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Blast from the past
4th February 2017 – Ed Sheeran was number one with ‘Shape Of You’, Sing topped the UK box office and Coleen Nolan had just won the 19th series of Celebrity Big Brother. West Ham United, meanwhile, were defeating Southampton 3-1 in front of 31,891 at St Mary’s.
The Hammers fell behind after 12 minutes on the South Coast when Manolo Gabbiadini blasted in at the near post from a tight angle beyond a statuesque Darren Randolph – it was the Italian’s Saints debut after a £14m move from Napoli on transfer deadline day. The Irons were level within two minutes after Pedro Obiang’s through ball found Andy Carroll who slotted home a right-footed equaliser.
Super Slaven Bilic’s West Ham took the lead a minute before the break when the 24-year-old Obiang (pictured above) scored his first goal in claret and blue to add to his earlier expert assist. Following a half-cleared corner, the Spanish-born midfielder was given time and space to drill in a low shot from 30 yards out, which went through a crowded penalty area and crept beyond Fraser Forster. The Hammers clinched the points seven minutes into the second half when Mark Noble’s free-kick found the net via a deflection from Steven Davis. A sixth win in nine league games took the Irons into the top half of the table, in ninth place.
West Ham United would finish the 2016/17 Premier League season in 11th position, while Southampton would end up eighth in a campaign which saw Chelsea win the title and Arsenal win the FA Cup. Michail Antonio would finish as the Hammers’ top scorer with nine goals in 37 matches; he would also be voted Hammer of the Year, with Manuel Lanzini runner-up.
Southampton: Fraser Forster, Cedric Soares, Jack Stephens, Maya Yoshida, Ryan Bertrand, Oriol Romeu, Steven Davis, James Ward-Prowse, Sofiane Boufal (Shane Long), Manolo Gabbiadini, Jay Rodriguez (Nathan Redmond).
West Ham United: Darren Randolph, Cheikhou Kouyate (James Collins), Jose Fonte, Winston Reid, Aaron Cresswell, Sofiane Feghouli (Jonathan Calleri), Mark Noble, Pedro Obiang, Robert Snodgrass, Michail Antonio, Andy Carroll (Manuel Lanzini).
Club Connections
Michail Antonio is unlikely to face his former club. An array of West Ham United’s good, bad and ugly have also turned out for Southampton:
Goalkeepers: Richard Wright, George Kitchen.
Defenders: Richard Hall, Christian Dailly, Joe Kirkup, Wayne Bridge, Neil Ruddock, Ian Pearce, Darren Powell, Albie Roles, Jose Fonte, Horace Glover, Calum Davenport.
Midfielders: Nigel Quashie, Jimmy Carr, Bobby Weale, Luis Boa Morte, Eyal Berkovic, Robbie Slater, Peter Cowper, Paul Allen.
Strikers: Vic Watson, Justin Fashanu, David Speedie, David Connolly, Viv Gibbins, Iain Dowie, Ted MacDougall, Henri Camara, Alex McDonald, Frank Costello, Fred Harrison, Walter Pollard, Arthur Wilson, Jimmy Harris, Jack Foster, Jack Farrell.
In addition, Harry Redknapp played for West Ham and managed both clubs. Alan Pardew also managed both clubs, while George Kay played for the Hammers and managed the Saints.
Today’s focus is on a former Southampton captain who went on to briefly play for West Ham. Bill Adams was born in Tynemouth on 3rd November 1902. He started his career with Sunderland Colliery and later joined Guildford City. A right-half, he joined Second Division Southampton, making his debut against Stoke in August 1927. He had a slow start at The Dell though, and had to wait over three years until his next first team outing. He was appointed captain in 1932 and went on to make 219 appearances for the Saints, scoring three goals.
Adams joined fellow Second Division side West Ham United in November 1936 for a fee of £500. The 34-year-old Adams made his debut for the Hammers in a 2-0 win at, ironically, Southampton on 21st November 1936 – Adams marked the occasion by sensationally scoring against the team he’d just left. However, he was destined for only a brief stay at Upton Park – he played the following week in a 2-0 home win over Swansea before making his final appearance for the Irons in a 2-1 defeat at Bradford on 5th December 1936.
After scoring once in three appearances for West Ham United, Adams transferred to Southend in January 1937 before retiring later that year and returning to Hampshire; he ran the Half Way Inn at Chandler’s Ford for 26 years. Bill Adams died in Southampton, aged 60, on 15th March 1963.
Referee
Tuesday’s referee will be 37-year-old West Yorkshire-based Andrew Madley, who will take on his third Hammers appointment. Madley, the older brother of Bobby Madley, has refereed 14 matches so far in 2020/21 – six in the Championship, one in Europa League qualifying, one in the Nations League, four in the Premier League and two in the League Cup. He has dished out 34 yellow cards and one red in those 14 games, as well as awarding five penalties.
Madley’s only match in charge of West Ham last season was for our 2-0 win at Gillingham in the FA Cup third round in January this year. His most recent Hammers match was our 3-0 win at Leicester in October.
Possible line-ups
Southampton centre-back Jannik Vestergaard will miss out, but Oriol Romeu returns from suspension. Nathan Redmond and Danny Ings are both very likely to be unavailable. Southampton have lost the last two home Premier League games against West Ham, matching their total number of defeats from the previous 15 meetings. The Saints have failed to win their last game of the calendar year for nine consecutive seasons.
West Ham United travel to Southampton without Arthur Masuaku, while Michail Antonio is a doubt. Tomas Soucek has scored a league-high five goals from corners since the start of July.
Possible Southampton XI: McCarthy; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Stephens, Bertrand; Armstrong, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Djenepo; Walcott, Adams.
Possible West Ham United XI: Fabianski; Coufal, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Bowen, Rice, Soucek, Lanzini; Yarmolenko, Haller.
Enjoy the game – Come On You Irons!
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