Blast from the past
In today’s preview, we travel back nearly 72 years, to 27th December 1948: Dinah Shore’s ‘Buttons And Bows’ topped the charts; T. S. Eliot had just been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature; Major Sir Malcolm Campbell died four days later, while Donna Summer was born on the same day; and West Ham United beat Leeds away from home.
Charlie Paynter’s Hammers picked up a 3-1 win in front of 32,577 spectators for this Second Division encounter at Elland Road. The Irons went into the game having picked up a 3-2 win at Upton Park against the same opposition on Christmas Day, two days previously. 26-year-old centre-forward Ken Wright (pictured) had been the two-goal hero that day and so it proved again in the return match in Yorkshire, Wright notching another double with inside-left George Dick also on the scoresheet.
Born in Newmarket on 16th May 1922, Wright had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroic deeds while in the RAF during the Second World War. He joined West Ham from Cambridge City as an amateur, making seven wartime appearances in 1943 and 1945. Wright signed professional forms in 1946 and went on to score a total of 25 goals in 59 appearances for the Irons. He was the club’s top scorer in this 1948/49 campaign, notching 11 goals in 22 games. Wright played his final match for the Hammers in December 1949 before a knee injury forced his retirement from football. He later rejoined the RAF, becoming an instructor with Bomber Command. Ken Wright died in Stratford-upon-Avon on 6th June 1994 (the 50th anniversary of D-Day), aged 72.
The Hammers would end the 1948/49 campaign in seventh place in the Second Division, while Leeds would finish 15th. Fulham topped the Second Division, Portsmouth won the league title and Wolves won the FA Cup.
West Ham United: George Taylor, Jack Yeomanson, Steve Forde, Norman Corbett, Dick Walker, Tommy Moroney, Terry Woodgate, Eric Parsons, Ken Wright, George Dick, Don Wade.
Club Connections
A decent number of players have turned out for both West Ham United and Leeds United. Ex-Leeds players David Martin and Robert Snodgrass are now at West Ham. Other players to have appeared for both clubs include:
Goalkeepers: Mervyn Day and Robert Green.
Defenders: Alf Harwood, Hayden Foxe, George Speak, George McCartney, Matthew Kilgallon, Rio Ferdinand, Charlie Turner and Sam Byram.
Midfielders: Sebastien Carole, Bill Jackson and Lee Bowyer.
Strikers: Robbie Keane, Brian Deane, Lee Chapman, Ian Moore and Dave Mangnall.
Today’s focus is on a Hammers youth product who had a loan spell with Leeds. Hogan Ephraim (pictured) was born in Archway on 31st March 1988 and joined West Ham as a trainee in the summer of 2004. At the age of 17, he made his sole appearance for Alan Pardew’s Hammers as an 86th-minute substitute for Gavin Williams in a 4-2 League Cup second round win at Sheffield Wednesday on 20th September 2005. While at West Ham, Ephraim represented England at Under-16, Under-17, Under-18 and Under-19 levels – he scored four goals in an England Under-17s match against Russia and appeared in the Under-17 European Championships alongside James Tomkins and Theo Walcott in 2005, scoring two goals in three games. A winger or attacking midfielder, Ephraim had a loan spell in the Championship with Colchester in 2006/07 before joining QPR in a three-month loan deal in August 2007. Alan Curbishley allowed Ephraim to move to Loftus Road permanently in January 2008 for a fee of around £350,000.
The 21-year-old Ephraim joined League One Leeds on loan in November 2009 – he made his debut in a 2-0 win at Oldham on 1st December 2009. Ephraim also made substitute appearances in a 2-2 home draw with Huddersfield and a goalless draw at Brentford. Ephraim’s final match for the club came against Accrington in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy on 15th December 2009 – he provided a goal and an assist in the 2-0 win at Elland Road to secure the club’s place in the Northern Area Final of the competition. After four appearances and one goal for Leeds, Ephraim returned to QPR in January 2010.
Ephraim made 118 appearances for QPR (two of which came in the Premier League). He played in 28 games in 2010/11 as the club were promoted to the top flight but his career at Loftus Road was later punctuated with loan spells – he was at Charlton for just under two months in 2011, Bristol City for two months in 2012, Toronto for just over three months in 2013 and Peterborough for three months in 2013/14.
Released by QPR in the summer of 2014 after just over six years at the club, Ephraim joined Wycombe in October 2014. He made his final appearance in league football for the Chairboys in the League Two Play-Off Final defeat to Southend in May 2015. Ephraim joined National League South side Whitehawk for the final weeks of the 2016/17 season. Now 32, Ephraim works as a Player Recruitment Consultant for OYS Sports Management.
Referee
The referee on Friday will be Michael Oliver. He has refereed 26 of our matches, officiating in five 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 last October (when he awarded the visitors a match-levelling penalty); for our 3-2 home defeat to Tottenham in November; for our 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United in January; for our 3-3 home draw with Brighton in 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. Oliver most recently refereed the Irons for our 2-1 defeat at Arsenal in September.
Oliver 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 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 Jarred Gillett.
Possible line-ups
Leeds will be without the injured Gaetano Berardi, Robin Koch, Diego Llorente and Adam Forshaw, but Jamie Shackleton and Pablo Hernandez could be available. Leeds are unbeaten in nine meetings against West Ham, winning five of them, since a 1-0 home defeat in November 2000. Eight-goal leading scorer Patrick Bamford has only scored once at Elland Road this season.
David Moyes could welcome back Andriy Yarmolenko but Ryan Fredericks and Michail Antonio are doubts. Arthur Masuaku seems set to miss out. David Moyes’ side have hit the woodwork an unrivalled eight times, once more than Leeds. The Hammers could briefly move into fifth place with a win.
Possible Leeds XI: Meslier; Ayling, Cooper, Struijk, Dallas; Phillips; Raphinha, Klich, Rodrigo, Harrison; Bamford.
Possible West Ham United XI: Fabianski; Coufal, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Diop, Cresswell; Bowen, Rice, Soucek, Fornals; Haller.
Enjoy the game – Come On You Irons!