Blast from the past
West Ham United have met Oxford United in the League Cup on three previous occasions. The first of these meetings was in the fourth round in east London in front of 20,530 on the 18th November 1986, the day Ian Brady and Myra Hindley confessed to the murders of Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett over 20 years after their Moors Murders convictions. Berlin were number one with ‘Take My Breath Away’, Woody Allen and Michael Caine were in UK cinemas in Hannah and Her Sisters and four days later, the first-ever episode of ITV’s Beadle’s About was aired.
The Hammers emerged victorious against Maurice Evans’ Oxford in this all-First Division encounter with a 1-0 win. Indeed, Oxford were League Cup holders having won the competition in its last season as the Milk Cup before its rebranding as the Littlewoods Cup in this 1986/87 campaign. The visitors had the game’s first opportunity after just 32 seconds when former Hammer Ray Houghton scampered clear but clipped the outside of Phil Parkes’ left-hand upright. Alan Dickens and Frank McAvennie both fired wide for the hosts before the latter saw a fiercely-struck shot from distance well held by Oxford ‘keeper Steve Hardwick. McAvennie again shot wide when well-placed in the penalty area before Mark Ward’s cross created a mini-melee which neither McAvennie nor Tony Cottee could profit from.
The second half began in similar fashion with McAvennie slicing a volley wide. A deft touch from Cottee (pictured above) was patted away by Hardwick before delightful build-up play involving Alan Devonshire, Kevin Keen, Ward and George Parris saw Ward flash a cross across the six-yard box which again eluded Cottee and McAvennie. The Hammers kept probing, with Keen denied by Hardwick, but calamitous defending by Paul Hilton, Parris and Tony Gale presented Dave Leworthy with a chance which was well-saved low down to his right by Parkes. The breakthrough finally came with ten minutes remaining – Ward found McAvennie who was brought down for a penalty which was converted by Cottee in the absence of regular spot-kick king Ray Stewart. TC would go on to be the Irons’ top scorer in 1986/87 with 29 goals from 54 matches. It wasn’t to be McAvennie’s night as his late back-post header was superbly clawed out by Hardwick. The highlights from this match can be viewed in my video below.
John Lyall’s Hammers progressed to the quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by Tottenham, losing the replay 5-0 at White Hart Lane after a 1-1 draw at Upton Park. Arsenal would win the 1987 League Cup, beating Liverpool 2-1 in the Final courtesy of a Charlie Nicholas brace. Billy Bonds was voted Hammer of the Year for the fourth time, with Mark Ward runner-up.
West Ham United: Phil Parkes, George Parris, Tony Gale, Paul Hilton, Steve Walford (Billy Bonds), Mark Ward, Alan Dickens, Alan Devonshire, Kevin Keen, Tony Cottee, Frank McAvennie.
Aside from this fourth round victory in 1986, West Ham’s remaining League Cup record against Oxford is as follows:
1990 – Oxford 2-1 West Ham (3rd round)
2010 – West Ham 1-0 Oxford (2nd round)
Club Connections
Robert Hall welcomes his former club to the Kassam Stadium. Others who have turned out for West Ham United and Oxford United include:
Goalkeeper – Tony Parks.
Defender – Andy Melville.
Midfielders – Ray Houghton, Marcus Browne, Josh Payne.
Strikers – Toni Martinez, David Connolly, Manny Omoyinmi.
Today’s focus though is on a player who joined West Ham United in the latter stages of his career before going on to finish his career at Oxford United. Rufus Brevett was born in Derby on the 24th September 1969 and started his career at Doncaster before joining QPR in 1991. After seven years at Loftus Road, Brevett moved to west London neighbours Fulham. A committed left-back standing at 5’8 tall, Brevett moved to relegation-threatened West Ham in January 2003 at the age of 33 on a two-and-a-half year contract. With Nigel Winterburn ruled out with a wrist injury, Brevett was signed by Glenn Roeder for an undisclosed fee on transfer deadline day, passing a medical at 5am and finalising his transfer at lunchtime so he could be registered in time to make his debut against Liverpool, which he did as a substitute in a 3-0 defeat at Upton Park on the 2nd February 2003. Brevett made the left-back position his own and the added experience offered by him and fellow January recruit and former QPR team-mate Les Ferdinand almost helped the Hammers pull off an incredible escape.
As it was, the Irons were relegated but worse luck was to follow for Brevett. In just the second league game of 2003/04, at home against Sheffield United, an innocuous slip forced Brevett off after just 29 minutes – it was later revealed that he had broken a bone in his foot and he was initially ruled out for five months, although a further operation meant he would not play again that season.
Brevett made his long-awaited comeback on the opening day of the 2004/05 season at Leicester – Alan Pardew’s Hammers gained a point in a 0-0 draw but Brevett was sent off in the closing minutes for a second bookable offence. The left-back had received his first yellow card for an altercation with Dion Dublin in the 18th minute which resulted in the Leicester striker being dismissed. Happier times were round the corner for Brevett, however, as he scored his only Hammers goal on the 21st August 2004, the third goal in a 3-2 win at Crewe. Brevett’s strike from distance after 30 minutes took a deflection on its way in – the game also saw future Hammer Dean Ashton score twice for the hosts. Brevett’s final game in claret and blue came on the 2nd November 2004 in a 4-1 defeat at Cardiff. Following Stuart Pearce, Winterburn and Brevett, Chris Powell had become the latest veteran left-back to sign for West Ham and Brevett was finding first-team opportunities to be limited. After scoring one goal in 29 appearances, he moved on to Plymouth.
After a handful of appearances for Plymouth, Brevett moved to Leicester for a two-month loan spell. Thereafter he dropped into the Conference and moved to non-league Oxford, signing for Jim Smith’s newly-relegated side in September 2006. Brevett made 21 league appearances for Oxford as they finished second to Dagenham & Redbridge in the race for automatic promotion back to League Two, but lost to Exeter on penalties in the play-off semi-finals. Brevett opted to pull down the curtain on his playing career at the end of the campaign.
Since his retirement, Brevett was briefly sporting director at Swindon before a period as assistant manager at Bedfont. From November 2013 to December 2014 he was manager and director of football at Arlesey Town before being made first-team coach at Banbury United in February 2015. He returned to football management at Combined Counties League side Hanworth Villa between May 2016 and December 2018. Brevett turned 50 yesterday and currently teaches PE at an Oxfordshire school.
Referee
Wednesday’s referee will be Merseyside-based Robert Jones, who will take on his first ever senior Hammers appointment – his only other match involving West Ham was the 3-1 win for our Under-21 side at Bristol Rovers in the EFL Trophy in October 2017. Toni Martinez, a player with West Ham and Oxford connections, converted a penalty in that match.
Jones has refereed seven matches so far in 2019/20 – five in the Championship and two in the League Cup. He has dished out 27 yellow cards in those seven games and awarded three penalties.
Possible line-ups
Oxford United manager Karl Robinson should have centre-back Elliott Moore available after the Leicester Academy product recovered from a back spasm. Former Hammer Robert Hall, an unused substitute in the 6-0 win at Lincoln at the weekend, could come into the side. Right-back Sam Long, midfielders George Thorne, Shandon Baptiste and Mark Sykes, and winger Anthony Forde are also in contention as Robinson looks to shuffle his squad and prioritise Saturday’s League One game against Gillingham. The club also have a 19-year-old centre-back on their books by the name of Sam Allardyce. Another 19-year-old, Welsh international Ben Woodburn, is on loan from Liverpool. Striker Jamie Mackie has played in the Premier League for QPR. Oxford are currently 12th in the third tier – they beat Peterborough 1-0 at home in the first round and secured this tie with the Hammers by beating Millwall on penalties at the Kassam Stadium in the second round. It’s 21 years since Oxford reached the fourth round of the League Cup.
West Ham United have Winston Reid and Michail Antonio on the injury list, while Ryan Fredericks and Manuel Lanzini are unlikely to be risked. Arthur Masuaku is available after suspension. It is five years since the Hammers were knocked out of the League Cup by a lower division side, when Sheffield United won on penalties at the Boleyn Ground in the second round in 2014.
Possible Oxford United XI: Eastwood; Long, Mousinho, Moore, Ruffels; Thorne, Baptiste, Sykes; Hall, Mackie, Forde.
Possible West Ham United XI: Roberto; Zabaleta, Balbuena, Diop, Masuaku; Sanchez, Wilshere; Snodgrass, Fornals, Holland; Ajeti.
Enjoy the game – Come On You Irons!