.
The only other League Cup tie between West Ham United and Chelsea came exactly 22 years ago today, on the 26th October 1994. Having won through to the third round by defeating Walsall over two legs, Harry Redknapp’s Hammers came up against Glenn Hoddle’s Blues at Upton Park. Pato Banton was number one with ‘Baby Come Back’ and Pulp Fiction was in UK cinemas as 18,815 were in attendance at a reduced-capacity Upton Park with the Centenary Stand under construction.
The Hammers took an early lead through record £1.5m signing Don Hutchison – Julian Dicks, in only his second game back in east London after a short spell at Liverpool, took a throw-in which found Tony Cottee, who had beaten a similar track in returning to West Ham from Merseyside. Cottee’s touch allowed Deadly Don to curl a strike from just outside the penalty area and beyond Dimitri Kharine into the far corner with just two minutes on the clock. Gavin Peacock, son of former West Ham first-team coach Keith Peacock, added to Chelsea’s woes after 15 minutes when he was forced off through injury.
The Irons had Czech goalkeeper ‘Ludo’ Miklosko to thank for two stunning second half saves from Erland Johnsen and Dennis Wise as they secured their spot in the fourth round, only to be knocked out 3-1 at home by First Division Bolton – the Trotters would go on to reach the Final where they would lose to a Liverpool side inspired by two-goal Steve McManaman.
West Ham United: Ludek Miklosko, Tim Breacker, Steve Potts, Alvin Martin, Julian Dicks, Matthew Rush, Ian Bishop, Martin Allen, Mike Marsh, Don Hutchison, Tony Cottee.
Chelsea: Dimitri Kharine, Gareth Hall (David Lee), Jakob Kjeldberg, Erland Johnsen, Anthony Barness, David Rocastle, Nigel Spackman, Eddie Newton, Dennis Wise, Gavin Peacock (David Hopkin), Neil Shipperley.
Club Connections
A decent number of players have represented both West Ham United and Chelsea. Victor Moses spent last season on loan with the Hammers and is now proving a key player for Antonio Conte’s Blues. Others to have worn the colours of both clubs include:
Goalkeeper: Craig Forrest.
Defenders: Tal Ben Haim, Wayne Bridge, Scott Minto, Ian Pearce, Joe Kirkup, Glen Johnson and Jon Harley.
Midfielders: Frank Lampard Junior, Peter Brabrook, Alan Dickens, Scott Parker, Yossi Benayoun and John Sissons.
Strikers: David Speedie, Len Goulden, Demba Ba, Clive Allen, George Hilsdon, Carlton Cole, Jimmy Greaves, Pop Robson and Ron Tindall.
Ron Greenwood and Gianfranco Zola played for Chelsea and managed West Ham, while Sir Geoff Hurst and Dave Sexton both played for the Hammers and managed the Blues. Avram Grant has managed both clubs.
With today being the 26th October and West Ham’s only League Cup win coming over Chelsea on this very day 22 years ago with a strike from a player wearing number 26, it’s only right that another former number 26 is today’s focus. An Academy graduate who had two spells at Upton Park and spent seven years at Stamford Bridge, Joe Cole was born in Paddington on the 8th November 1981 and was a prodigious young talent who was linked with a £10m move to Manchester United before he’d even made his professional debut. Likened to Paul Gascoigne, Cole made his debut at the age of 17 in January 1999 in a 1-1 FA Cup draw at home against Swansea; his league debut arrived eight days later in a 4-1 defeat at Old Trafford. Cole was a key figure in the Hammers’ FA Youth Cup winning team in 1999 and also played his part in the senior team’s InterToto Cup success later that summer. His first goal for the club came in a 3-2 League Cup win at Birmingham in November 1999 while his first league strike came in the 5-4 win over Bradford in February 2000.
Cole scored five goals in 2000/01, including one in the 3-0 win at Coventry and strikes in the 1-1 home draws with Bradford and Coventry. He also notched crucial goals in the 3-1 home win over Derby and 3-0 home victory over Southampton as the under-performing Hammers secured their survival in the top flight the weekend before Harry Redknapp’s departure.
Cole made his England debut in May 2001 and scored his first goal under new Hammers manager Glenn Roeder in the 3-0 FA Cup third round win at Macclesfield in January 2002. The skilful midfielder was part of England’s 2002 World Cup squad and got his 2002/03 campaign off to a flyer, scoring from distance to give the Irons the lead against champions Arsenal only for the Gunners to eventually claim a 2-2 draw at Upton Park. The season was a turbulent one, with Cole one of the few players to emerge with credit from a campaign which would end in relegation. Joey also scored in the 2-1 home defeat to Birmingham, the 2-2 draw at Middlesbrough, the 3-2 FA Cup third round home win over Nottingham Forest and the 2-2 home draw with Newcastle. He was named captain by Roeder in January 2003 and was voted Hammer of the Year by the club’s supporters at the season’s end.
Cole left West Ham United in the summer of 2003 to sign for Chelsea in a £6.6m deal, having scored 13 goals in 150 appearances for the Hammers. He made his debut for the Blues as a substitute a week after signing for the club in a Champions League qualifier away to MSK Zilina and scored his first goal in October 2003 in a League Cup tie against Notts County. His first league strike in a Chelsea shirt came in a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa in December 2003. Cole became a regular in Jose Mourinho’s 2004/05 Premier League title-winning team, scoring nine goals in all competitions.
2005/06 saw Cole score a career-high 11 goals in a season in all competitions, earning himself a place in the PFA Team of the Year as Chelsea retained their Premier League title. The following campaign was an injury-hit one for Cole but he was back to his best in 2007/08 – he reached double figures in the scoring charts again, won the Chelsea Player of the Year Award and played in the Champions League Final. Cole also scored home and away against West Ham that season, refusing to celebrate his strike in Chelsea’s 4-0 win at Upton Park in March 2008. A knee injury kept Cole out for the second half of the 2008/09 campaign and his final game for the Blues was the FA Cup Final against Portsmouth in May 2010, Chelsea winning the match 1-0. After seven years at Stamford Bridge in which he scored 40 goals in 281 appearances and won three Premier League titles, three FA Cups, two League Cups, two Community Shields and was a Champions League finalist, Cole joined Roy Hodgson’s Liverpool on a free transfer in the summer of 2010.
After a difficult start to life on Merseyside, Cole spent the 2011/12 season on loan at French side Lille but, after returning to Liverpool for the first half of the following season, Joey returned to the Boleyn Ground in early January 2013, signing for Sam Allardyce’s Hammers on a free transfer. He set up both goals on his second debut for the club as James Collins scored twice in a 2-2 FA Cup third round draw with Manchester United and scored himself in the 1-1 home draw with Q.P.R. and the 3-2 home defeat to Tottenham. He started the 2013/14 season with a bang, notching the Hammers’ first goal of the campaign in a 2-0 home win over Cardiff in August 2013 before scoring in the 3-0 win over Fulham in November. His final goal for the Hammers came in the 3-3 home draw with West Brom in late December 2013. Cole’s last appearance for West Ham came in the 2-0 defeat at Manchester City in May 2014 and he left the club later that summer after his contract expired, signing for Aston Villa. Cole had scored five goals in 37 appearances in his second spell in east London, taking his totals for the Hammers to 18 goals in 187 matches.
Following a spell with Coventry, Cole, now 34, is currently playing for Tampa Bay Rowdies in the NASL, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid.
Referee
Wednesday’s referee will be Craig Pawson; 2016/17 is Pawson’s fifth as a Premier League referee. In 2014/15 he refereed West Ham’s 3-1 home win over Liverpool and sent off Adrian in our 0-0 draw at Southampton, a decision that was later overturned. He was also the man in the middle for our 4-1 Capital One Cup home defeat to Wigan four seasons ago and our 3-1 loss at Stoke’s Britannia Stadium three seasons ago. His Hammers appointments last season were both at the Boleyn Ground, for our 2-2 draw with Manchester City in January and the 3-3 draw with Arsenal in April.
Pawson’s most recent match in charge of West Ham United saw him send off Harry Arter as the Hammers defeated Bournemouth 1-0 in August.
Possible line-ups
West Ham United will name a strong line-up for the fourth round clash. Darren Randolph has started every domestic cup game so far in 2016 but has not even made the bench for the last two league fixtures due to a knee injury. Aaron Cresswell should return after serving his suspension on Saturday against Sunderland but, having only just returned from injury and with Edimilson Fernandes pushing for game time, Cresswell may well be saved for the trip to Everton. Sam Byram, Arthur Masuaku, Gokhan Tore, Diafra Sakho and Andy Carroll remain unavailable, while the game will probably come too soon for Andre Ayew.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte made seven changes for the last round against Leicester from the team that had lost at home to Liverpool in their previous league match, including his entire front four. Asmir Begovic is a likely starter in goal, while Michy Batshuayi could come in up front for Diego Costa. The likes of Gary Cahill, N’Golo Kante and Eden Hazard could also be rested with the Blues set to face Southampton at St Mary’s on Saturday. John Terry, Nathaniel Chalobah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Oscar could all come into the side but Cesc Fabregas, the two-goal hero of the last round, has a thigh injury. Branislav Ivanovic and Marco van Ginkel are both ruled out through injury.
Possible West Ham United XI: Randolph; Kouyate, Reid, Ogbonna; Antonio, Obiang, Noble, Fernandes; Lanzini, Zaza, Payet.
Possible Chelsea XI: Begovic; Azpilicueta, Terry, Luiz; Moses, Matic, Oscar, Alonso; Willian, Batshuayi, Pedro.
Enjoy the game – Up The Hammers!