Blast from the past
Today’s focus sees us travel back over 80 years, to the 29th August 1936 – George Arliss was in UK cinemas in East Meets West and Richard Strauss had just premiered Olympische Hymne, an anthem for the 1936 Berlin Olympics which took place earlier in the month. West Ham United, meanwhile, secured a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in front of 31,906 at Upton Park.
It was the opening day of the 1936/37 Second Division season and the Hammers raised the curtain with maximum points. Tottenham named three debutants in their starting line-up in the shape of goalkeeper Jack Hall, wing-half George Ludford and forward Stan Alexander. It was the Hammers’ future England inside-left, 24-year-old Len Goulden (pictured above), who stole the show though, bagging a brace to secure the victory. Spurs centre-forward Johnny Morrison struck the visitors’ goal. Goulden would go on to top the Hammers’ scoring charts that season, with 15 goals from 44 matches.
Charlie Paynter’s Hammers would end the 1936/37 Second Division season in sixth position, while Tottenham would finish tenth. Leicester topped the Second Division, Manchester City won the First Division title and Sunderland won the FA Cup.
West Ham United: Herman Conway, Alf Chalkley, Albert Walker, Joe Cockroft, Jim Barrett, Ted Fenton, Jimmy Ruffell, Doc Marshall, Peter Simpson, Len Goulden, Jackie Morton.
Tottenham Hotspur: Jack Hall, Ralph Ward, Vic Buckingham, Les Howe, Arthur Rowe, George Ludford, Frank Grice, Jimmy McCormick, Johnny Morrison, Stan Alexander, Willie Evans.
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, Michael Carrick, Jimmy Neighbour, Matthew Etherington, Mark Robson, David Bentley, Charlie Whitchurch, Chris Carrick, Martin Peters, John Smith, John Moncur.
Strikers: Mido, Frederic Kanoute, Almer Hall, 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 Trevor Hartley also played for the Hammers and managed Spurs on a caretaker basis. Alan Pardew played for Tottenham and managed the Hammers, while Harry Redknapp played for the Hammers and managed both clubs.
Today’s focus is on a Romanian international midfielder who moved to England with Tottenham Hotspur before signing for West Ham. Ilie Dumitrescu was born on the 6th January 1969 in Bucharest, Romania and made his way through the youth system at Steaua Bucharest from the age of eight. He had a loan spell at Olt Scornicesti before becoming a key member of the Steaua first team where he played alongside big names such as Marius Lacatus and Gheorghe Hagi. After the 1990 World Cup in Italy, Dumitrescu remained with Steaua and became the club’s captain. He won the league in 1993 and played in the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners’ Cup the same year.
Dumitrescu is best known internationally for his role in Romania’s World Cup success at USA ’94, scoring two goals (both against Argentina in the 3-2 second round win, with Dumitrescu creating Romania’s other goal) in five games during the tournament – in total he won 62 caps for his country, scoring 20 goals. His performances at the World Cup in America saw Tottenham pay £2.6m for his services in the summer of 1994. He was loaned out to Sevilla in 1995 but returned to England for the 1995/96 season. A poor first half of the season saw ‘Dumi’ swapping north London for the east end after four goals in 18 appearances for Spurs.
The 27-year-old Dumitrescu arrived at Upton Park from Tottenham after a protracted work permit appeal which even saw the MP for Newham North West, the late Tony Banks, get involved as the Hammers finally landed their man in February 1996 for £1.5m. He made his first West Ham appearance as a substitute in the 2-0 Premier League home win over Middlesbrough on 9th March 1996 and he made two starts that month, in the 3-0 defeat at Newcastle and the 4-2 home win over Manchester City.
The midfielder was not seen again until the start of the following season in the 2-1 home win over Southampton on 24th August 1996. Harry Redknapp’s ‘West Ham United Nations’ produced a high-octane, thrill-a-minute second half in that match as the likes of Dumitrescu, Florin Raducioiu and Paulo Futre combined with current Hammers manager Slaven Bilic and current coaching assistant Julian Dicks to mount a successful comeback against the Saints, with Dumitrescu winning the match-clinching penalty. Dumitrescu made 13 appearances for the Hammers, without scoring, before signing for Mexican side Club America for £1m in late December 1996. His final appearance in claret and blue came in the 2-1 League Cup fourth round defeat at Stockport on 18th December 1996. He went on to play for Atlante after Club America, before ending his career back at Steaua Bucharest.
Dumitrescu, now 48, retired in 1998 at the age of 29. He opened an art gallery, had a brief spell as an agent and has since managed clubs in Romania, Cyprus and Greece.
Referee
The referee on Saturday will be Michael Oliver. Since West Ham United achieved promotion back to the top flight in 2012 Oliver has refereed nine of our league matches, officiating in two wins for the Hammers, one draw and six defeats.
Oliver was the man in the middle for the Irons’ 2-0 reverse at Chelsea three seasons ago and also sent off Kevin Nolan at Anfield four seasons ago. His only Hammers appointments in 2015/16 were for the 2-1 home victory over Southampton in December and the 4-1 home defeat to Swansea in May. His only games in charge of the Irons last season were our 5-0 home defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup third round and the 2-2 home draw with West Brom in February.
Possible line-ups
West Ham United, who have kept three consecutive clean sheets in all competitions, will be without James Collins, Pedro Obiang, Edimilson Fernandes and Manuel Lanzini. Arthur Masuaku, Marko Arnautovic and Diafra Sakho are all challenging to make the starting line-up after Tuesday’s win over Bolton. Pablo Zabaleta is one yellow card away from a one-match ban.
The Hammers have won five of the last 20 Premier League games against Tottenham. The Irons could, however, win three consecutive Premier League home fixtures against Spurs for only the second time, having enjoyed a run of four in a row from 1996/97 to 1999/2000. Slaven Bilic has won all three of his home matches as a manager against Mauricio Pochettino by a 1-0 scoreline – twice with West Ham and previously while in charge at Besiktas in the 2014/15 Europa League group stage.
Tottenham Hotspur are without Danny Rose, Victor Wanyama and Erik Lamela, while Ben Davies should return. There have been three red cards in the last four encounters between these two sides in East London. Harry Kane has five goals in his last five league games against West Ham.
Looking ahead to Swansea’s visit next Saturday, Leroy Fer will miss the match in east London if he gets a fifth yellow card of the season against Watford this weekend.
Possible West Ham United XI: Hart; Zabaleta, Fonte, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Kouyate, Noble; Antonio, Carroll, Chicharito.
Possible Tottenham Hotspur XI: Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Dier, Sissoko; Son, Eriksen, Alli; Kane.
Enjoy the game – Come On You Irons!