Blast from the past
Today’s focus sees us travel back almost 20 years, to the 13th August 1997 – Men In Black topped the UK box office, Will Smith was number one with the theme song from the same film and Tamagotchis took the UK by storm as West Ham United secured a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in front of 25,354 at Upton Park.
West Ham took the lead after just four minutes, Stan ‘Skippy’ Lazaridis dispossessing Stephen Carr on halfway and carrying the ball into the Tottenham penalty area before squaring for Super Johnny Hartson (pictured below) to sidefoot home. Hartson’s strike partner Paul Kitson had a powerful header tipped over by Ian Walker and home debutant Eyal Berkovic sent a shot skimming wide of the upright before half-time.
The Hammers doubled their lead with twenty minutes remaining – Lazaridis was again the creator, providing the pass for Berkovic who shifted inside Ramon Vega before lifting the ball over Walker. In doing so Berkovic, who turned down Spurs to sign for the Irons, scored the first of his 12 goals in claret and blue. Tottenham grabbed what turned out to be no more than a consolation with seven minutes remaining, Andy Sinton released down the left by a quickly-taken throw-in and future Hammer Les Ferdinand sliding the ball in from the cross. There was still time for substitute Frank Lampard to rattle the crossbar for the Hammers before Vega forced a stunning tip-over from Ludek Miklosko with practically the last kick of an absorbing encounter.
Harry Redknapp’s Hammers would end the 1997/98 Premier League season in eighth position, while Tottenham would finish 14th. Rio Ferdinand was voted Hammer of the Year with Steve Lomas runner-up and Arsenal won a league and FA Cup Double.
West Ham United: Ludek Miklosko, Steve Potts, Marc Rieper, Rio Ferdinand, Tim Breacker, John Moncur (Frank Lampard), Steve Lomas, Eyal Berkovic, Stan Lazaridis, Paul Kitson (Michael Hughes), John Hartson (Iain Dowie).
Tottenham Hotspur: Ian Walker, Stephen Carr, Ramon Vega, John Scales, Sol Campbell (Stephen Clemence), Justin Edinburgh, Allan Nielsen (Andy Sinton), David Howells, David Ginola, Steffen Iversen, Les Ferdinand.
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, Charlie Ambler, Tony Parks, Fred Griffiths.
Defenders: Calum Davenport, Paul Konchesky, Mark Bowen, Mauricio Tarrico, Steve Walford, Simon Webster, Chris Hughton, Percy Mapley, Fred Milnes, Mitchell Thomas, Neil Ruddock.
Midfielders: Paul Allen, Scott Parker, Jimmy Neighbour, Matthew Etherington, Mark Robson, David Bentley, Charlie Whitchurch, Chris Carrick, Ilie Dumitrescu, Martin Peters, John Smith, John Moncur.
Strikers: Mido, Frederic Kanoute, Peter Kyle, Sergei Rebrov, Kenny McKay, George Foreman, Dave Dunmore, Teddy Sheringham, Les Bennett, Jermain Defoe, Bill Joyce, Robbie Keane, Fred Massey, Jimmy Reid, Clive Allen, Bobby Zamora, Les Ferdinand, Jimmy Greaves, Harry Bradshaw.
Jack Tresadern played for West Ham and managed Tottenham, while Harry Redknapp played for the Hammers and managed both clubs.
Today’s focus is on an England international midfielder who began his career with West Ham United before signing for Tottenham. Michael Carrick was born on the 28th July 1981 in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear and was part of West Ham’s FA Youth Cup winning side in 1999, scoring twice in the second leg of the Final as the Hammers beat Coventry 6-0 on the night and 9-0 on aggregate. He made his first-team debut four days before his 18th birthday, on 24th July 1999 in a 1-1 draw away at Jokerit of Finland in the second leg of the Intertoto Cup third round. Carrick had a month-long loan spell at Swindon before a similar stint at Birmingham. He returned to Upton Park to score his first goal for Harry Redknapp’s Hammers in a 5-0 win over Coventry on the 22nd April 2000.
Carrick became a regular in the centre of midfield in 2000/01, scoring his only goal of the season in a 1-1 home draw against Aston Villa. A tall, elegant, cultured midfielder with a fine range of passing, Carrick made his England debut in May 2001 as a substitute in a 4-0 friendly win over Mexico – to date, he has won 34 caps for his country, without scoring. He has been part of the squad for both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups but has only played one game at a major tournament.
With Glenn Roeder now in charge, Carrick was on the scoresheet twice in 2001/02, scoring the Hammers’ consolation in a 7-1 defeat at Blackburn and, more positively, in a 2-1 home win over Chelsea. Despite the joy of scoring in a 2-0 home win over Tottenham in March 2003, Carrick and the Hammers experienced the agony of relegation in 2002/03.
The 22-year-old stayed with the Hammers for their first season in the second tier as Alan Pardew eventually took over the managerial reigns – he was voted by supporters as runner-up to Matthew Etherington for the 2003/04 Hammer of the Year award and was also named in the PFA First Division Team of the Year. His last goal for the club came on the 17th January 2004 in a 3-3 draw at Sheffield United and his final appearance for the Hammers came in the 1-0 Play-Off Final defeat to Crystal Palace in Cardiff on 29th May 2004. Too good for the Championship and with a lack of top-level football threatening to curtail his impressive development, Carrick returned to the Premier League in August 2004 – Arsenal, Everton, West Brom, Crystal Palace and Portsmouth all showed interest before Tottenham eventually won the race for his signature, paying around £3m for his services. Carrick had scored six goals in 159 appearances for West Ham United.
Carrick made his Tottenham debut on 18th October 2004 as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat at Portsmouth. He was often overlooked by manager Jacques Santini before emerging as a regular starter after the appointment of Martin Jol. His first full start for Tottenham was also Jol’s first game in charge of the club away to Burnley in the League Cup on 9th November 2004.
Carrick scored his first Tottenham goal on 3rd December 2005, netting the winner in a 3-2 home win over Sunderland. He scored his second and final goal for the club on 8th April 2006 in a 2-1 home win over Manchester City. Carrick was one of ten Tottenham players who fell ill at a hotel just before their final game of the season away to West Ham on 7th May 2006 as the players suffered from apparent food poisoning after a dodgy lasagne. He managed to play in the game but lasted just 63 minutes in the 2-1 defeat to his former club which saw North London rivals Arsenal beat them to fourth place in the league and the final qualification spot for the Champions League. It turned out to be Carrick’s final appearance for Tottenham – after two goals and 75 appearances for Spurs, he moved to Manchester United in July 2006 for an initial fee of £14m, potentially rising to £18.6m. Now 35 and out of contract at the end of the current campaign, Carrick is currently vice-captain of Manchester United.
Referee
The referee on Friday will be Anthony Taylor – the Hammers were allocated the 38-year-old on five occasions last season as he took charge of our defeat at Tottenham, as well as our home win over Newcastle which came just three games after he had controversially sent off Adrian against Leicester. He was also the man in the middle for our FA Cup third round win over Wolves and our 3-2 win at Everton in March. This season, Taylor took charge of our 2-0 defeat at Everton in October and our 2-1 defeat at Chelsea in August, awarding the home side a penalty and later controversially failing to issue a second yellow card to Diego Costa for an awful lunge at Adrian – Costa remained on the pitch to score the 89th-minute winner. His most recent Hammers appointment was our 1-0 defeat at Leicester on New Year’s Eve.
Indeed, controversy and incident are never far away when the Cheshire-based official is the referee for a West Ham United match. Taylor is the referee who had not one, but two red cards rescinded from the same game after he had sent off Carlton Cole and Darron Gibson in the Hammers’ 2-1 home defeat to Everton in December 2012. He sent off the home side’s Kevin Mirallas against the Hammers at Goodison Park in March 2016 and awarded the Toffees a penalty which Romelu Lukaku saw saved by Adrian.
Possible line-ups
West Ham United, who have kept three clean sheets in the last four Premier League matches, will be without Angelo Ogbonna, Pedro Obiang, Gokhan Tore, Michail Antonio and Diafra Sakho. Arthur Masuaku and Andy Carroll are both doubts for the London derby, with Aaron Cresswell set to make a return to the starting line-up. The Hammers have won only four of the last 19 Premier League games against Tottenham.
Tottenham Hotspur, who will close to within a single point of Premier League leaders Chelsea if they win tonight, are without Danny Rose, Harry Winks and Erik Lamela. Spurs have the opportunity to win a tenth successive league match, a feat they have not achieved since 1960, 57 years ago. There have been three red cards in the last three encounters between these two sides in East London.
Possible West Ham United XI: Adrian; Byram, Fonte, Reid, Collins, Cresswell; Kouyate, Noble; Snodgrass, Lanzini; Carroll.
Possible Tottenham Hotspur XI: Lloris; Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Eriksen, Wanyama, Dembele, Alli; Son, Kane.
Enjoy the game – Up The Hammers!