Blast from the past
7th September 1938 – the Sudeten crisis was reaching its height as Nazi Germany demanded the region be ceded by Czechoslovakia, Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had been capturing the public’s imagination at the cinema and West Ham United emerged victorious from a Second Division encounter against Manchester City with a 4-2 win.
Alec Herd and Fred Howe scored City’s goals at Maine Road in front of 20,351 but they were eclipsed by a brace from West Ham forward Stan Foxall (pictured) and one apiece for wing-half Benny Fenton and outside-left Jackie Morton. Foxall would go on to be the club’s top scorer in 1938/39, with 19 goals from 45 appearances.
The match marked the 467th and final peace-time appearance for West Ham United legend Jim Barrett. He went on to play for the Hammers in the War League and his son, Jim Barrett Junior, also went on to play for the club. Indeed they played together for the West Ham ‘A’ team in 1945/46.
The Hammers went on to finish in 11th place in 1938/39 while City ended up fifth in Division Two. Blackburn won the Second Division, Everton won the league title and Portsmouth won the FA Cup.
Manchester City: Frank Swift, Gordon Clark, Eric Eastwood, Les McDowall, Dick Neilson, Jackie Bray, Ernie Toseland, Jack Milsom, Fred Howe, Alec Herd, Eric Brook.
West Ham United: Herman Conway, Charlie Bicknell, Charlie Walker, Norman Corbett, Jim Barrett, Joe Cockroft, Benny Fenton, Archie Macaulay, Stan Foxall, Len Goulden, Jackie Morton.
Club Connections
Manuel Pellegrini, Pablo Zabaleta and Samir Nasri return to the home of 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 – Perry Suckling, Joe Hart, David James.
Defenders – Tal Ben Haim, Tyrone Mears, Wayne Bridge.
Midfielders – Marc-Vivien Foe, Kevin Horlock, 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, Paulo Wanchope, Clive Allen, Lionel Watson, David Cross, George Webb.
Stuart Pearce played for both clubs, has managed Manchester City and been an assistant coach with West Ham. Malcolm Allison and John Bond were West Ham players who went on to manage City.
Today’s focus though falls on an outside-left who sandwiched a stint at Thames Ironworks between two spells with Manchester City – Patrick Leonard. Born in Scotland in 1877, Leonard began his career with St Mirren in 1896 before moving to Manchester City a year later. He made his City debut on the left wing in a 3-0 home win over Gainsborough Trinity on 1st September 1897 – he scored his first goal for the club three days later in a 4-2 win at Darwen. He scored twice in a 4-3 win at Grimsby on 18th December 1897 and bagged the winner in a 1-0 victory at Small Heath nine days later. His four goals in 16 appearances helped City to a third-placed finish in Division Two in 1897/98, just missing out on promotion to the top flight.
Leonard dropped down to the Southern League in 1898, joining New Brompton (the club now known as Gillingham). After a solitary appearance, he moved to Thames Ironworks and caused a sensation when he scored a hat-trick in his first outing for the Irons in a friendly against Upton Park. He made his official debut for the club in a 4-1 Southern League Second Division home win over Wycombe on 14th January 1899, and bagged a brace in his second game for the club, a 4-3 win at Wolverton the following week – this win at Wolverton was the Irons’ sixth in a run of 16 consecutive victories, stretching from December 1898 to April 1899. Leonard also scored in a 2-0 win at Brentford on 11th February 1899 and hit four goals in a 10-0 home victory over Maidenhead, the last match of the season at the Memorial Grounds on 15th April 1899.
Having finished top of the league, Leonard’s final goal for Thames Ironworks came in the Southern League Second Division Decider against First Division Cowes on 22nd April 1899. The Irons, claiming a place in the 1899/1900 Southern League First Division, won the match 3-1. Cowes had won a low-profile six-club section of the Southern League representing the South West but were not pleased with the choice of neutral venue for the match – Millwall’s Athletic Grounds home on East Ferry Road, behind the Lord Nelson pub, was 100 miles from the Solent and only three miles from Thames Ironworks’ Memorial Grounds home. Leonard’s final match for the club was a 1-1 Test Match draw with Sheppey United on 29th April 1899. He had scored eight goals for the club in 12 appearances, winning 11 of those matches and drawing one – Leonard never experienced defeat while playing for Thames Ironworks.
Leonard returned to Manchester City in the summer of 1899, by now promoted to the First Division of the Football League. He made one last appearance for the club in his second spell, scoring the opening goal in a 4-1 win at Bury on 16th September 1899. This took his totals for Manchester City to five goals in 17 appearances across his two spells. Patrick Leonard’s date of death is unknown.
Referee
The referee on Wednesday will be Stuart Attwell. The Birmingham-based official will take charge of a West Ham game for only the seventh time – he has sent off a Hammers striker in two of his other six 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 in October 2017.
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 August in our 2-1 home defeat to Bournemouth when he awarded the Irons a penalty which was converted by Marko Arnautovic and, most recently, in our 3-1 League Cup home defeat to Tottenham in October.
Possible line-ups
Manchester City will be without the injured Claudio Bravo, Aymeric Laporte, John Stones, Fernandinho and Gabriel Jesus, but Benjamin Mendy and Fabian Delph could return. The Citizens have won 10 of their 12 league games against West Ham at the Etihad Stadium, drawing one and losing one. Sergio Aguero has ended on the winning side in each of the last 23 league games he has started at the Etihad Stadium, scoring 29 goals and assisting seven more.
West Ham United have Fabian Balbuena, Winston Reid, Carlos Sanchez, Jack Wilshere and Andriy Yarmolenko on the injury list. West Ham have won just three of the last 23 Premier League meetings between the two clubs, drawing four and losing 16. The Hammers have lost 19 of their 22 Premier League matches away to a reigning champion, with their only victory coming against Manchester United in December 2001 under Glenn Roeder.
Possible Manchester City XI: Ederson; Danilo, Kompany, Otamendi, Mendy; Gundogan, David Silva, Bernardo Silva; Sterling, Aguero, Sane.
Possible West Ham United XI: Fabianski; Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice; Antonio, Noble, Snodgrass, Anderson; Arnautovic.
Enjoy the game – Come On You Irons!