Blast from the past
Today’s focus sees us travel back over 55 years, to the 8th February 1964 – The Searchers were number one with ‘Needles and Pins’, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb was in UK cinemas and, two days earlier, the British and French governments had agreed a deal for the construction of a Channel Tunnel, with the twin-tunneled rail link expected to take five years to build. West Ham United, meanwhile, secured a 4-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in front of 36,838 at Upton Park.
Future Hammer Jimmy Greaves lined up for the visitors but a stylish attacking display saw the Irons two up at half-time with goals from Geoff Hurst and John Sissons. The hosts, who were on top throughout, added two more in the second half through Ronnie Boyce and Johnny Byrne to complete a convincing 4-0 win over their London rivals. ‘Budgie’ (pictured below) would be the Irons’ top scorer that season, with 33 goals in 45 games; he would also be voted Hammer of the Year, with Bobby Moore runner-up.
Ron Greenwood’s Hammers would end the 1963/64 First Division season in 14th position, while Tottenham would finish fourth. Liverpool won the First Division title and the Hammers won the FA Cup.
West Ham United: Jim Standen, John Bond, Ken Brown, Bobby Moore, Jack Burkett, Peter Brabrook, Eddie Bovington, Ronnie Boyce, John Sissons, Johnny Byrne, Geoff Hurst.
Tottenham Hotspur: John Hollowbread, Peter Baker, Maurice Norman, Phil Beal, Mel Hopkins, Cliff Jones, Tony Marchi, John White, Terry Dyson, Bobby Smith, Jimmy Greaves.
Club Connections
Current Hammer Ryan Fredericks started his career at Spurs. A large group of players join him in having turned out for Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United. Divided here by position, they include:
Goalkeepers: Bill Kaine, Charlie Ambler, Tony Parks, Fred Griffiths.
Defenders: Calum Davenport, Paul Konchesky, Mark Bowen, 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, Ilie Dumitrescu, Matthew Etherington, Mark Robson, David Bentley, Charlie Whitchurch, Chris Carrick, Martin Peters, John Smith, John Moncur.
Strikers: Mido, Frederic Kanoute, Almer Hall, Peter Kyle, Sergei Rebrov, Kenny McKay, George Foreman, Dave Dunmore, Teddy Sheringham, Les Bennett, Jermain Defoe, Robbie Keane, Fred Massey, Jimmy Reid, Clive Allen, Bobby Zamora, 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.
Today’s focus is on a former Thames Ironworks centre-forward who joined the Irons from Tottenham Hotspur. Bill Joyce was born in Prestonpans, a small fishing town east of Edinburgh, on 8th April 1877. He started his career at Greenock Morton in his native Scotland before moving to Bolton in the summer of 1894. He sustained a broken leg in 1896 which kept him out of the game for the best part of a year, and moved to Tottenham in May 1897.
Joyce scored on his debut for Spurs, at Sheppey United on 4th September 1897. He continued to find the net regularly, scoring 93 goals in 118 appearances in all competitions including four hat-tricks, three four-goal hauls and one occasion which saw him score five goals in one match. A centre-forward typical of the Victorian era, Joyce stood at 5’5 and weighed 11st2lbs – he “may have been a footballer with few fancy frills” but his “single-minded objective was to bury the ball in the net”.
Joyce (pictured) signed for Thames Ironworks in their final season before reforming as West Ham United. Francis Payne, the club secretary, had been given the task of finding players for the club’s first season in the top division of the Southern League; according to one report Arnold Hills gave Payne £1,000 to find the best players available. With this money he brought Joyce, Tom Bradshaw and Ken McKay from Tottenham. Joyce made his Irons debut in a 1-0 Southern League defeat at Reading on 16th September 1899 and scored his first goals for the club on 23rd September 1899, bagging a hat-trick in a 6-0 home win over Royal Engineers in the preliminary round of the FA Cup. This started an impressive run of eight goals in five games, a further four of which also came in the FA Cup – one in a 4-0 win at Grays, two in a 4-2 home win over Sheppey and another in a 7-0 win at Dartford on 28th October as the Irons won through to the competition’s fourth qualifying round. His other goal in this run was a league strike, the only goal of the game at home against Bedminster. Joyce had to wait until the New Year for his next goal though, scoring in a 3-0 win at Sheppey on 20th January 1900. Tragedy had struck the club in the interim period though with the aforementioned Bradshaw, Joyce’s Irons team-mate and former Tottenham colleague, dying of consumption on Christmas Day 1899.
Joyce ended the season on another goalscoring spree, notching nine goals in his last six matches of the 1899/1900 campaign. He bagged a brace in a 4-2 home defeat to Portsmouth on 5th April 1900 and scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 home win over Southampton four days later. He was again the scourge of Sheppey, scoring once in a 4-2 home win over them on 17th April. Thames Ironworks finished in 14th place and would be required to play a Test Match against Fulham to maintain their senior divisional standing; ironically, the game would be played at White Hart Lane, Joyce’s former stomping ground. Joyce saved his most vital and celebrated strikes for this, his last game for the club, scoring a hat-trick in a 5-1 victory on 30th April 1900 to preserve the club’s Southern League First Division status. Just over a month later, the club was reformed as West Ham United.
After scoring 18 goals in 35 appearances, Joyce joined Portsmouth as a replacement for Sandy Brown, who had ironically joined Tottenham. He moved to Burton United a year later where he played for two seasons. He later returned to Morton and also played for Motherwell. His date of death is unknown.
Referee
The referee on Saturday will be Michael Oliver. He has refereed 20 of our matches, officiating in five wins for the Hammers, five draws and ten defeats. Oliver most recently refereed the Irons in our 2-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace last month, awarding the visitors a match-levelling penalty.
Oliver is pictured above, officiating in our 3-2 home defeat to Tottenham in September 2017, when he sent off Spurs’ Serge Aurier. He also refereed our 1-1 draw at Leicester in October 2018, when he sent off Mark Noble. His only previous red card issued to a West Ham player came six seasons ago, when he sent off Kevin Nolan in our 4-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in December 2013. Oliver also refereed our 3-1 home win over Manchester United last season.
Possible line-ups
West Ham United will be without Lukasz Fabianski and Manuel Lanzini but Jack Wilshere, Mark Noble and Michail Antonio are all available. The Hammers have won six of the last 24 Premier League games against Tottenham and have scored 53 Premier League goals against Spurs, more than against any other team. Roberto has conceded 12 goals in 507 Premier League minutes – a goal every 42 minutes.
Tottenham Hotspur are without goalkeepers Hugo Lloris and Michel Vorm, as well as Erik Lamela. There is a doubt over Jan Vertonghen but Tanguy Ndombele should be available. There have been four red cards in the last six league encounters between these two sides in east London. Harry Kane has seven goals in his last eight league games against West Ham. Tottenham have conceded at least once in their last seven matches.
Possible West Ham United XI: Roberto; Zabaleta, Balbuena, Diop, Cresswell; Rice; Yarmolenko, Noble, Snodgrass, Anderson; Haller.
Possible Tottenham Hotspur XI: Gazzaniga; Sanchez, Foyth, Alderweireld; Aurier, Ndombele, Dier, Lo Celso, Rose; Son, Kane.
Enjoy the game – Up The Hammers!