West Ham United F.C.

Did You Know?

• The club originally wore navy blue, the sporting colours of Harrow School and Oxford University, which Thames Ironworks chairman Arnold Hills had attended.
• One story suggests the claret and blue kit came from an Aston Villa kit given to Thames Ironworks right-half Charlie Dove by sprinter William Belton, who won a bet against four Villa players.
• West Ham United does not have a club motto, but the 'West Ham Way' philosophy emphasises developing good players through the youth system, honesty, commitment, and creative attacking football.

History

The earliest generally accepted incarnation of West Ham United was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks F.C., the works team of the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, by foreman Dave Taylor and owner Arnold Hills. The team played on an amateur basis in 1895, featuring employees such as ships fireman Thomas Freeman, clerk Walter Parks, and boilermakers Johnny Stewart, Walter Tranter, and James Lindsay. Thames Ironworks won the West Ham Charity Cup in 1895 and the London League in 1897. They turned professional in 1898 upon entering the Southern League Second Division and were promoted to the First Division at the first attempt. After finishing second from bottom the following year, they retained their First Division status by defeating Fulham 5–1 in a relegation play-off in April 1900. Following disputes over the running and financing of the club, Thames Ironworks F.C. was disbanded in June 1900 and relaunched as West Ham United F.C. on 5 July 1900, with Syd King as manager and Charlie Paynter as his assistant. The club's original works team roots are still represented on the club badge, and the team is known as 'the Irons' or 'the Hammers'.

Crest

The Thames Ironworks team from 1895 to 1900 used the Union Flag as its badge. The principal element of the current badge is a pair of crossed rivet hammers, tools used in shipbuilding. In the shipbuilding process, seven large mechanical steam hammers punched holes near the edges of iron plates, which were joined with rivets by teams of five: three inside the vessel and two outside. Inside, one member heated rivets and threw them to a 'catch-boy' or 'putter-in', who placed the rivet in the hole. A 'holder-on' smashed the rivet home with a sixteen-pound sledgehammer and held it while the men outside flattened the other end. Outside, two men with rivet hammers—one right-handed, one left-handed—hammered the protruding rivet flat. The crossed hammers also appear in the coat of arms of the County Borough of West Ham and its successor, the London Borough of Newham. A yellow or white tower was added intermittently from the 1950s, likely representing Anne Boleyn's Tower, a feature of Green Street House (also known as Boleyn Castle) that stood next to the Boleyn Ground until 1955. The tower may also reflect the contribution of players from Old Castle Swifts.

Supporters, hooliganism and rivalries

West Ham supporters are known for singing the chorus of 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles', introduced by former manager Charlie Paynter in the late 1920s. The song's association with the club arose from a Pears soap commercial featuring a child resembling player Billy J. 'Bubbles' Murray, a schoolboy from Park School whose headmaster, Cornelius Beal, wrote special words to the tune for players having a good game. Beal was a friend of Paynter, and fans began singing the music hall tune before home games, sometimes reinforced by a house band. The 1975 FA Cup version, with original lyrics and vocals from the team's players, is played before home games, and fans continue singing after the music stops. Around 60 bubble machines produce bubbles when the song is sung. Since the 1950s, fans have also sung 'Knees Up Mother Brown'. The club has a long-standing rivalry with Millwall, and the fixture has gained notoriety for frequent incidents of football hooliganism.

Stadium

Until 2016, West Ham were based at the Boleyn Ground, commonly known as Upton Park, in Newham, East London, with a capacity of 35,016. The club had played there since 1904. Previously, as Thames Ironworks, they played at Hermit Road in Canning Town, briefly at Browning Road in East Ham, and then at the Memorial Grounds in Plaistow from 1897, retaining that stadium during the transition to West Ham United until moving to the Boleyn Ground in 1904. Former chairman Eggert Magnússon expressed ambition for the club to move to the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Summer Olympics, a desire reiterated by later chairmen Gold and Sullivan. In February 2010, the British Olympic Minister stated West Ham would not get the stadium, but on 17 May 2010, West Ham and Newham London Borough Council submitted a formal plan for a 60,000-capacity stadium retaining an athletics track. The proposal was welcomed by UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner. On 30 September 2010, the club formally submitted its bid with a presentation at 10 Downing Street, and on 11 February 2011, the Olympic Park Legacy Committee selected West Ham as the preferred club to move into the Olympic Stadium.