Blast from the past
West Ham United have met Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup on two previous occasions. The most recent of these meetings was in the third round at the JJB Stadium in front of 11,793 on the 3rd January 2004. ‘Mad World’ by Michael Andrews feat. Gary Jules was number one and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King topped the UK box office as the Hammers emerged victorious against the Latics with a 2-1 win.
The game between the two First Division sides was locked in stalemate until the 80th minute when Neil Mellor sent the rampaging Hayden Mullins (pictured below) clean through on goal, the 24-year-old midfielder finishing calmly beyond Wigan ‘keeper John Filan to net the first of his seven West Ham United goals. The Hammers doubled their lead five minutes later when 26-year-old future Wigan striker David Connolly chased a long ball down the left wing and cut inside several defenders before finally finding the angle from which to fire past Filan – it was his ninth goal of the season but his first since Alan Pardew had taken over eleven weeks previously. The Irons were denied a clean sheet in the last minute when left-back Wayne Quinn inexplicably turned a Jason De Vos centre high into his own net.
The Hammers progressed to the fourth round, where they beat top flight Wolves 3-1 at Molineux, but would be knocked out by Premier League Fulham in a 3-0 fifth round replay defeat at the Boleyn after the first game had ended goalless at Loftus Road, Fulham’s temporary home while Craven Cottage was being redeveloped. The goals from the third round win at Wigan can be viewed in my video below.
Wigan Athletic: John Filan, Nicky Eaden, Jason De Vos, Ian Breckin, Leighton Baines (Matt Jackson), Paul Mitchell, Jimmy Bullard, Lee McCulloch, Nathan Ellington, Neil Roberts, Gary Teale.
West Ham United: David James, Robbie Stockdale, Tomas Repka (Christian Dailly), Ian Pearce, Wayne Quinn, Michael Carrick, Hayden Mullins, Kevin Horlock (Don Hutchison), Matthew Etherington, Marlon Harewood (Neil Mellor), David Connolly.
Aside from this third round victory in 2004, West Ham’s remaining FA Cup record against Wigan Athletic is as follows:
1984 – West Ham 1-0 Wigan (3rd round)
Club Connections
Jack Collison spent most of his playing career with the Hammers but had a loan spell at Wigan – he is now manager of West Ham United’s Under-16s. Marcus Browne and Reece Burke are current Hammers who have spent loan spells at Wigan. Other players to have appeared for both clubs include:
Goalkeepers: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Roy Carroll.
Defenders: Kyle Knoyle, David Unsworth, Mark Bowen.
Midfielders: Mohamed Diame, Peter Cowper, Victor Moses, Mark Ward.
Strikers: Svetoslav Todorov, Neil Mellor, Mike Newell, David Connolly, Mido, Nicky Maynard.
Former Hammers defender Malky Mackay went on to manage Wigan.
Today’s focus though is on a Senegalese international striker who had a loan spell with the Hammers from Wigan. Henri Camara was born on 10th May 1977 in Dakar, Senegal to a Guinean father and a Senegalese mother. He began his career in France with Strasbourg in 1998 before moving to Swiss club Neuchatel Xamax in 1999. He was on the move again in 2000, this time to Grasshopper Zurich, with whom he won the Swiss Championship in 2001. He then returned to France with Sedan but the club were relegated in 2003. He scored two goals for Senegal at the 2002 World Cup in his country’s run to the quarter-finals, both against Sweden in the second round match – he was also part of Senegal’s 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008 Africa Cup of Nations squads. He has won 99 caps for his country, scoring 29 goals.
He moved to England in the summer of 2003, signing for Wolves who were newly-promoted to the Premier League. Unwilling to play in the Championship when Wolves were relegated at the end of the season, Camara went to Celtic on loan for the first half of the 2004/05 season and spent the second half on loan at Southampton where he, once again, experienced relegation.
Camara made a permanent move to Paul Jewell’s Wigan for £3m in the summer of 2005, the Latics having just been promoted to the top flight. He scored twelve goals in 29 Premier League matches in his first season with the club, forging a productive partnership with Jason Roberts and earning a contract extension at the end of the campaign – Camara is pictured below scoring against West Ham in a 2-0 Wigan win at Upton Park in December 2005. He scored six goals in 23 appearances the following season as Wigan struggled to repeat the success of their first season in the top tier and only avoided relegation on the final day of the campaign.
Camara found himself out of favour following Jewell’s resignation and he was loaned to Alan Curbishley’s West Ham for the 2007/08 season. He made his Hammers debut as a substitute in a 3-1 defeat at Newcastle on 23rd September 2007 and made his first start the following week in a 1-0 home loss to Arsenal, the only game in which he completed 90 minutes in claret and blue. He made two further starts for the Hammers, in a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on 6th October and in a 2-1 win at Middlesbrough on 22nd December. He made ten appearances for the Irons in total, without scoring – his last match for the club being a 1-1 home draw with Birmingham on 9th February 2008.
Camara returned to Wigan for the 2008/09 season making 17 appearances under Steve Bruce and scoring two goals before moving to Stoke on loan in February 2009. He was released by Wigan at the end of his contract in the summer of 2009 – he had scored 24 goals in 77 games for the Latics. Camara signed for Championship side Sheffield United in October 2009 but moved to Greece at the end of the season, joining Atromitos. He moved to Panetolikos in the summer of 2011 and spent three years with the club. He joined Kalloni in May 2014 before moving to Lamia in February 2015. Camara returned to Panetolikos six months later but was on the move again, to Apollon Smyrni, in January 2016. He signed for Ionikos later that year. Now 40, Camara currently plays for Fostiras in the Greek third tier.
Referee
The referee on Saturday will be Christopher Kavanagh. The Manchester-born official has never refereed the Hammers before but has taken charge of nine top flight matches this season. He has been the man in the middle for 19 matches in total so far in 2017/18, issuing 61 yellow cards and one red card, and awarding one penalty.
Possible line-ups
It was only five years ago that Wigan won the FA Cup. They have never beaten West Ham United in the competition however. The Latics beat Crawley 2-1 in the first round, Fylde 3-2 in a second round replay and Bournemouth 3-0 in a third round replay to reach this fourth round tie with the Hammers. Wigan have signed Jay Fulton on loan from Swansea and the Welsh club have granted permission for the midfielder to play against the Irons. The club were relegated to League One last season – 50-year-old manager Paul Cook took over nearly eight months ago and has previously won the League Two title with Chesterfield (in 2014) and Portsmouth (last season). Wigan are currently five points clear at the top of League One and boast the best defensive record in the country. The Latics have lost just one of 17 home matches in the league, FA Cup and League Cup this season. They last conceded at home on 12th December, when they beat Fylde 3-2.
West Ham United have Winston Reid, Edimilson Fernandes, Manuel Lanzini, Marko Arnautovic, Diafra Sakho and Andy Carroll on the injury list. Jose Fonte and Michail Antonio are back in training but will not be considered for this match at the DW Stadium. Aaron Cresswell and Andre Ayew should be fit enough to make the squad. Only two of the Hammers’ 21 meetings with Wigan in all competitions have ended in a draw.
Possible Wigan Athletic XI: Jones; Power, Dunkley, Bruce, Elder; Morsy, Fulton; Massey, Roberts, Walker; Grigg.
Possible West Ham United XI: Hart; Byram, Burke, Ogbonna, Rice, Masuaku; Obiang, Cullen; Ayew; Martinez, Chicharito.
Enjoy the game – Up the Hammers!