This evening’s match sees West Ham United take on AFC Wimbledon for the first time. Today’s preview incorporates a focus on the widely-recognised previous incarnation of the club, as Wimbledon FC.
Blast from the past
West Ham United met ‘the old’ Wimbledon just once in the League Cup. The Hammers emerged victorious from that fourth round tie between the two clubs with a 1-0 win at the Boleyn Ground on 22nd November 1989.
New Kids On The Block were number one with ‘You Got It (The Right Stuff)’, the House of Commons had just been televised live for the first time and Winona Ryder and Christian Slater were in UK cinemas in Heathers. 24,746 were in attendance at Upton Park as Lou Macari’s Second Division West Ham United took on First Division Wimbledon, managed by former Hammers striker Bobby Gould.
The Hammers’ winner came late on after a fine move broke down their top flight opponents. Debutant Justin Fashanu, on as a substitute, was involved in the build-up, as were Liam Brady, Alan Devonshire and Stuart Slater. The latter released Mark Ward who centred for ‘Mad Dog’ Martin Allen (pictured below) to volley home in front of the North Bank and send the Hammers into the quarter-finals.
The match is also known as one of the most consistently violent games ever at Upton Park. Gould’s Wimbledon, known as the Crazy Gang, had a fearsome reputation for physicality; fouls were frequent and there was a major brawl involving 17 players just before half time. There was another scuffle in the second half when Allen was booked for lifting his boot, studs up, into the nether regions of Eric Young. Julian Dicks was also yellow carded for protesting and the left-back was soon given his first red card in a Hammers shirt for a scything tackle on Dennis Wise. The subsequent media furore led to the FA, on video evidence, fining both clubs £20,000. My video below shows the goal from this match, as well as interviews with debutant Fashanu, goalscorer Allen and manager Macari.
The Hammers would march on to knock out Derby in a quarter-final replay before being painfully beaten 6-3 over two legs by Oldham at the semi-final stage. The Latics would be beaten by Nottingham Forest in the Final at Wembley. Dicks would go on to win the Hammer of the Year for 1989/90, with Slater runner-up.
West Ham United: Phil Parkes, Steve Potts, Gary Strodder, Alvin Martin, Julian Dicks, Martin Allen, George Parris (Alan Devonshire), Liam Brady, Kevin Keen (Justin Fashanu), Mark Ward, Stuart Slater.
Club Connections
Players who have represented Wimbledon, in either of their forms, and West Ham United include:
Goalkeeper: Ian Feuer.
Defenders: Callum McNaughton, Nigel Winterburn, Jon Harley.
Midfielders: Michael Hughes, Johnny Ayris, Nigel Reo-Coker, Jobi McAnuff, Adam Nowland, George Moncur.
Strikers: Johnny Cartwright, John Hartson, Dave Swindlehurst, David Connolly.
In addition, Bobby Gould played for the Hammers before going on to manage Wimbledon.
Today’s focus is on a former West Ham United goalkeeper who went on to play for Wimbledon. Steve Banks (pictured) was born on the 9th February 1972 in Hillingdon and began his career as a trainee with the Hammers after representing Berkshire Schools. He made his reserve team bow for West Ham at Fulham on 11th October 1989 and spent a spell on loan at non-league Wokingham, his hometown club, where he came under the watchful eye of former mentor Phil Parkes. At the age of 20, he made his only first team appearance for the Irons in a 2-2 draw with Bristol Rovers in the Anglo-Italian Cup in front of 4,809 at Upton Park on 2nd September 1992. Julian Dicks twice gave the Hammers the lead in the match but Marcus Stewart equalised twice, with the first goal a misunderstanding between Banks and Tony Gale, and Banks being unable to collect a high ball for the second. West Ham would qualify for the European round of the competition after beating Southend 3-0 at Roots Hall, going on to lose at Cremonese, beat Reggiana and Cosenza, and draw with Pisa.
Banks, who stood 5’11, left the Hammers on a free transfer at the end of the 1992/93 season, joining Third Division Gillingham. After two seasons with the Gills, Banks moved up the Football League to join Blackpool in the Second Division. He spent nearly four seasons with the Seasiders, making 150 league appearances, before moving to Bolton in the First Division in 1999. The form of future West Ham goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen led to Banks having a loan spell with Third Division Rochdale in 2001/02 before spending most of the first half of the 2002/03 season on loan at First Division Bradford. Banks joined another First Division side, Stoke, on loan in December 2002 and made the move permanent in February 2003.
Banks’ stay in the Potteries was shortlived though and he signed for second tier Wimbledon in the summer of 2003. The 31-year-old made his debut at Selhurst Park in a 3-1 win over Crewe on 9th August 2003 – Nigel Reo-Coker, who joined the Irons later that season, was on the scoresheet for Wimbledon that day. Banks made a return to Upton Park with the Dons on 9th March 2004, but was on the losing side as Matty Etherington bagged a hat-trick in a 5-0 Hammers win. It was to be Banks’ final appearance for Wimbledon as he rejoined former club Gillingham later that month. Having not played at the Boleyn for 12 years before his visit with the Dons, he was back again just 18 days later as the Gills’ goalkeeper on 27th March 2004, with Etherington his scourge once more as the left winger bagged the winner in a 2-1 Hammers triumph.
Banks was relegated from the Championship with the Gills at the end of the 2004/05 season. He moved to Scotland in August 2005, joining Hearts, with whom he won the Scottish Cup in 2006. He would remain with the Edinburgh club until June 2009 when he signed for Dundee United. Having picked up another Scottish Cup winners medal in 2010, he left Tannadice in the summer of 2013, signing for St Johnstone. He again won the Scottish Cup in 2014 before leaving Scotland to return to former club Blackpool as goalkeeping coach. He had made 470 career appearances in all competitions across all his clubs. Banks, now 46, has been goalkeeping coach at another former club, Bradford, since the summer of 2016.
Referee
Tuesday’s referee will be West Sussex-based Tim Robinson, who will take on his first ever Hammers appointment. Robinson has refereed four matches so far in 2018/19 – three in the Championship and one in League One. He has dished out 15 yellow cards and two reds in those four games.
Possible line-ups
Wimbledon manager Neal Ardley played for the Dons in the 1990s. Goalkeeper Tom King is on loan from Millwall, right-back Tennai Watson is on loan from Reading and left-back Ben Purrington is on loan from Rotherham. Captain and centre-half Deji Oshilaja came through the ranks at Cardiff, while midfielder Liam Trotter played over 100 matches for Millwall. Midfield man Tom Soares started his career at Crystal Palace, making over 150 appearances for the Eagles; wide man Scott Wagstaff signed from Gillingham in the summer. Striker James Hanson, also signed in the summer, played in the 2013 League Cup Final for giantkillers Bradford. Ardley has favoured a 4-4-2 formation thus far in 2018/19.
West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini could hand starts to Adrian, Aaron Cresswell, Pedro Obiang, Andriy Yarmolenko and Lucas Perez. Josh Cullen and Nathan Holland could step up to the squad from the Under-23 side. Winston Reid, Manuel Lanzini and Andy Carroll are definitely ruled out through injury while Mark Noble, Michail Antonio and Marko Arnautovic are unlikely to be risked.
Possible Wimbledon XI: King; Watson, Oshilaja, McDonald, Purrington; Wagstaff, Trotter, Soares, Pinnock; Pigott, Hanson.
Possible West Ham United XI: Adrian; Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Yarmolenko, Sanchez, Obiang, Snodgrass; Chicharito, Perez.
Enjoy the game – Come On You Irons!
NOTE FROM IAIN: I have removed the Predictor League. It will not be returning.