West ham United Football Club was founded in 1895, although it only adopted its current name in 1900. The club has been playing at the Boleyn Stadium at Upton Park since 1904. Almost amazingly, the club has had only twelve managers in its entire history.
West Ham did not reach the Football League until 1919, reaching the top division just three seasons later – contesting the famous 'White Horse' Cup Final against Bolton in 1923 – the first ever to be held at Wembley Stadium. Although the club has yet to win the top division, it has been the winner of the FA Cup on three occasions – 1964, 1975 and 1980 and was runner up as recently as 2006.
West Ham famously provided three members of England's 1966 World Cup winning side – Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters; the captain and the goalscorers.
In recent times, although the club has struggled financially compared to some of the other clubs in the Premier League, it has established a fine reputation for developing the talents of young players. Consequently, many of England's current squad have strong roots with West Ham United – players such as Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Glenn Johnson, Jermaine Defoe and Michael Carrick all began their professional careers here.
It's fair to say that the fans have suffered a good deal of frustration at seeing so many promising players have to move on to other clubs to achieve their ambitions.
The club has always taken great pride in being referred to as 'the Academy of Football' and the fans have always wanted to see the game being played in the 'right way' by their team – known throughout football as 'The Hammers, but locally often as 'The Irons'.
In 2003, fans selected the following eleven players for the West Ham United 'Dream Team' – Phil Parkes; Ray Stewart, Alvin Martin, Bobby Moore, Julian Dicks; Alan Devonshire, Trevor Brooking, Billy Bonds, Martin Peters; Geoff Hurst, Paulo Di Canio.
Bobby Moore's status at the club was such that the club 'retired' his number six shirt after his death. One of the most poignant memories for supporters must be the game against Wolves immediately after Moore's death in 1993 when Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters put a floral number six shirt on the centre spot before the kick off.
West Ham United Fixtures
