The Predictor League for Manchester City is open. Enter your team HERE. Deadline is 10.30am on Saturday.
Blast from the past
27th April 2003 – Busted were number one with ‘You Said No’ and Johnny English topped the UK box office. Meanwhile, Trevor Brooking made his managerial debut as West Ham United emerged victorious from a Premier League encounter against Manchester City with a 1-0 win at Maine Road in front of 34,815.
Non-executive director Brooking had been placed in caretaker charge of the West Ham team after manager Glenn Roeder had been taken ill shortly after the Hammers’ previous match, a 1-0 home win over Middlesbrough which had kept survival hopes alive. Former England colleague Kevin Keegan welcomed his old international team-mate as manager of Manchester City. Ex-Hammer Marc-Vivien Foe was in City’s starting line-up, while Steve Lomas returned to his former club. David James and Trevor Sinclair both started for the Irons and would go on to play for Manchester City.
On 14 minutes James spilled Nicolas Anelka’s effort at the feet of Robbie Fowler, with Rufus Brevett hacking desperately off the line as Fowler went in bravely with his head; Fowler flashed another chance narrowly wide of the near post soon after. At the other end Les Ferdinand charged down a clearance by Peter Schmeichel but could only steer his shot into the side netting from a tight angle.
Knowing that only a win would do, Brooking took off on-loan defensive midfielder Edouard Cisse at half-time and replaced him with striker Frederic Kanoute (pictured below) – the attacking move saw the Hammers start the second half with three strikers as Kanoute joined Ferdinand and Jermain Defoe up front. Cisse did not take the decision well, throwing his boots across the dressing room – as he headed for the showers, Cisse said to Brooking, “I hope you enjoy your brief time as manager”. Brooking laughed at him. Cisse apologised for his petulance the following week. With less than ten minutes of the second half gone though, Ferdinand had to be stretchered off after a collision with Schmeichel. Don Hutchison entered the fray in midfield with Joe Cole playing behind Kanoute and Defoe up front.
Defoe was denied the opening goal when he hooked the ball over his shoulder in a frantic goalmouth scramble but Niclas Jensen headed clear from on the goalline. The winning goal arrived with nine minutes remaining and came from a short corner Brooking had been working on with the players in training. Defoe played the corner short to Cole who clipped a cross to the near post. Hutchison’s effort was parried by Schmeichel back to ‘Hutch’ who stabbed the rebound against the inside of the post – the ball ran along the line to Kanoute who fired the ball into the unguarded net. It would prove to be his last ever goal for West Ham, his 33rd strike for the club in his 90th appearance. Kanoute would play twice more for the Irons before departing for Tottenham in the summer of 2003, in a move which saw Matty Etherington move to Upton Park. The action from this match, which transpired to be the last a West Ham side played at Maine Road, can be viewed in my video below.
The Hammers, of course, went on to be relegated in 18th place that season while Manchester City ended up in ninth. Cole was voted Hammer of the Year, with Defoe runner-up. Defoe was also the Irons’ top scorer that season with 11 goals in 42 appearances. Manchester United won the league and Arsenal won the FA Cup.
Manchester City: Peter Schmeichel, Richard Dunne, David Sommeil, Sylvain Distin, Niclas Jensen (Shaun Goater), Shaun Wright-Phillips, Marc-Vivien Foe, Joey Barton, Ali Benarbia (Djamel Belmadi), Robbie Fowler (Jon Macken), Nicolas Anelka.
West Ham United: David James, Glen Johnson, Tomas Repka, Ian Pearce (Christian Dailly), Rufus Brevett, Joe Cole, Edouard Cisse (Frederic Kanoute), Steve Lomas, Trevor Sinclair, Les Ferdinand (Don Hutchison), Jermain Defoe.
Club Connections
Stuart Pearce played for both clubs, has managed Manchester City and is now an assistant coach with West Ham. A large group of players join him 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, Pablo Zabaleta, Tyrone Mears, Wayne Bridge.
Midfielders – Patrick Leonard, Samir Nasri, Marc-Vivien Foe, Kevin Horlock, James Cumming, Mark Ward, Eyal Berkovic, Steve Lomas, Frank Lampard Junior, Michael Hughes, Ian Bishop, Trevor Sinclair.
Strikers – Bill Davidson, Trevor Morley, Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy, Phil Woosnam, Justin Fashanu, Paulo Wanchope, Clive Allen, Lionel Watson, David Cross, George Webb.
Malcolm Allison and John Bond were West Ham players who went on to manage City. Manuel Pellegrini has managed both clubs.
Today’s focus though falls on a winger who played for West Ham United before representing Manchester City later in his career. Johnny Payne was born in Southall on 3rd January 1906 and began his career as a junior amateur player with Botwell Mission and Lyons Athletic, from where he progressed to senior amateur level with Southall. Blazing a trail that would be followed by Alan Devonshire exactly half a century later, Payne joined First Division West Ham United from Southall and made his Hammers debut at the age of 20, playing outside-right in a 5-1 home defeat to Blackburn on 11th September 1926.
Payne, who had also been honoured by Middlesex County, had to wait just over two years for his next appearance in claret and blue – starting at outside-left, his patience paid off handsomely as he scored in a 3-1 win against Manchester United at Upton Park on 22nd September 1928. A speedy winger, Payne made two more appearances for Syd King’s Hammers that year, the first at outside-left in a 1-0 home defeat to Portsmouth on 17th November and the other at outside-right in a 6-0 loss at Derby on 8th December.
After scoring one goal in four appearances for West Ham United, Payne dropped down to the Third Division South to sign for Brentford later in the 1928/29 season. He scored 16 goals in 43 appearances during the 1929/30 season and began the 1930/31 campaign as a first choice on the wing for the Bees. He fell out of favour though and was dropped to the reserves before leaving for First Division Manchester City in January 1931.
The 26-year-old Payne made a goalscoring debut for City, playing outside-right for new manager Wilf Wild on 29th March 1932 in a 5-1 win at Birmingham. Payne made one more appearance in 1931/32 (in a 1-0 home defeat to Liverpool on 2nd April) but, as at West Ham, he struggled to break into the starting eleven and didn’t play any first team matches in 1932/33. Payne played two games in 1933/34, the first being a 1-0 home defeat to Leeds on 14th October 1933, and the other being his final outing for City, at outside-left, in a 5-1 defeat at Tottenham on 14th April 1934. His record for Manchester City was identical to his record at West Ham, having scored once in four appearances.
Payne returned to the Third Division South in August 1934, signing for Brighton. He moved to Millwall in July 1935, spending a season at The Den before joining Yeovil in May 1936. Johnny Payne died in 1981, at the age of either 74 or 75.
Referee
The referee on Saturday will be Michael Oliver. He has refereed 27 of our matches, officiating in six wins for the Hammers, seven draws and 14 defeats. Oliver refereed the Irons six times last season, in our 2-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace in October 2019 (when he awarded the visitors a match-levelling penalty); for our 3-2 home defeat to Tottenham in November 2019; for our 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United in January 2020; for our 3-3 home draw with Brighton last February; for our 1-0 home defeat to Burnley in July; and in our 1-1 draw with Aston Villa on the final day of last season. This season Oliver has refereed the Irons for our 2-1 defeat at Arsenal in September and, most recently, for our 2-1 win at Leeds in December.
Oliver also refereed our 1-1 draw at Leicester in October 2018, when he sent off Mark Noble (pictured above). His only previous red card issued to a West Ham player came seven 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 in 2018/19.
The VAR Official is Andre Marriner.
Possible line-ups
Manchester City will be without Nathan Ake. Ilkay Gundogan has scored nine Premier League goals in 2021, four more than any other player. The Citizens have won 12 of their 14 league games against West Ham at the Etihad Stadium, drawing one and losing one. Pep Guardiola has won nine of his ten meetings against West Ham in all competitions, drawing the other – that 1-1 draw in this season’s reverse fixture in October ended City’s nine-match winning run against the Hammers.
West Ham United have Angelo Ogbonna, Arthur Masuaku and Andriy Yarmolenko on the injury list. A seventh away win of the season this Saturday would equal the club’s Premier League record for a single campaign, last achieved under Super Slaven Bilic in 2015/16. West Ham have won only two of their 19 Premier League away games against Manchester City: 1-0 at Maine Road in April 2003 (see ‘Blast from the past’ above) and 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium in September 2015. The Hammers have won just three of the last 27 Premier League meetings between the two clubs home and away, drawing five and losing 19.
Possible Manchester City XI: Ederson; Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko; Rodri; Sterling, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Foden; Jesus.
Possible West Ham United XI: Fabianski; Coufal, Dawson, Diop, Cresswell; Soucek, Rice; Bowen, Lingard, Fornals; Antonio.
Enjoy the game – Up The Hammers!