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Dan Coker's Match Preview

Match Preview: West Ham v Chelsea

Blast from the past

2nd May 1988 – with S-Express at number one with ‘Theme from S-Express’ and Wall Street in UK cinemas, West Ham United met Chelsea for the final game at Upton Park of the 1987/88 season in front of 28,521.

Prior to kick-off, Stewart Robson was named Hammer of the Year, with Billy Bonds runner-up. The Irons, needing a win to secure top flight survival, broke the deadlock in the 16th minute – Mark Ward found Leroy Rosenior (pictured) who swivelled and fired beyond Kevin Hitchcock from just inside the area. The pair were involved again for the second goal 20 minutes later, Ward producing excellent work in his own half before sending Rosenior clear with a delightful ball in behind the Chelsea rearguard, the striker slotting past Hitchcock to double the lead.

Hammers defender Paul Hilton scored the third on 57 minutes after Tony Dorigo had blocked Rosenior’s header following Tony Gale’s flick-on from a corner. Rosenior turned from hero to villain when he lashed out at future West Ham assistant manager Steve Clarke and was sent off. Substitute Colin West reduced the arrears for Chelsea from a corner but Tony Cottee restored the three-goal advantage, making it 4-1 with a late header from a Ward cross. Cottee would be the club’s top scorer in 1987/88 with 15 goals from 44 matches. The goals, and end-of-season presentations, can be viewed in my video below.

The Hammers would finish 16th in 1987/88 while Chelsea would finish 18th. Liverpool won the league title and Wimbledon won the FA Cup.

West Ham United: Tom McAlister, Steve Potts, Paul Hilton, Tony Gale, Julian Dicks, Mark Ward, Stewart Robson, Alan Dickens, George Parris, Leroy Rosenior, Tony Cottee.

Chelsea: Kevin Hitchcock, Gareth Hall, Steve Clarke, Steve Wicks, Tony Dorigo, John Bumstead, Micky Hazard (Colin West), Joe McLaughlin, Pat Nevin, Gordon Durie, Kerry Dixon.

Club Connections

A decent number of players have represented both West Ham United and Chelsea. Victor Moses spent the 2015/16 season on loan with the Hammers and has proved a key player in recent seasons for the Blues. Others to have worn the colours of both clubs include:

Goalkeepers: Craig Forrest and Harry Medhurst.

Defenders: Tal Ben Haim, Scott Minto, Wayne Bridge, Ian Pearce, Joe Kirkup, Glen Johnson and Jon Harley.

Midfielders: Bill Jackson, Frank Lampard Junior, Andy Malcolm, Syd Bishop, Peter Brabrook, Alan Dickens, George Horn, Eric Parsons, Robert Bush, Scott Parker, Yossi Benayoun, Joe Cole, Jim Frost and John Sissons.

Strikers: David Speedie, Len Goulden, Billy Bridgeman, Demba Ba, Joe Payne, Clive Allen, George Hilsdon, Carlton Cole, Billy Brown, Jimmy Greaves, Pop Robson, Billy Williams, Ron Tindall and Bob Deacon.

Gianfranco Zola played for Chelsea and managed West Ham, while Sir Geoff Hurst and Dave Sexton both played for the Hammers and managed the Blues. Bobby Gould played for West Ham and went on to be assistant and caretaker manager of Chelsea. Avram Grant has managed both clubs.

Today’s focus is on a former Chelsea defender who went on to manage West Ham United. Ron Greenwood was born on the 11th November 1921 in Worsthorne, Burnley but moved to London as a child during the 1930s Depression. He was educated at the Wembley County Grammar School, which now forms part of Alperton Community School in Middlesex, leaving at the age of 14 to become an apprentice sign-writer – a centre-half, Greenwood initially joined Chelsea as an amateur whilst serving his apprenticeship. He served with an RAF mobile radio unit in France during World War Two. Greenwood joined Bradford Park Avenue in 1945 and made 59 league appearances over the next four seasons. In 1949, he moved to the club he supported as a boy, Brentford, his £9,500 fee breaking the club’s incoming transfer record. He made 147 appearances and scored one goal. Greenwood was never capped for his country, though he did make a single ‘B’ team appearance for England whilst at Brentford, in a 1-0 victory in the Netherlands on 23rd March 1952.

The 30-year-old Greenwood joined Ted Drake’s Chelsea in October 1952. He made his debut in a 2-1 home win over Tottenham on 25th October 1952 and made 11 First Division appearances as Chelsea avoided relegation by one point. He played a bigger role in 1953/54, making 34 appearances in all competitions as the Blues improved to finish eighth in the top flight. Greenwood made 21 appearances as Chelsea won the First Division title in 1954/55, the first major trophy in their history. His final appearance for the club came on Christmas Day 1954 in a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal.

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After 66 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions, the 33-year-old Greenwood moved to Fulham, where he made another 42 league appearances before retiring at the end of the 1955/56 season. At the end of his playing career in 1956, Greenwood became an active freemason attending the Lodge of Proven Fellowship No. 6225, but resigned in 1977.

After retiring Greenwood moved into coaching. He coached Eastbourne United in the Metropolitan League, Oxford University (where he came to the attention of Sir Harold Thompson, a future Chairman of the FA) and the England Youth and Under-23 teams. He combined the England Under-23 post with being the assistant manager at Arsenal under George Swindin, having moved to Highbury in December 1957. He remained there until April 1961, when he was selected by chairman Reg Pratt to replace Ted Fenton as manager of West Ham United. In his autobiography Yours Sincerely, Greenwood revealed how the appointment came about, starting when he was approached by Arsenal’s club secretary Bob Wall:

“’Mr Pratt, the West Ham chairman, has been on’, he said, ‘and he’s wondering if he can approach you with a view to you becoming their manager’. I told him I thought my future was with Arsenal and asked him if George Swindin knew about the offer. ’Well…. yes’ he replied, and then added: ‘You know, I think this job may be of interest to you’. He was painting a glowing picture of Mr Pratt and it was obvious he knew him well. I got the message loud and clear. ‘All right’ I said. ‘I’ll pop across to see him’. I drove across to West Ham on the Tuesday morning and met Reg Pratt and his vice-chairman, Len Cearns, members of two families who were West Ham. We talked in a little private room just off the old Upton Park Boardroom, and I must confess that when I sat down I did not have any firm notions about the job or the club. They came straight to the point and said they wanted me to become West Ham’s manager-coach. I was perfectly frank with them and said I was enjoying my job with Arsenal and the England Under-23 side, and that the decision facing me was a difficult one. ‘But if I do take the job’, I added, ‘I would want full control of all team matters and no interference’.”

Greenwood was offered an annual salary of £2,000, revealing he was ‘more interested in the possibilities of the job than the money’ and how he ‘started thinking about the many promising young West Ham players’ he had met. Greenwood steered the Hammers to a 16th-placed finish in 1960/61 after his first few weeks at the club. He signed Johnny ‘Budgie’ Byrne from Crystal Palace in March 1962 and handed a debut to Martin Peters a month later – immediate improvement was seen as the Hammers finished 1961/62 in eighth position. 1962/63 saw the Hammers drop to 12th but Greenword had switched Geoff Hurst to a central striking role; a move which would pay long-term dividends.

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The Irons finished 14th in 1963/64 but won the FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history, beating Manchester United in the semi-final at Hillsborough before defeating Preston 3-2 at Wembley. The Hammers climbed to ninth in the First Division in 1964/65 and beat TSV 1860 Munich to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup, in another Final staged at Wembley. West Ham finished 12th twice and 16th once in the following three seasons before rising to eighth in 1968/69. Greenwood sold Peters to Tottenham in 1969/70 and the Hammers finished 17th. The club finished 20th, one place above the relegation places in 1970/71 but finished 14th the following year. Greenwood claimed his highest league placing in 1972/73 as West Ham finished sixth, inspired by the goalscoring exploits of Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson.

The Hammers dropped dramatically the following season, finishing 18th. Greenwood took the decision to become General Manager of the club, with assistant John Lyall taking over. My video below tells the story of Ron Greenwood’s time as manager at West Ham United, in his own words, taking in Wembley wins in the FA Cup (1964) and the European Cup Winners’ Cup (1965) to his thoughts on key players such as Billy Bonds, Sir Trevor Brooking and Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson, as well as his replacement John Lyall.

Greenwood remained at the club until 1977 when he replaced Don Revie as England manager. The Three Lions had not qualified for a major tournament for ten years when Greenwood led his country to Euro 1980 and then the 1982 World Cup. England did not lose a game in Spain but could not progress beyond the second group stage. Greenwood retired from football after the World Cup and went on to be a regular analyst on BBC Radio. Ron Greenwood died on 9th February 2006, aged 84, after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Referee

Sunday’s referee will be Mike Dean; 2018/19 is Dean’s 19th as a Premier League referee. Since West Ham United achieved promotion back to the top flight in 2012 Dean has refereed 21 of our league matches, officiating in nine wins for the Hammers, six draws and six defeats.

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Dean refereed our final match at the Boleyn when we famously triumphed 3-2 over Manchester United. His decision to send off Sofiane Feghouli just 15 minutes into our 2-0 defeat to the Red Devils in January 2017 was later rescinded. Dean’s three Hammers appointments last season were the 3-2 win over Tottenham in the League Cup fourth round at Wembley in October, the 2-1 defeat at Manchester City in December and, most recently, our 1-1 Premier League draw with Tottenham in January.

Possible line-ups

West Ham United are without Winston Reid, Jack Wilshere, Manuel Lanzini, Chicharito and Andy Carroll, while Marko Arnautovic is a doubt. West Ham are seeking consecutive Premier League wins for the first time since January 2017. The Hammers have won three of their last four home games against Chelsea in all competitions.

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri will be without Marco van Ginkel, while left-back Emerson is a doubt. Mateo Kovacic and Pedro are both likely to be available. Jorginho has attempted 505 passes and completed 461, the most in the top flight this season prior to the weekend matches.

Possible West Ham United XI: Fabianski; Zabaleta, Balbuena, Diop, Masuaku; Rice, Obiang, Noble; Yarmolenko, Anderson; Perez.

Possible Chelsea XI: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso; Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic; Pedro, Giroud, Hazard.

Enjoy the game – Come On You Irons!

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