Main Facts of West Ham Utd. FC

Manager: Harry Redknapp
Chairman: Terence Brown
Ground: Boleyn Ground Capacity: 26,014
Address: Green Street, Upton Park, London E13 9AZ
Telephone: 0181-548-2748

Nickname: The Hammers
Sponsor: Doc Martens

Honours:
Division 2 Champions: 1957-58, 1980-81
FA Cup Winners: 1963-64, 1974-75, 1979-80
ECWC Winners: 1964-65

Formed: 1895 Entered League: 1919
Record Attendance: 42,322 v Tottenham Hotspur, Div 1, October 1970
Record Victory: 10-0 v Bury, League Cup 2nd round 2nd leg, October 1983
Record Defeat: 2-8 v Blackburn Rovers, Div 1, December 1963
Record Fee Paid: 1.65 million for Slaven Bilic, from Karlsruhe 1996
Record Fee Received:

• Club History
• The club was founded in 1895 as a company team of the Thames Ironworks. Many
  of the star players have been local men, whilst the Board has mainly
  comprised of people from generations of local families, most prominently the
  Cearns and the Pratt family. The Thames Ironworks was a famous ship building
  yard and the club had as a sponsor the head of the company, Mr Arnold Hills.
  Mr Hills was responsible for the club moving to a new arena at the Memorial
  Ground, which was equiped with a 100,000 Capacity Grandstand.
  
  In 1900 two events took place which were vital to the progress of the Club.
  Firstly, they were elected to the Southern League, and then they bacame a limited liability company under the name of West Ham United which severed it's former association with the Ironworks. In 1904 the club decided to move to it's present ground at Upton Park. In the period between 1900 and 1914, the Hammers had a good run in the Southern League, and when soccer resumed on a national level after World War 1, the club obtained entry to the 2nd Division of the Football League. In 1922/23 they ended as runners up in the 2nd Division, and appeared in the first ever FA Cup Final at Wembley - a match famous for the white horse incident, which the Club lost to Bolton by two
  goals to nil.
  
  The Club enjoyed 9 seasons in the 1st Division but was relegated to the 2nd Division and did not regain it's senior rating until 1958, when it won the 2nd Division Championship. Meanwhile, it has won the Football League war-time Cup in 1940 at Wembley by defeating Blackburn Rovers 1-0. The Club then went
  on to win the FA Cup 3 times at Wembley in 1964, 1975 and 1980. They won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1964/65 beating TSV Munich by 2-0 at Wembley, in a game which thrilled many millions on European TV, and still rates as one of the finest games at the Stadium. In 1965/66 the Club was defeated in the semi-finals of the ECWC. They reached the finals of the ECWC again in 1975, but this time lost 4-2 to Anderlecht in a Brussels Final. The Club were
  relegated to the 2nd Division in 1978, after 20 seasons in the top section of the league.
  
  The 1980/81 season was another remarkable season for the Club and the team went to Wembley to play in the League Cup Final against Liverpool. In the same
  year the Club reached the Quarter Finals of the ECWC and finished the year in style by clinching the 2nd Division. The Club's most successful season in the
  1st Division was in 1985/86 when it finished 3rd. The Club was relegated to the 2nd Division in the season 1988/89 and in the same year reached the semi-finals of the Littlewoods Cup. In the 1990/91 season, the Club reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, and were runners-up in the 2nd Division. In the 1991/92 season the club were relegated to the new Football League Division One, but in the following season, they were promoted to the FA Premier League.
  
  There have been 3 major visits by Royalty to the Boleyn Ground. The Prince of Wales attended a Charity match between West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur on the 8/12/1930. King Olav V of Norway has been a visitor on two occassions. The first was on 6/11/71 for a league game against Sheffield Wednesday, and the second on 12/11/88 when Nottingham Forest were the visitors.
  
  The Club is noted for it's long service record of it's players and officials and during it's history there have only been 8 managers : Sid King, Charlie Paynter, Ted Fenton, Ron Greenwood, John Lyall, Lou Macari, Billy Bonds and Harry Redknapp. Five West Ham players have appeared in the Royal Honours list.
  They are Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters, Trevor Brooking and Billy Bonds. The Clubs appearance record for a player, currently stands at 663 league games and 132 Cup Games with Billy Bonds. The previous record was held by Bobby Moore with 554 league games and 98 Cup games. Close to him was Frank Lampard with 551 League and 114 Cup. In 1966, three players from the Club played for England in the World Cup Final at Wembley, a record for an English Club. Bobby Moore was the Captain of the team, which won 4-2. Geoff Hurst scored 3 and Martin Peters scored the other.
  
  The Boleyn Ground takes it's name from the house which stood in Green Street, next to the ground until the 1950's. It became known as the Boleyn Castle,
  after Anne Boleyn, but this was not founded on fact as the 'castle' was indeed a building known as Green Street House. When West ham left the Memorial
  Grounds at Canning Town in May 1904, their new home at Upton Park was originally a cabbage patch where a Catholic school and reformatory stood. The
  first buildings were a small grandstand on the West side and a covered bank opposite. A Directors Box with Press facilities was situated in the South-West
  corner of the ground, and in the north-west corner was the changing rooms hut.
  
• West Ham Links

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