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Dan Coker's Match Preview

Match Preview: Man Utd v West Ham

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Blast from the past

Manchester United have knocked West Ham United out of the FA Cup on five occasions, with the Hammers proving victorious four times. West Ham prevailed in 1911, 1964, 1986 and 2001 while the Red Devils marched on in 1983, 1985, 2003, 2013 and 2016. The Irons travel to Old Trafford tonight, aiming to restore parity from the current 5-4 deficit.

Today’s focus takes us back nearly 35 years, to a fifth round replay on 9th March 1986. Diana Ross was number one with ‘Chain Reaction’, United States Navy divers found the largely intact but heavily damaged crew compartment of the Space Shuttle Challenger with the bodies of all seven astronauts still inside and Dire Straits were in the middle of ten weeks at the top of the UK album chart with Brothers In Arms. The Hammers, meanwhile, travelled north after a goal apiece from Franks McAvennie and Stapleton in the original tie at Upton Park ensured a 1-1 draw and a re-match at Old Trafford in front of 30,441. After some early scares, the Hammers took the lead after 18 minutes – Mark Ward’s corner from the right found Geoff Pike on the edge of the box and the midfielder’s firm header sailed over Arthur Albiston on the line and into the net at the Stretford End.

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Five minutes into the second half, Alvin Martin was pushed in the Manchester United penalty area and the Hammers were awarded a penalty in front of their own travelling supporters. With Ray Stewart (pictured above) stepping up, the result was never in doubt – ‘Tonka’ didn’t disappoint, blasting his penalty to the right of Chris Turner. The action from this match can be viewed in the video below.

Three days later, the Hammers would lose their quarter-final tie 2-1 away to Sheffield Wednesday. Liverpool went on to win the FA Cup Final of 1986, beating Everton 3-1 in the Final at Wembley to claim a league and cup double. Tony Cottee was voted Hammer of the Year, with Frank McAvennie runner-up – McAvennie would finish as top scorer with 28 goals from 51 appearances.

Man Utd: Chris Turner, Mike Duxbury, Mark Higgins (Clayton Blackmore), Paul McGrath, Arthur Albiston, Gordon Strachan, Colin Gibson, Norman Whiteside, Jesper Olsen, Mark Hughes, Frank Stapleton.

West Ham United: Phil Parkes, Ray Stewart, Alvin Martin, Tony Gale, George Parris, Mark Ward, Geoff Pike, Alan Dickens, Alan Devonshire, Tony Cottee, Frank McAvennie.

Aside from this fifth round replay win in 1986, West Ham’s remaining FA Cup record against Man Utd is as follows:

1911 – West Ham 2-1 Man Utd (3rd round)
1964 – Man Utd 1-3 West Ham (Semi-Final, Hillsborough)
1983 – Man Utd 2-0 West Ham (3rd round)
1985 – Man Utd 4-2 West Ham (Quarter-Final)
1986 – West Ham 1-1 Man Utd (5th round)
2001 – Man Utd 0-1 West Ham (4th round)
2003 – Man Utd 6-0 West Ham (4th round)
2013 – West Ham 2-2 Man Utd (3rd round)
2013 – Man Utd 1-0 West Ham (3rd round replay)
2016 – Man Utd 1-1 West Ham (Quarter-Final)
2016 – West Ham 1-2 Man Utd (Quarter-Final Replay)

Club Connections

West Ham United manager David Moyes returns to the club he managed for most of the 2013/14 season, while Manchester United coach Michael Carrick welcomes his first professional club to Old Trafford. Jesse Lingard, currently on loan with the Hammers from the Red Devils, is cup-tied. A largely impressive list of players join the trio in having represented both West Ham United and Manchester United over the years. These include:

Goalkeepers: Roy Carroll, Les Sealey.

Defenders: Patrice Evra, Fred Milnes, Jonathan Spector, Rio Ferdinand.

Midfielders: James McCrae, Bill McCartney, Paul Ince, Ralph Milne, Luke Chadwick, Ravel Morrison.

Strikers: Charlie Mackie, Billy Grassam, Stuart Pearson, Javier Hernandez, Ted MacDougall, Teddy Sheringham, David Bellion, Carlos Tevez.

In addition, Frank O’Farrell and Dave Sexton played for the Hammers before going on to manage the Red Devils. Lou Macari played for the Old Trafford club before managing the Irons.

Today’s focus is on an Irish international who signed for Manchester United from West Ham United. Noel Cantwell was born on the 28th February 1932 in Cork and educated at the Roman Catholic Presentation Brothers College. He was an outstanding young sportsman, excelling at rugby, athletics, cricket and football. He joined local Irish League side Cork Athletic at a time when West Ham had significant Irish representation in their ranks – Hammers players Frank O’Farrell and Tommy Moroney often used to turn out for Cork when they returned to Ireland and, on one such visit, played alongside Cantwell in a friendly against Birmingham. At the time, Cantwell was set to embark on an insurance role with the Norwich Union whilst playing amateur rugby but glowing reports from the Hammers’ representatives led to Ted Fenton persuading the teenager to move to east London – West Ham paid Cork £750 for the promising left-back.

Cantwell went into digs with Moroney, who became his mentor, and made his debut at the age of 20 in a 3-2 win at Colchester in the Essex Professional Cup on 13th November 1952. His league debut came in another 3-2 victory, this time at Fulham on 6th April 1953. He became a regular in the side in the 1953/54 campaign, defending with maturity, and soon earned the first of his 36 caps for the Republic of Ireland. He was sent off in a 1-1 draw at Bristol Rovers on 10th December 1955 but scored his first goal for the club the following season in a 3-2 win over Sheffield United at the Boleyn Ground on 9th February 1957. Cantwell also played cricket for Ireland five times between 1956 and 1959.

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The swashbuckling Cantwell replaced Malcolm Allison as club captain in the 1957/58 promotion season, having formed a successful full-back partnership with John Bond. He scored four goals in 38 appearances as he led the Hammers to the Second Division title. These goals were all scored in victories at Upton Park – 2-1 over Derby and 3-2 against Fulham (both in September 1957), 5-2 against Huddersfield two months later and 6-2 over Swansea in January 1958.

Cantwell played his own part in the development of arguably West Ham’s finest son, Bobby Moore. With Allison recovering from tuberculosis and 17-year-old Moore waiting in the wings to replace him, manager Ted Fenton asked Cantwell for a recommendation on who to play against Manchester United on 8th September 1958. Cantwell, despite being a big friend of Allison’s, famously replied, “play the kid”. An attack-minded full-back who also played the occasional game for club and country as a forward, Cantwell scored four goals in 45 matches in his first season as a First Division player, scoring in a 6-3 win over Blackburn on 4th October 1958, a 2-1 win at Aston Villa on 3rd January 1959 and a 5-1 thrashing of Manchester City on 20th April 1959. He also scored in the Final of the Essex Professional Cup as the Irons defeated Leyton Orient by four goals to one on 21st September 1959. The hugely popular Cantwell scored three goals in 1959/60 – all penalties – in a 4-1 home win over Manchester City on 7th November 1959, a 5-2 home defeat to Burnley on 2nd January 1960 and a 5-3 loss at Manchester United on 18th April 1960, his last goal in claret and blue.

The 28-year-old Cantwell played his final match for West Ham in a 4-1 defeat at Everton on 24th September 1960. He had scored twelve goals in 278 appearances during his nine years with the Hammers. He departed east London for Manchester United, the team he had supported as a boy. Reconstructing his Red Devils team following the tragedy of the Munich air crash, Matt Busby spent £29,500 to take Cantwell to Old Trafford – a record fee at the time for a full-back. He made his Manchester United debut in a 3-0 defeat at Cardiff on 26th November 1960 and scored his first goal for the club in a 3-0 FA Cup win over Middlesbrough at Old Trafford on 7th January 1961. He scored a penalty in the next round in a 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday.

Cantwell’s next goal didn’t arrive until April 1962, in a 3-1 win at Burnley. He only had to wait two days for his next goal, scored in a 3-2 home defeat to Arsenal. He only scored once in 1962/63, in a 3-0 home win over Bolton, but captained the side as they beat Leicester 3-1 in the 1963 FA Cup Final at Wembley. Cantwell was so highly regarded by his fellow professionals that he was elected chairman of the PFA in 1963. He made 35 appearances in 1963/64, the most of any of his seasons at the club, but failed to score. He missed a year of football between April 1964 and April 1965 but scored in his comeback match, a 4-2 win at Birmingham on 19th April 1965. He scored twice in 1965/66, both in April – once in a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa and the other, his last for Manchester United, came on familiar territory at Upton Park on 30th April 1966, but a Geoff Hurst double and a ‘Budgie’ Byrne penalty ensured the Hammers won the match 3-2.

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The 34-year-old Cantwell’s last appearance for Manchester United came in a 2-1 win at Southampton on 19th November 1966. He had made 146 appearances for the Red Devils, scoring eight goals. He managed Coventry between 1967 and 1972 before moving to the USA to briefly manage the New England Tea Men. He returned to England to manage Peterborough from 1972 to 1977 before returning to the New England Tea Men. He managed the Jacksonville Tea Men in the early 1980s before ending his management career back at Peterborough in 1988 after two years at the club. He became a publican in Peterborough and also did some scouting for Sven-Goran Eriksson’s England set-up. Noel Cantwell died of cancer at the age of 73 on 8th September 2005.

Referee

Tuesday’s referee is 40-year-old Paul Tierney. The Lancashire-based official has refereed the Hammers on nine previous occasions. His most recent Irons appointment was our 3-3 draw at Tottenham in October. Prior to that, he took charge of our 1-1 draw at Manchester United in July, awarding the Hammers a penalty which was converted by Michail Antonio. He also refereed our 2-0 home win against Norwich in August 2019 and our 2-0 defeat at Everton in October 2019. Tierney was also in charge for our 2-0 defeat to Everton in east London in March 2019 and also refereed our 3-0 win at Newcastle in December 2018.

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Tierney’s first West Ham appointment was for the 1-1 draw with Everton in November 2015 which saw James McCarthy’s tackle on Dimitri Payet put the Frenchman out of action for two months. His second Irons game was our 0-0 draw at West Brom in September 2017, when he chose to issue just a yellow card to Ben Foster for his late tackle on Javier Hernandez. He also refereed our goalless draw at Shrewsbury in the third round of the FA Cup in January 2018.

Possible line-ups

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is likely to name a strong side, seeing as the 12-times FA Cup winners are yet to lift a trophy since he took over as manager. Phil Jones, Eric Bailly and Paul Pogba are out injured. Anthony Martial has been involved in nine goals in ten appearances against West Ham in all competitions (six goals, three assists), however he has not found the net in any of his past four games against the Hammers.

David Moyes, who is yet to win as a visiting manager at Old Trafford, has stated that Michail Antonio is suffering from fatigue having only recently returned from injury. Jesse Lingard is cup-tied, Arthur Masuaku is injured and Darren Randolph is a doubt. West Ham have not won any of their past eight away FA Cup games against Premier League opponents (drawing three and losing five) since beating Manchester City 2-1 in March 2006 on the way to reaching the Final.

Possible Manchester United XI: Henderson; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Telles; van de Beek, Fred; Rashford, Fernandes, Martial; Cavani.

Possible West Ham United XI: Fabianski; Coufal, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Johnson; Soucek, Rice; Bowen, Benrahma, Fornals; Yarmolenko.

Enjoy the game – Up The Hammers!

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