Blast from the past
April 1986 surely goes down as one of the most relentlessly exciting months in West Ham United’s history. Beginning with a 2-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest, the Hammers reinvigorated their title charge by winning eight of their next nine matches. The most outstanding and amazing game in this unforgettable run has to be the incredible 8-1 victory over this weekend’s opponents, Newcastle United.
It was Monday the 21st of April 1986 and the goals began to flow after just three minutes. Alan Devonshire’s floated free-kick from the left was prodded home by an unmarked Alvin Martin for his first on what would turn out to be a remarkable personal night for ‘Stretch’. It was 2-0 after 11 minutes as Mark Ward found Ray Stewart overlapping on the right wing – Tonka’s cross-cum-shot was fumbled over his goalline by the Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Thomas, who had been suffering from injury before the game. On 36 minutes Devonshire played a short pass to Neil Orr who hit a rasping 30-yarder which deceived Thomas in mid-air and found the net for the Hammers’ third. Shortly before half-time, Stewart’s long throw sparked a spot of head tennis in the Newcastle penalty area, which culminated in future West Ham manager Glenn Roeder flicking the ball off his heel and into his own net to give the Irons an ultimately unassailable 4-0 half-time lead.
Thomas’ race was run and he was substituted at half-time with outfield player Chris Hedworth taking the goalkeeper’s jersey in his stead. Hedworth himself was soon injured in a collision with Tony Cottee but stayed between the sticks to see Martin notch his second of the game, and the Hammers’ fifth, after Tony Gale had flicked a cross into the path of his central defensive partner’s run. Hedworth succumbed to injury, with Newcastle consequently being reduced to ten men and Peter Beardsley becoming their third custodian of the evening. Hedworth never played for Newcastle again. Billy Whitehurst fired a consolation for the Magpies but the Hammers were soon back on the attack and grabbing a sixth. Devonshire and George Parris combined down the left, with Devonshire’s dinked cross to the far post being nodded in by the onrushing substitute Paul Goddard (who would go on to sign for Newcastle six months later). Goddard then released Cottee down the left and his cross was headed in by Frank McAvennie to make it seven.
There was still time for an eighth. Ward’s cross found Cottee in the area, the PFA Young Player of the Year-in-waiting being bundled to the ground by Roeder. With the majority of a buoyant Boleyn crowd of 24,735 chanting ‘Alvin, Alvin’, penalty king Stewart passed on responsibilities to his captain and the man of the moment… who didn’t disappoint, Martin completing a very unique hat-trick not just because it came from a defender, but because each strike was registered against a different goalkeeper. Cottee, who must have been desperate to add his own name to the scoresheet, hit the bar with a header late on, with the Hammers having to settle for just the eight goals.
West Ham won their next four matches, keeping their title hopes alive until Liverpool clinched the championship with a win at Chelsea. In the final-game decider for the runners-up position, Everton beat the Hammers 3-1 at Goodison Park to leave the Irons in third place, still our highest ever League position. Unfortunately there was no prize of a European place in 1986/87 following the Heysel ban on English clubs in Europe.
West Ham United: Phil Parkes, Ray Stewart, Alvin Martin, Tony Gale, George Parris, Mark Ward, Neil Orr, Alan Dickens (Paul Goddard), Alan Devonshire, Frank McAvennie, Tony Cottee.
Newcastle: Martin Thomas (Ian Stewart), Neil McDonald, Glenn Roeder, John Anderson, John Bailey, Paul Stephenson, David McCreery, Chris Hedworth, Tony Cunningham, Peter Beardsley, Billy Whitehurst.
Club Connections
West Ham United and Newcastle United have shared a multitude of personnel over the years. This Saturday, both Sam Allardyce and Alan Pardew will be facing clubs they have formerly managed while Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll could both face the North East club they served with distinction. West Ham assistant manager Neil McDonald also played for Newcastle, appearing in the aforementioned match. A brief run-through of some others who have represented both clubs is best served by dividing them by playing position.
Goalkeepers: Shaka Hislop and Pavel Srnicek.
Defenders: Abdoulaye Faye, Wayne Quinn, Dave Gardner and Stuart Pearce.
Midfielders: Scott Parker, Lee Bowyer, Rob Lee, Nolberto Solano and Kieron Dyer.
Strikers: Paul Goddard, Les Ferdinand, Demba Ba, Marlon Harewood, David Kelly, Keith Robson, Vic Keeble, Craig Bellamy, Pop Robson and Paul Kitson.
Chris Hughton also played for the Hammers and managed the Magpies while Glenn Roeder played for the Tynesiders but managed the Irons.
This week’s focus though is on a player who had a relatively short stint at Upton Park but, in a previous meeting between the two clubs, was to be involved in one of the lowest points in the career of a Hammers legend.
Franz Carr was a winger who could run the 100m in 10.02 seconds but who his ex-Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough described as “the best bloody corner-flag hitter in the country”. He won the League Cup with Forest in 1989 and 1990 but the writing was on the wall when he was locked in a City Ground boiler room by Clough after a dismal performance against Oldham. He had a 12-game loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday before joining the Hammers in March 1991 after injury had sidelined Trevor Morley. Despite the Hammers enjoying a successful season which would end in promotion for Billy Bonds’ side, Carr did not taste victory in any of his three matches as a West Ham player. His only start came in a 2-1 defeat at Oxford; he made substitute appearances in a 3-1 home loss to Sheffield Wednesday and a 0-0 draw at Hull. He would return to his parent club who would go on to beat the Hammers in the FA Cup semi-final the following month.
Carr, who also scored one goal in nine matches for England Under-21s, left the City Ground later that summer to sign for Ossie Ardiles’ Newcastle for a fee of £250,000. He made a promising start to his career at St James’ Park but a knee injury kept him out for the majority of 1991/92. He returned for the final three games of that campaign, by which time Kevin Keegan had replaced Ardiles as manager. Three games into the following season, the Magpies led West Ham by two goals to nil at St James’ Park (the second coming from David Kelly) when Julian Dicks was given his first red card of three in 1992/93. Julian takes up the story about what he describes as his only regret in football: “I remember playing at Newcastle one day and little Franz Carr was giving me the runaround. He could give me seven yards start and still beat me over 10. In the end I remember him coming towards me and I just decided to elbow him in the face. I remember it so clearly, I just had to do it. It was so premeditated and right in front of the Newcastle fans. I didn’t bother waiting for the red card, I just walked off!”
Keegan’s signing of future Hammer Rob Lee from Charlton would spell the beginning of the end for Carr on Tyneside, having scored 3 goals in 25 games. He departed for Sheffield United in January 1993 and would go on to play for Leicester, Aston Villa, Reggiana, Bolton, West Brom and Pittsburgh Riverhounds. Carr now works in sports management.
Referee
Saturday’s referee will be Mike Dean; 2014/15 is Dean’s fifteenth as a Premier League referee. Since West Ham United achieved promotion back to the top flight in 2012 Dean has refereed nine of our league matches, officiating in five wins for the Hammers, two draws and two defeats. Dean was the man in the middle for our 3-1 home loss to Southampton earlier this season.
Possible line-ups
For West Ham United, a number of key players are playing a fitness waiting game for the visit of one of the Premier League’s in-form sides. Cheikhou Kouyate and Stewart Downing trained yesterday, while Enner Valencia could also be in contention. Alex Song, Mark Noble and Diafra Sakho will face late fitness tests on Saturday, while Winston Reid is unavailable through suspension. Andy Carroll will not be expected to get through three sets of 90 minutes in the upcoming eight days so could possibly start on the bench.
Newcastle are also suffering their fair share of injury problems, although Alan Pardew could welcome back up to four key men for the trip to East London. Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Cheick Tiote and Emmanuel Riviere have all returned to training but goalkeeper Tim Krul has emerged as a late doubt. Rob Elliot is standing by to take the Dutchman’s place. Davide Santon, Ryan Taylor, Curtis Good, Siem De Jong, Rolando Aarons, Jonas Gutierrez, Gabriel Obertan and Mehdi Abeid are all sidelined.
Possible West Ham United XI: Adrian; Jenkinson, Tomkins, Collins, Cresswell; Kouyate, Noble, Amalfitano; Downing; Zarate, Valencia.
Possible Newcastle XI: Elliot; Janmaat, Williamson, Taylor, Haidara; Tiote, Colback; Cabella, Sissoko, Gouffran; Riviere.
Enjoy the game – Up the Hammers!