WEST HAM UNITED
The Heritage, The History, The Future... With their attractive style of play, claret and blue jerseys and a catchy anthem, West Ham United are certainly a unique beast in the football world. Since the early 50s, the club has been known as “The Academy of Football”, with many young and talented players coming through their ranks. With a proud tradition in English football for playing entertaining, attacking football. It is an approach that has thrilled millions since the east London club was formed It is 125 years since the Football Club now known throughout the world as West Ham United came into existence. Even though the club was reformed as West Ham United FC at the turn of the twentieth century, their roots go back to 1885 and the foundation of Thames Ironworks FC. The club was founded by Arnold Hills, the director of the Thames Ironworks shipyard department, the huge shipyard and ironworks famous for its 1860 launch of HMS Warrior, at the time
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the biggest warship in the world; the idea was that a football team would improve the relations between the management and the workers. Their humble beginnings as a works team are a big part of West Ham’s history, which is most evident in the club’s most popular nicknames (the Hammers and the Irons), as well as in the club’s crest, which still features a pair of crossed rivet hammers. Thames Ironworks FC’s first-ever match took place at Hermit Road on 7 September 1895, with the opposition being Woolwich Arsenal’s reserve team, Royal Ordnance and ending in a 1-1 draw and followed by a number of friendlies against local opposition. The Ironworks then played their first competitive match on 12 October 1895. Chatham were the hosts in the FA Cup, with the tie being switched to Kent after the opposition claimed the Hermit Road pitch was ‘unsuitable’. Although the 5-0 loss wasn’t the start Thames Ironworks FC would have wanted, by
the season’s end, they had secured their first silverware, beating Barking in the West Ham Charity Cup final. In addition, the Club pioneered floodlit football, with the Hermit Road pitch being surrounded by light bulbs attached to poles! The steady improvement in the Club’s fortunes since its inception, included the 1904 move to the famous Boleyn Ground. West Ham’s first game at their new home was against Millwall on 1st September 1904. It drew a crowd of 10,000, the majority of whom were rewarded as West Ham ran out 3-0 winners. In the early years the club played in London League, Southern League and Western League. In 1919, West Ham became a member of the Football League and participated in the second division the first season after the war. Four years later, the team was promoted to the first division. The same year, they would partake in a legendary game. It was the first FA Cup final to take place at Wembley Stadium and would later be known as ‘White Horse Final’. There, on 28 April 1923, an estimated 240,000 spectators turned out to watch the final, which Bolton Wanderers won 2-0, but not before a grey horse named ‘Billy’ had helped to clear TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
