West Ham United Retro Football Shirts

West Ham United were founded in 1900 as a professional club but operated under the name Thames Ironworks FC for several years beforehand. Former Thames Ironworks player Syd King was the team’s first manager and played their games originally at the Memorial Ground in Plaistow. However, in 1904 the team underwent a transformation with a new club badge and a move to the Boleyn Ground, known as Upton Park to many, where they still play their matches to date. Their first match at Upton Park was in 1904 against Milwall where the Hammers won 3-0. Up until the First World War, West Ham competed in several leagues including the Western league and Southern league.

In 1919, the club were elected to the second tier of the Football League in the first season post war. Still under the guidance of Syd King, they were eventually promoted in 1923 in a season where they also reached the FA Cup final only to lose 2-0 to Bolton Wanderers. The team enjoyed 11 years in the top flight but only twice managed to finish inside the top ten. In 1932, Syd King was released as manager and his assistant Charlie Paynter took the reigns and oversaw the club’s relegation in the same year. Paynter attempted to rebuild the team with youth but his plans were in tatters as many of his players were called up to the Second World War in 1939 when the side were still in division two. Nevertheless, they won their first trophy in 1940 with a League Cup victory over Blackburn Rovers.

As Paynter retired in 1950, Ted Fenton took the reigns and looked to complete redevelop the club mainly through the construction of an academy. The structure took place over a number of years and the club achieved promotion in 1958 back to the top division. Fenton was replaced by Ron Greenwood in 1962 who looked to turn the Hammers into a dominant force. He did just that by guiding the team to their first major trophy in 1964 with a 3-2 victory over Preston North End that saw Ronnie Boyce score a last minute goal for the club. The success was repeated a year later as the team turned into European winners with a 2-0 Cup Winners Cup final victory over 1860 Munich. Unfortunately, the Hammers weren’t third time lucky as they lost 6-3 on aggregate in the final of the League Cup in 1966. Despite their cup success, the team performed fairly average in the league and never threatened to challenge for the title. The core of the side was based on England’s World Cup winning trio of Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst.

Greenwood’s reign came to an end in 1975 as he guided the team to their 2nd FA Cup success against Fulham before leaving for the England managers position. He was replaced by John Lyall who guided the club to their 2nd Cup Winners Cup final but this time West Ham were on the losing side with a 4-2 defeat against Anderlecht. Despite the teams relegation to the second division in 1978, Lyall retained the majority of his players and achieved their second FA Cup victory in 1980 with a 1-0 victory over Arsenal. They were the last club to win the trophy whilst being outside of the top division. They were eventually promoted back to the first division in the early 80’s and achieved some high league finishes under Lyall including a 3rd place in 1986. However, in 1989, he was sacked after the Hammers were once again relegated to the second division.

Lou Macari had a brief spell as manager for a season before resigning and Billy Bonds took over the manager’s hotseat. A promotion was gained in 1991 but they were relegated again in 1992 meaning they missed the first season of the Premier League. Thankfully, the Hammers gained promotion at the first attempt and finished comfortable mid table in their first Premiership campaign. However, Bonds was replaced by Harry Redknapp in 1994. Despite having a weak looking team on paper, the team performed well on the pitch and avoided relegation on several occasions slowly progressing up the table season by season in the process. However, the 1997 season saw the team bottom at the half way stage but some inspired signings including John Hartson and Paul Kitson helped the club narrowly survive. Nevertheless, the following seasons saw more progress as the club finished an 8th and then a very impressive 5th which qualified them for the Intertoto Cup which they won allowing them entry into the UEFA Cup. With a lot more matches to contend with, West Ham did well to consolidate and finish 9th in 2000. However, Redknapp’s star asset Rio Ferdinand was sold against his wishes and relationships with the board became untennable. Redknapp was sacked shortly into 2001.

Since then, West Ham have not been as successful. Glenn Roeder was an unpopular choice as replacement and led the Hammers to relegation before he was sacked in 2003. Alan Pardew led the team back to the Premiership and progressed the club to the 2005 FA Cup final where they were minutes away from beating Liverpool before a late equaliser from Steven Gerrard sent the game to penalties where they were defeated. A takeover deal seemingly disrupted Pardew and they started the 06/07 season poorly leading to his sacking. Alan Curbishley saved the team from relegation and once again stabilised them before he resigned due to board interferences. West Ham are currently managed by Gianfranco Zola and after a steady first season, will be looking towards European football for the next campaign.