Blast from the past
Christmas Eve 1955 – Sir Laurence Olivier was in UK cinemas as Richard III, Dickie Valentine was number one with ‘Christmas Alphabet’ and another Dickie, West Ham United inside-forward John Dick, was amongst the goals in a 5-1 victory over this weekend’s opponents Swansea City (or Swansea Town as they were then known) in front of 15,857 at Upton Park.
Dick was joined on the scoresheet that Christmas Eve afternoon by outside-forward Harry Hooper (pictured below), striker Billy Dare, right-back John Bond (who would later go on to manage Swansea in the 1980s) and winger Ken Tucker. The Hammers were struggling two places above the Second Division relegation zone in 19th place so the win provided some much-needed Christmas cheer in the East End. Dare would go on to be the Hammers’ top scorer of 1955/56, with 25 goals in 49 matches.
Ted Fenton’s Hammers would finish 16th in the Second Division in 1955/56, while Ronnie Burgess’ Swansea would end the campaign in 10th. Sheffield Wednesday topped the Second Division, Manchester United won the First Division title and Manchester City won the FA Cup.
West Ham United: Ernie Gregory, John Bond, Malcolm Allison, Noel Cantwell, Frank O’Farrell, Andy Malcolm, Harry Hooper, Billy Dare, Ken Tucker, Brian Moore, John Dick.
Club Connections
West Ham United’s Andre Ayew could face his previous club. A small number of players join him in having worn the shirts of both West Ham United and Swansea City. These include:
Goalkeeper: Noel Dwyer.
Defenders: Andy Melville and Shaun Byrne.
Midfielders: Frank Lampard Junior and Matthew Rush.
Strikers: Tudor Martin, Frank Nouble and Lee Chapman.
John Bond also represented both clubs, playing for the Hammers and managing the Swans.
Today’s focus though is on a player who turned out for West Ham before representing Swansea later in his career. Jimmy Carr was an outside-left who was born on 19th December 1893 in Maryhill, Glasgow. He joined Watford in 1908 at the age of 14 and made his Southern League debut as a 16-year-old. The 20-year-old Carr moved to West Ham United in 1914 and made his debut in a 1-1 home draw with Swindon on 26th September 1914. With the perfect build for a winger at 5’7 in height and weighing in at 10st, he scored his only Hammers goal in his sixth appearance, a 2-0 win over Plymouth at Upton Park on 5th December 1914. His ninth and final appearance for the Irons was on the 30th January 1915, in a 1-1 draw at Swindon, the same opposition and result as his debut.
During World War One, Carr was enlisted into the Army as a Private and played as a guest for Portsmouth and Kilmarnock in the Wartime Leagues. After the cessation of hostilities, Carr joined Reading in 1919, spending four years in Berkshire and making over 100 appearances for the club before moving to Southampton (he is pictured right during his Reading days). Three years at The Dell (where he would be an FA Cup Semi-Finalist in 1925) was followed by the 32-year-old Carr’s switch to Swansea Town, as they were then known, in May 1926.
Carr scored one goal in seven appearances for the Swans but, with the end of his career approaching, he took the unprecedented step of placing an advertisement in the Athletic News, stating that he would ‘assist a club outside the League in exchange for a business’. Carr was soon playing for Southall and running The Red Lion Hotel in the town. Jimmy Carr passed away in Harrow on 26th June 1980, at the age of 86.
Referee
Saturday’s referee will be Roger East; the Wiltshire-based official has been taking charge of Premier League fixtures since 2012 but has only taken charge of three previous West Ham matches in the top flight, those being the 1-1 home draw with Stoke in April 2015, the 3-2 home defeat to Leicester in March 2017 and, more recently, the 0-0 draw with Everton in April.
The 52-year-old has also refereed the Hammers in the FA Cup, for the fourth round replay win over Liverpool in February 2016 and for the 2-1 quarter-final replay defeat to Manchester United in April of the same year. He also sent off Portsmouth’s Liam Lawrence and West Ham’s Frederic Piquionne in the Irons’ 4-3 home win over Pompey in September 2011.
Possible line-ups
Slaven Bilic should have Manuel Lanzini back in the squad after injury – the Argentine has only appeared once this season, as a half-time substitute at Newcastle last month. Michail Antonio will be in the squad while James Collins could have a late fitness test. Pedro Obiang is still sidelined and Edimilson Fernandes is a doubt. Arthur Masuaku impressed from the bench in a more advanced role against Tottenham and could be challenging Marko Arnautovic, who was again below par in a Premier League game for his new club. Andre Ayew also comes into the reckoning against his former club. Pablo Zabaleta is one yellow card away from a one-match suspension.
Swansea City will be without injured centre-half Kyle Bartley, while winger Nathan Dyer is lacking match fitness. Midfield man Sung-Yong Ki will be playing for the Swans’ Under-23 side against Celtic while his team-mates are in action at London Stadium as he continues his recovery from a knee injury. Roque Mesa, Renato Sanches and Tammy Abraham are pushing for starts after appearing from the bench against Watford last weekend.
Possible West Ham United XI: Hart; Fonte, Reid, Ogbonna; Zabaleta, Kouyate, Noble, Cresswell; Lanzini, Carroll, Chicharito.
Possible Swansea City XI: Fabianski; van der Hoorn, Fernandez, Mawson; Naughton, Carroll, Mesa, Sanches, Olsson; Ayew, Abraham.
Enjoy the game – Up The Hammers!