West Ham Landmarks – Moments In Time For The Hammers
Leicester City visit London Stadium on Monday evening (8pm BST kick-off) to meet the Hammers, remarkably, for the 132nd time in the league, despite the two sides never facing each other until after the First World War. Ahead of that clash, we recall some classic West Ham landmarks...
Sensational sixties
It’s impossible to pick a West Ham United historic landmark in the 1960s, because the truth is, the decade overall was simply brilliant for the club. Ron Greenwood was appointed successor to former Hammers boss Ted Fenton in 1961 – and so began a run of success that would form glory years for West Ham. Early in his career in charge of the team, Greenwood led them to two domestic trophies. In 1964, goals from John Sissons, Geoff Hurst and Ronnie Boyce helped the side to a 3-2 victory over Preston North End as West Ham won the FA Cup. With an emerging Bobby Moore in the side, the Hammers would go on to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1965, as an Alan Sealey brace proved too much for 1860 Munich. In 1966, the mood around West Ham was at fever pitch, as three of the club’s players – Moore, Hurst and Martin Peters – formed part of the England side to lift the World Cup, with Hurst scoring the first and only hat-trick in a World Cup Final.
A moment of magic
In January 1999, West Ham United manager Harry Redknapp signed striker Paolo Di Canio from Sheffield Wednesday for a fee of £1.5M. While the fiery Italian may have arrived in East London with something of a reputation, having been banned from football for 11 games following a push on referee Paul Alcock, he very quickly earned the love of every fan in claret and blue. Upon signing, Redknapp said of Di Canio: “He can do things with the ball that people can only dream of.” He wasn’t wrong; as the striker went on to score some spectacular goals for West Ham. In total, Paolo scored 47 league goals in 118 appearances. However, there’s one that stands out above all others. Watch any ‘Premier League’s greatest goals’ compilation and there’s a very high chance that Di Canio’s strike against Wimbledon in March 2000 is at the top of the countdown. If not, it’s likely to be very close. It’s a strike that was named the Premier League’s Goal of the Decade in 2009. Nine minutes into the contest, a sensational ball was played into Di Canio by Trevor Sinclair, across the Italian’s body. However, Di Canio still managed to somehow strike a sublime scissor-kick volley, meeting the ball with the outside of his right boot to produce a shot that left Wimbledon goalkeeper Neil Sullivan helpless. A touch of magic from a footballing wizard.
Farewell, Boleyn
On 10 May, 2016, West Ham bid farewell to its historic Boleyn Ground home. With the club moving to the vacant Olympic Stadium in Stratford, the entire 2015/16 season was essentially a long goodbye to the place that West Ham had called home for 112 years. That goodbye came to a conclusion on a Tuesday evening in May, as the Hammers played host to Manchester United in the final game to be played in Upton Park - and what a game it was. Diafra Sakho got the party atmosphere going on 10 minutes, meeting Manuel Lanzini’s cross low in the box before placing an effort to the right of David de Gea to give the home side a 1-0 lead going into the break. Anthony Martial levelled for United after half-time, before going on to score a second to give the visitors the lead. It wasn’t to deny West Ham on this special occasion though, as Dimitri Payet’s beautiful floating ball into the box from deep was met by the head of Michail Antonio to give de Gea no chance. Payet was also provider for West Ham’s third as the Hammers claimed victory, delivering another quality ball into the box that was glanced goalwards by Winston Reid. Whilst de Gea got a hand to it, he could not keep the ball out of the net, as euphoria erupted in East London.