Blast from the past
14th November 1964 – The Supremes were number one with ‘Baby Love’, The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb was in UK cinemas and the House of Commons had voted to abolish the death penalty for murder in Britain five days previously. Meanwhile, Ron Greenwood’s West Ham United were sealing a 3-0 victory over Billy Wright’s Arsenal in front of 36,026 at Highbury.
Former Gunners goalkeeper Jim Standen was in goal for the Irons, while future West Ham striker John Radford was in the Arsenal line-up. The Hammers led at the interval when Geoff Hurst’s shot went in off David Court’s boot. Johnny ‘Budgie’ Byrne made it 2-0 on the hour and Martin Peters, who played at centre-half in this match and had only turned 21 six days earlier, converted Alan Sealey’s pass to complete a resounding victory which remains, to date, West Ham’s biggest away win at Arsenal. Peters, pictured above at the start of this 1964/65 campaign, sadly passed away four days before last Christmas.
The Gunners would finish 13th in 1964/65, while the Hammers would end the campaign in ninth and win the European Cup Winners’ Cup. Manchester United won the league and Liverpool won the FA Cup. ‘Budgie’ Byrne would end the campaign as the Hammers’ top scorer with 30 goals from 45 matches. Peters was voted Hammer of the Year, with Bobby Moore runner-up.
Arsenal: Tony Burns, Don Howe, Frank McLintock, Terry Neill, Billy McCullough, George Armstrong, David Court, George Eastham, Alan Skirton, Joe Baker, John Radford.
West Ham United: Jim Standen, John Bond, Ken Brown, Martin Peters, Jack Burkett, Alan Sealey, Eddie Bovington, Ron Boyce, Johnny Sissons, Johnny ‘Budgie’ Byrne, Geoff Hurst.
Club Connections
A large group of players have turned out for West Ham United and Arsenal. Lukasz Fabianski and Jack Wilshere return to their former club. Other players to have represented both clubs include:
Goalkeepers: Richard Wright, Charles Ambler, Manuel Almunia, Jim Standen.
Defenders: Matthew Upson, Nigel Winterburn, Steve Walford, Bob Stevenson, Carl Jenkinson.
Midfielders: Stewart Robson, Liam Brady, Yossi Benayoun, Archie Macauley, Luis Boa Morte, David Bentley, Samir Nasri, James Bigden, Roddy McEachrane, Alex Song, Henri Lansbury, Fred Kemp, Freddie Ljungberg.
Strikers: Lucas Perez, Harry Lewis, Bobby Gould, Jeremie Aliadiere, Dick Burgess, John Blackwood, Fergie Hunt, Dr Jimmy Marshall, Kaba Diawara, Jimmy Bloomfield, Charlie Satterthwaite, Marouane Chamakh, Billy Linward, Lee Chapman, Tommy Lee, Ian Wright, Peter Kyle, John Hartson, Stan Earle, John Radford, Davor Suker.
Ron Greenwood was also assistant manager at Arsenal before becoming manager of West Ham.
Today’s focus though falls on a Scottish player who captained Arsenal before later playing for West Ham. James Jackson was born on the 15th September 1875 in Cambuslang, Glasgow but his family emigrated to Australia where he was raised from the age of two. He began his senior football career at Adamstown Rosebud in Newcastle, New South Wales. He returned to Scotland in 1893, appearing for Newton Thistle, Cambuslang and briefly for Rangers before moving to England to join Newcastle United, who he helped to promotion to the Football League in his first season.
A strict teetotaller, Jackson joined Woolwich Arsenal in 1899, attracted by the club’s willingness to help him open a sports shop just outside the Manor Ground. He made his debut aged 23 against Leicester Fosse on 2nd September 1899 and was a regular at the club for the next six seasons, playing either at left-back or wing-half. He was a virtual ever-present in the Gunners’ 1903/04 Second Division promotion-winning season, and captained the club in four of his five seasons at the club, including their inaugural top flight campaign. In all he played 204 matches for Arsenal, scoring one goal. He is pictured below, fourth from the right in the back row, with his Arsenal team-mates from the 1904/05 First Division season.
Jackson left Arsenal in 1905 to become player-manager of Leyton, newly admitted to the Southern League, but he resigned to sign as a player for West Ham United in November 1905. A major capture for the Hammers, the East Ham Echo wrote:
“While with Arsenal Jackson was regarded as one of the finest backs in the South, and it was with great regret that the Woolwich club’s supporters learned that the skipper was leaving to take up the position of player/manager to Leyton. A few days ago the sporting public were greatly surprised to read in the London papers that Jackson had tendered his resignation, which had been accepted by the Leyton directorate. This was indeed a sensation, and was quickly followed by the startling, but welcome, news that he had been signed on for West Ham.”
The 30-year-old strong, forceful defender made his Hammers debut in a 2-0 win over Brighton at Upton Park on 11th November 1905. ‘Jemmy’ was ever-present for the rest of the 1905/06 Southern League season, forming a fabled full-back partnership with another Scot, Dave Gardner, and making 24 appearances as the Irons finished 11th. His final match for the club was a 1-0 defeat at Portsmouth on 28th April 1906.
Jackson rejoined Rangers in 1906, spending two years with the club before moving on to Port Glasgow Athletic. He joined Hamilton Accies in 1910 but his spell with the club was brief before he signed for Morton. He ended his career in 1915 after four years with Abercorn. He had two sons who became footballers – the elder, James, played more than 200 times for Liverpool (where he was also captain) before being ordained a minister in the Presbyterian Church. The younger, Archie, played for Sunderland and Tranmere. Jackson’s nephew was the Australian test cricketer Archie Jackson. ‘Jemmy’ Jackson’s date of death is unknown.
Referee
The referee on Saturday will be Martin Atkinson. 2019/20 is Atkinson’s 15th as a Premier League referee. Since West Ham United achieved promotion back to the top flight in 2012 Atkinson has refereed 24 of our league matches, officiating in 11 wins for the Hammers, three draws and ten defeats.
His Hammers appointments last season were our 3-1 win at Everton in September 2018 and our 1-0 home defeat to Tottenham in October last year. His most recent match in charge of the Irons was our 1-0 win at Southampton in December. Atkinson was also the referee the last time West Ham won at Arsenal, under Super Slaven Bilic in August 2015.
Possible line-ups
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will be without the injured Calum Chambers, Cedric Soares, Sead Kolasinac and Lucas Torreira, while Kieran Tierney is a doubt.
West Ham United are without Ryan Fredericks, Tomas Soucek, Jack Wilshere and Andriy Yarmolenko. West Ham’s tally of five Premier League victories at Arsenal is bettered only by Manchester United (eight) and Liverpool (seven).
Possible Arsenal XI: Leno; Maitland-Niles, Sokratis, David Luiz, Saka; Xhaka, Guendouzi; Pepe, Ozil, Aubameyang; Lacazette.
Possible West Ham United XI: Fabianski; Ngakia, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice, Noble; Bowen, Fornals, Antonio; Haller.
Enjoy the game – Come On You Irons!