Blast from the past
West Ham United currently lead Tottenham Hotspur on League Cup knock-outs by four to three. The Hammers prevailed in 1966, 1980, 2013 and 2017 while Spurs marched on in 1975, 1987 and 2003.
Today’s focus takes us back just over a year, to another League Cup fourth round tie on 25th October 2017. Post Malone featuring 21 Savage was number one with ‘Rockstar’, Oscar-winning costume designer John Mollo (who worked on the Star Wars films, Alien and Gandhi) died on the day of the game, and Blade Runner 2049 was at the top of the UK box office. The Hammers, meanwhile, travelled to north London for this League Cup fourth round tie having disposed of Cheltenham and Bolton in previous rounds.
Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham went ahead after five minutes at Wembley, Son Heung-min’s pass sending Moussa Sissoko clear to nudge the ball into the net beyond Adrian. The Spurs lead was doubled eight minutes before half-time when Dele Alli curled in a second from the edge of the box via a deflection off Declan Rice following neat build-up play again by Son.
The Hammers came out transformed for the second half and were level by the hour mark after two Andre Ayew goals in five minutes. Ayew (pictured above) first converted in the 55th minute when Michel Vorm could only parry Edimilson Fernandes’ thunderous drive and the Ghanaian poked home his second following Manuel Lanzini’s cutback five minutes later. The Claret and Blue Army were in dreamland after 70 minutes as Super Slaven Bilic’s Irons fashioned their winner to complete a tremendous turnaround – Lanzini’s whipped corner from the left found Angelo Ogbonna who rose highest to flick a header into the corner of the net.
Tottenham: Michel Vorm, Kieran Trippier, Juan Foyth, Toby Alderweireld, Ben Davies, Danny Rose (Christian Eriksen), Eric Dier, Moussa Sissoko, Dele Alli, Son Heung-Min (Georges-Kevin N’Koudou), Fernando Llorente (Mousa Dembele).
West Ham United: Adrian, Sam Byram, Cheikhou Kouyate, Declan Rice, Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell, Mark Noble, Edimilson Fernandes (Pedro Obiang), Manuel Lanzini (Marko Arnautovic), Andre Ayew, Andy Carroll.
The Hammers would lose their quarter-final tie 1-0 at Arsenal under new manager David Moyes. Manchester City went on to win the League Cup Final of 2018, beating the Gunners 3-0 in the Final at Wembley to secure the first part of a Premier League and League Cup double.
Aside from this fourth round win in 2017, West Ham’s remaining League Cup record against Tottenham is as follows:
1966 – West Ham 1-0 Tottenham (2nd round)
1975 – Tottenham 0-0 West Ham (4th round)
1975 – West Ham 0-2 Tottenham (4th round replay)
1980 – West Ham 1-0 Tottenham (Quarter-Final)
1987 – West Ham 1-1 Tottenham (Quarter-Final)
1987 – Tottenham 5-0 West Ham (Quarter-Final replay)
2003 – Tottenham 1-0 West Ham (3rd round)
2013 – Tottenham 1-2 West Ham (Quarter-Final)
Club Connections
Ryan Fredericks welcomes his old club, with a large group of players joining him in having turned out for West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur. Divided here by position, they include:
Goalkeepers: Bill Kaine, Charlie Ambler, Tony Parks, Fred Griffiths.
Defenders: Calum Davenport, Paul Konchesky, 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, Ilie Dumitrescu, Mark Robson, David Bentley, Charlie Whitchurch, Chris Carrick, Martin Peters, John Smith, John Moncur.
Strikers: Mido, Frederic Kanoute, Almer Hall, Peter Kyle, Sergei Rebrov, Bobby Zamora, Kenny McKay, George Foreman, Dave Dunmore, Teddy Sheringham, Les Bennett, Jermain Defoe, Bill Joyce, Robbie Keane, Fred Massey, Jimmy Reid, Clive Allen, 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.
This week’s focus though is on a player who started his professional career with Tottenham before turning out for West Ham in the twilight of his career. Mark Bowen was born in Neath, Wales on 7th December 1963 and joined Tottenham Hotspur as an apprentice in 1980, signing his first professional contract in December 1981. He made his full debut at the age of 19 in a 1-1 home draw with Coventry on 29th August 1983. First-team opportunities were limited for him at White Hart Lane as he struggled to displace the big money signings ahead of him in the full-back positions.
Bowen was an unused substitute in the second leg of the 1984 UEFA Cup Final. He scored his first goal for the club in a 4-1 win at Leicester on 5th April 1986, with his last goal for Spurs coming in his final match for the club, a 2-2 draw at Wimbledon on 22nd April 1987. Bowen is pictured below with the Tottenham squad of 1986/87, the furthest player to the left in the middle row. He’s joined by fellow former Hammers Tony Parks, Mitchell Thomas, Neil Ruddock (all back row), Chris Hughton (middle row), Trevor Hartley, Clive Allen and Paul Allen (front row).
Having scored two goals in 21 appearances for Tottenham, the 23-year-old Bowen signed for former Hammers player, and then-Norwich manager, Ken Brown in the summer of 1987 for a fee of £90,000. He remained with the Canaries for nine years and was a virtual ever-present. An attacking left-back standing at 5’8 who made vital interceptions and clearances, he was dubbed ‘Mr Versatile’ by Martin O’Neill in the latter stages of his Canaries career as he played in both full-back positions, sweeper, all positions across midfield and as a forward for club and country. Bowen even played in goal when Bryan Gunn was sent off at Coventry in April 1989.
Whilst with Norwich, Bowen became a regular in the Welsh national team that nearly qualified for the 1994 World Cup – he won 43 caps for his country in total, scoring three goals. Norwich were relegated in 1994/95 and, after criticising his former team-mate and then-manager Gary Megson’s tactics in a local newspaper, Bowen was dropped from the first team when he was just one game short of 400 appearances for the Canaries. Norwich’s financial problems in 1996 saw them release Bowen on a free transfer and, despite interest from Leeds and Coventry, he joined West Ham ahead of the 1996/97 season. Bowen was voted into the Greatest Norwich City team of all time in 2008.
The 32-year-old Bowen made his debut for the Hammers on the 21st August 1996 in the 1-1 home draw with Coventry. He scored his only goal for the club in a 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest on the 21st September 1996, stealing in at the back post to give the Hammers the lead with a close-range header just before half-time (this goal can be viewed in my video below). His final appearance for West Ham came on the 1st March 1997 in a 1-0 defeat at Leeds – later that month he was on the move to join former Spurs team-mate Ossie Ardiles’ Japanese side Shimizu S-Pulse for a reported fee of £1m. Bowen had scored one goal in 20 matches in claret and blue.
Bowen returned to England and spent two years with Charlton before brief spells with Wigan and Reading. Since retiring in 1999, he has worked as assistant to former international team-mate Mark Hughes with Wales, Blackburn, Manchester City, Fulham, Q.P.R. and Stoke. Now 54, Bowen is currently Hughes’ assistant manager at Southampton.
Referee
The referee on Wednesday will be Stuart Attwell. The Birmingham-based official will take charge of a West Ham game for only the sixth time – he has sent off a Hammers striker in two of his other five games officiating the Irons. He refereed our 1-0 victory at Wigan in March 2009 and our 3-1 win at Blackpool in February 2011. The 36-year-old sent off the Latics’ Lee Cattermole for a shocking challenge on Scott Parker, while the Hammers’ Carlton Cole also received his marching orders during the aforementioned win at Wigan. Even Latics boss Steve Bruce criticised the decision to dismiss the Irons striker. Attwell also issued a first-half red card to Andy Carroll in our 1-1 draw at Burnley last October.
Attwell also awarded an infamous ‘phantom’ goal for Reading in a Championship match against Watford in September 2008. He was the youngest-ever Premier League referee but was demoted from the Select Group in 2012. He refereed the Hammers in February in our 4-1 defeat at Liverpool and, most recently, in our 2-1 home defeat to Bournemouth in August when he awarded the Irons a penalty which was converted by Marko Arnautovic.
Possible line-ups
Manuel Pellegrini is likely to hand a start to Adrian but Winston Reid, Carlos Sanchez, Jack Wilshere, Manuel Lanzini, Andriy Yarmolenko and Andy Carroll are out. Marko Arnautovic (virus) and Lucas Perez (foot) are both doubts, while Mark Noble begins a three-match suspension. Pedro Obiang could make a return. Obiang has already picked up a yellow card in the League Cup and, under new rules, is therefore one booking away from missing a potential quarter-final.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is likely to rest most of his starting line-up from Monday night’s game against Manchester City. Argentine centre-half Juan Foyth could make a rare start. Jan Vertonghen and Vincent Janssen are both out injured, while Danny Rose is a doubt.
Possible West Ham United XI: Adrian; Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice, Obiang, Snodgrass; Diangana, Antonio, Anderson.
Possible Tottenham Hotspur XI: Gazzaniga; Aurier, Foyth, Alderweireld, Davies; Wanyama, Winks; Eriksen, Alli, Son; Lucas Moura.
Enjoy the game – Come On You Irons!