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Dan Coker's Match Preview

Match Preview: West Ham v Shrewsbury

Blast from the past

West Ham United have only met Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup once before and, as that meeting was only nine days ago, today’s focus falls on a previous league meeting between the two clubs.

Kelly Marie was number one with ‘Feels Like I’m In Love’, the brilliant Airplane! was in UK cinemas and Hercules the bear, who had gone missing on a Scottish island filming a Kleenex advertisement, was found as FA Cup holders West Ham United took on the Shrews in a Second Division match on 13th September 1980.

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The Hammers won the match 3-0 in front of 22,339 at the Boleyn Ground courtesy of goals from David Cross (pictured above), Paul Goddard and an own goal. Goddard would score 23 goals in 55 appearances in 1980/81, with ‘Psycho’ Cross finishing as the club’s top scorer with 33 goals from 60 matches.

The Irons would end the 1980/81 season as champions of the Second Division, securing a return to the top flight after a three-year absence. They also reached the League Cup Final but were knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round in a second replay by Wrexham. The Hammers also reached the third round of the European Cup Winners’ Cup only to be knocked out by an outstanding Dinamo Tbilisi side. Shrewsbury finished 14th in Division Two and were knocked out of the FA Cup in a fourth round replay by Ipswich. Tottenham won the 1981 FA Cup.

West Ham United: Phil Parkes, Ray Stewart, Alvin Martin, Billy Bonds, Frank Lampard, Jimmy Neighbour (Nicky Morgan), Geoff Pike, Trevor Brooking, Alan Devonshire, Paul Goddard, David Cross.

The Hammers last failed to beat lower-league opposition at home in the FA Cup in January 1999 when they were held by Swansea in a 1-1 draw. The Irons have won each of their past seven FA Cup home matches against lower-league opponents, scoring 20 goals. These home victories have come against Wolves (1-0, third round, 2016), Burnley (5-1, fifth round, 2011), Nottingham Forest (3-2, fourth round, 2011), Barnsley (2-0, third round, 2011), Barnsley again (3-0, third round, 2009), Brighton (3-0, third round, 2007) and Nottingham Forest (3-2, third round, 2003).

However, the Hammers have lost each of their past four FA Cup replays against lower-league opposition, failing to score in the past three. After forcing the aforementioned draw at Upton Park, Swansea defeated the Irons 1-0 at the Vetch Field in January 1999. Prior to that, Wrexham defeated the Hammers in a third round replay in January 1997 (the last time West Ham were knocked out at home by a lower league side); Grimsby dumped the Hammers out in a fourth round replay with a 3-0 win at Blundell Park in February 1996; and Luton beat the Irons 3-2 at the quarter-final stage at Kenilworth Road in March 1994. West Ham last won an FA Cup replay against a lower league side in February 1994, when they needed extra time to beat Notts County 1-0 in a fourth round replay.

Club Connections

West Ham United manager David Moyes was a player with Shrewsbury Town between 1987 and 1990. The Hammers’ on-loan goalkeeper Joe Hart made 58 appearances for the Shrews, with whom he started his career in the Conference National and League Two as a teenager. Other players to have represented both clubs include:

Midfielders: Bill Edwards and John Arnott.

Striker: Mark Watson.

Ken Brown and John Bond both played for West Ham and managed Shrewsbury. Jimmy Quinn played for both clubs and managed the Shrews.

Today’s focus though is on a midfielder who played for West Ham United before later turning out for Shrewsbury Town. Jimmy Lindsay was born in Hamilton, Scotland on 12th July 1949 and joined the Hammers from amateur club Possilpark YMCA in Scotland. He signed professional terms with the club in the summer of 1966, initially as a striker though he became an energetic ball-winning midfielder. The 19-year-old Lindsay made his debut for the Irons as a substitute in a 3-1 defeat at Burnley on 8th October 1968. He found it difficult to break into the first team, making 18 appearances in 1969/70. His first goal for the Hammers came in a 2-1 defeat at Stoke on 16th August 1969 and he scored once more that season, in a 3-2 defeat at Burnley on 31st January 1970. An industrious midfielder not lacking in creativity, Lindsay made 16 starts and two sub appearances in 1970/71, with his final match for the Hammers being a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest on 10th April 1971.

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Lindsay (pictured above tackling Crystal Palace’s Steve Kember) made 45 appearances for West Ham United, scoring two goals before signing for Second Division Watford in May 1971 for £20,000. Three years in Hertfordshire were followed by a move to Colchester in the summer of 1974, with whom he spent a single season. Lindsay signed for Hereford, with whom he won the 1975/76 Third Division title and joined Shrewsbury two years later, in the summer of 1977 when he was 28. He made 86 appearances for the Shrews, helping the club to the Third Division title in 1978/79. He remained with the club until his retirement at the age of 32 in 1981.

Lindsay actually took over current Hammers manager David Moyes’ old coaching position when Moyes left Shrewsbury in 1990, that of coaching at Concord College, a nearby private school – Lindsay stayed in this part-time role for 15 years. Lindsay had settled in Shrewsbury after his retirement and ran pubs in the town – his first pub was the Masonic Arms, which he ran from 1981 to 1985. Since then he has also managed the Exchange (now Morgan’s) from 1985 to 1989 and later the Canal Tavern, which closed in 2009. Now 68, Lindsay is retired and still lives in Shrewsbury.

Referee

Tuesday’s referee is Jeremy Simpson. The Lancashire-based official has never refereed the Hammers before and has never taken charge of a top flight match. He has been the man in the middle for 26 matches this season, 20 of which have come in the Championship. He has issued 110 yellow cards this season, five red cards and awarded four penalties.

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Possible line-ups

West Ham United will hand a start to ex-Shrew Joe Hart in goal while Sam Byram could make his first team return. Reece Burke, Reece Oxford, Declan Rice and Josh Cullen could also feature. David Moyes is without the injured Jose Fonte, Winston Reid, Edimilson Fernandes, Michail Antonio, Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho, while Chicharito is a doubt through illness. West Ham will be hosting Shrewsbury for the first time since the match in September 1980 which is the focus at the top of this preview.

It was only two years ago that Shrewsbury reached the fifth round of the FA Cup, only to be knocked out by Manchester United. The Shrews also knocked out David Moyes’ Everton in the third round back in 2003 and reached the FA Cup quarter-finals in 1979 and 1982. Shrewsbury beat Aldershot 5-0 in the first round and Morecambe 2-0 in the second round before drawing 0-0 with West Ham United in the initial third round tie to force this replay at London Stadium. 43-year-old manager Paul Hurst is likely to start with a 4-1-4-1 formation. Shrewsbury lost their 10-match unbeaten run on Saturday when they were defeated 3-1 at Blackburn. The Shrews have never won an FA Cup encounter away to a top-flight side, losing nine and drawing one – with their last such match coming in February 1984, a 3-0 loss to Everton.

Possible West Ham United XI: Hart; Burke, Oxford, Ogbonna, Rice, Masuaku; Kouyate, Cullen, Obiang; Arnautovic, Ayew.

Possible Shrewsbury Town XI: Henderson; Bolton, Nslala, Sadler, Beckles; Ogogo; Whalley, Godfrey, Nolan, Rodman; Morris.

Enjoy the game – Come On You Irons!

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