Blast from the past
9th May 1987 – Ireland’s Johnny Logan won the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Hold Me Now’, Starship were number one with ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’, Platoon was in UK cinemas and West Ham United emerged victorious from a First Division encounter against Manchester City with a 2-0 win in front of 18,413 on the final day of the 1986/87 season.
Before kick-off, Mark Ward was named runner-up in the Hammer of the Year voting with Billy Bonds claiming the main prize for the fourth and final time. City arrived at Upton Park knowing that only a win would be enough in their bid to survive in the First Division – it was the Irons who started the brighter though, Steve Potts creating an early chance for Stewart Robson which the midfielder blazed over. Kevin Keen had an effort saved by Eric Nixon after good work from Liam Brady before Paul Ince, playing as an emergency left-back, struck the crossbar, with Mark Ward having his header from the rebound saved. Brady then shot tamely at Nixon as the Hammers dominated, although City forward Paul Stewart did force Tom McAlister into action at the other end.
The Hammers finally made the breakthrough in the 33rd minute – Potts, who had celebrated his 20th birthday just two days previously, popped up with some neat work on the left flank and found Frank McAvennie. His cross was diverted by Republic of Ireland international Mick McCarthy into the path of Ward whose low shot was turned in by top scorer Tony Cottee (pictured below), poaching his 29th goal of the season in his 51st match.
McAlister made a routine save from Paul Moulden in the opening exchanges of the second half before McAvennie was denied by a combination of Nixon and left-back Clive Wilson in the 50th minute. The Hammers doubled their lead from the resulting corner, Ward finding Brady who worked his way into the penalty area before firing low and left-footed across Nixon and into the far corner of the net. McAvennie again went close and Stewart hit the post for the visitors before 19-year-old Eamonn Dolan came on to make his West Ham debut – Dolan sadly passed away in June 2016 at the age of 48. With Dolan joining Potts, Ince and Keen in the action, West Ham ended the match with four players aged 20 or under on the pitch. The highlights from this match can be seen in my video below.
John Lyall’s Hammers finished in 15th place in the 1986/87 Division One season while Jimmy Frizzell’s City ended up relegated in 21st place. Everton won the league title and Coventry won the FA Cup.
West Ham United: Tom McAlister, Steve Potts, Gary Strodder, Neil Orr, Paul Ince, Mark Ward (Eamonn Dolan), Stewart Robson, Liam Brady, Kevin Keen, Frank McAvennie, Tony Cottee.
Manchester City: Eric Nixon, Kenny Clements, Steve Redmond, Mick McCarthy (David White), Clive Wilson, Andy May, Neil McNab, Kevin Langley, Paul Simpson, Paul Stewart, Paul Moulden.
Club Connections
Pablo Zabaleta and Manuel Pellegrini welcome their former club. A large group of players join them in having represented West Ham United and Manchester City. Divided by playing position, they include:
Goalkeepers – Joe Hart, Perry Suckling, David James.
Defenders – Tal Ben Haim, Tyrone Mears, Wayne Bridge.
Midfielders – Marc-Vivien Foe, Kevin Horlock, Patrick Leonard, James Cumming, Mark Ward, Eyal Berkovic, Steve Lomas, Frank Lampard Junior, John Payne, Michael Hughes, Ian Bishop, Trevor Sinclair.
Strikers – Bill Davidson, Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy, Phil Woosnam, Justin Fashanu, Trevor Morley, Clive Allen, Lionel Watson, David Cross, George Webb.
Stuart Pearce played for both clubs and has managed Manchester City – he was an assistant coach with West Ham last season. Malcolm Allison and John Bond were also West Ham players who went on to manage City.
Today’s focus though falls on a player who spent a season with West Ham before moving to Manchester City – Paulo Wanchope. Born in Heredia, Costa Rica on 31st July 1976, Wanchope started his career at Herediano before moving to England to sign for Derby in March 1997. After just over two seasons with the Rams, Wanchope signed for Harry Redknapp’s West Ham United in the summer of 1999 for a fee of £3.5m.
Wanchope made his Hammers debut three days before his 23rd birthday in a 1-0 InterToto Cup semi-final first leg win over Dutch side Heerenveen at Upton Park on 28th July 1999 and scored his first goal for the club in the second leg in the Netherlands a week later. He notched his first league goal for the Irons in a 2-1 win over Leicester on 21st August before scoring the crucial third goal in the famous 3-1 InterToto Cup Final second leg win in Metz to send the Hammers into the UEFA Cup three days later. The gangly striker made it three goals in a week when he scored again in a 3-0 win at Bradford. Wanchope was forming an effective strike partnership with Paolo Di Canio, with the Paulo/Paolo Show sending the Hammers into the Premier League’s top three by mid-September – Wanchope made it five goals from his opening ten games in claret and blue by bagging the opener in a 3-0 UEFA Cup first round first leg victory over Osijek of Croatia at the Boleyn on 16th September 1999.
Wanchope’s 1999/2000 season would be one of feast and famine – after such an impressive start, he then went 12 games without a goal before ending his drought with a goal in a 4-3 home win over Sheffield Wednesday on 21st November 1999. Another nine goalless games followed before an impressive run of nine goals in ten games. The purple patch started with a double in a 3-1 win at Leicester on 22nd January 2000, the Hammers’ first win of the new millennium.
Strikes in successive games followed in victories at Watford and at home against Southampton in early March and Wanchope also scored the opener at Old Trafford on April Fools’ Day, although Manchester United would go on to win 7-1. By this time, Redknapp had brought in Frederic Kanoute but the Costa Rican’s strike against the Red Devils was the first of five goals in three matches, Wanchope going on to score braces in consecutive 2-1 wins, first over Newcastle at home on 12th April and then at former club Derby three days later – these goals at Pride Park were Wanchope’s last in a Hammers shirt. His final game for the club was a goalless draw with Leeds at Upton Park on 14th May 2000 – after 15 goals in 47 appearances for the Irons, Wanchope was on the move to Manchester City for a fee of £3.65m. All of Wanchope’s 15 goals for West Ham United can be viewed in my video below.
Wanchope made his Premier League debut for Joe Royle’s newly-promoted City on 19th August 2000 in a 4-0 defeat at Charlton but marked a stunning home debut at Maine Road with a hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Sunderland four days later. He played 31 matches in 2000/01, scoring ten goals, but could not prevent an immediate return to the First Division for the Sky Blues. Wanchope experienced an injury-hit campaign under new manager Kevin Keegan in 2001/02 as City romped to the First Division title, but he did score an impressive 13 goals in 18 appearances. A serious knee injury meant he played no part in City’s return to the Premier League in 2002/03 but he returned the following campaign to score six goals in 26 matches. After four seasons at Manchester City, in which he scored 29 goals in 75 appearances, Wanchope moved to Spain to sign for Malaga in the summer of 2004.
Wanchope went on to represent Qatari club Al-Gharafa before returning to his first club back in Costa Rica, Herediano. He also played for Rosario Central in Argentina, FC Tokyo in Japan and Chicago Fire in the MLS before retiring in 2007 at the age of 31 – his relatively early retirement had been forced upon him by the repercussions of his long-standing knee problem. He had also won 73 caps for Costa Rica, scoring 45 goals – both of his brothers, Javier and Carlos, also played for the national team.
Since retiring from playing, Wanchope has managed Herediano and Uruguay Coronado in his native Costa Rica. He became manager of the national team after the 2014 World Cup but resigned in August 2015 after a post-match brawl with a steward. Now 42, Wanchope is married to Brenda and has a son and a daughter.
Referee
The referee on Saturday will be Andre Marriner; the 47-year-old failed to send off Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero for an elbow on Winston Reid in August 2016, with the Hammers trailing 2-1 with 14 minutes remaining. The Argentine was retrospectively charged with violent conduct and suspended for three matches, a decision which did nothing to benefit West Ham. Marriner did, however, show leniency that day towards the visitors by failing to issue Arthur Masuaku with a second yellow card on more than one occasion.
Since we achieved promotion back to the top flight in 2012 the Birmingham-based official has been far from a good omen for West Ham – he has refereed 16 of our league matches, officiating in only three wins for the Hammers, five draws and eight defeats. His most recent match officiating the Irons was also his only game that he took charge of involving the club last season; our 2-0 defeat at Watford.
Possible line-ups
West Ham United have Ryan Fredericks, Winston Reid, Carlos Sanchez, Manuel Lanzini and Andriy Yarmolenko on the injury list, while Robert Snodgrass is suspended. Mark Noble returns from his three-match ban, while Jack Wilshere and Andy Carroll have been in full training and are available for selection, although it’s likely both will start on the bench. The Hammers have lost their three previous matches against Manchester City at London Stadium by an aggregate score of 13-1, Aaron Cresswell scoring the Irons’ goal.
Manchester City could be without Claudio Bravo, Nicolas Otamendi, Eliaquim Mangala, Benjamin Mendy, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva. David Silva has scored four and assisted two goals in his six away matches against West Ham for City in all competitions, scoring in both the matches he’s played at London Stadium.
Possible West Ham United XI: Fabianski; Zabaleta, Balbuena, Diop, Cresswell; Rice, Obiang, Noble; Diangana, Anderson; Arnautovic.
Possible Manchester City XI: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Delph; Fernandinho, David Silva; Mahrez, Sterling, Sane; Aguero.
Enjoy the game – Come On You Irons!
Follow @dan_coker on twitter.