West Ham United History

Year by year history:

• 1895 – the club were built upon the remains of Old Castle Swifts F.C. (the first professional football team in Essex). The first name was Thames Ironworks F.C. Arnold Hills was the chairman.
• 1898 – this year the club became professional and elected to the Southern League. Hermit Road stadium was a home ground of the team.
• 1900 – Thames Ironworks F.C. was reformed as West Ham United F.C.
• 1901 – Syd King appointed as secretary of the club and in 1902 he became a manager.
• 1904 – West Ham moved to the Boleyn Ground.
• September 2, 1904 – the first home game at a new place was against Millwall. The club won 3-0. Billy Bridgeman scored all three goals.
• 1912 – Charlie Paynter became first team trainer and coach.
• 1913 – Danny Shea was signed for a record fee of £2,000.
• 1919 – the football club was elected to the Football League.
• August 30, 1919 – the first Second Division game took place at Upton Park. The Irons played against Lincoln City. The result of the match was draw 1-1.
• 1921 - Syd Puddefoot was transferred to Falkirk for a fee of £5,000.
• December 27, 1921 – took place the first match against foreign opposition. Haarlem were beaten by the Hammers 4-2.
• April 28, 1923 – the club reached the first FA Cup final against Bolton Wanderers, but lost 2-0. Nevertheless they won promotion to Division One.The first game in the First Division resulted in draw 0-0, but they won1-0 the home game against Arsenal.
• 1925 - West Stand was opened.
• 1929 – Vic Watson scored 6 goals against Leeds United at Upton Park and set a new club’s record.
• 1931 – after a death of Syd King, Charlie Paynter took over as manager.
• 1932 – the club was relegated to the Second Division.
• 1933 – West Ham Utd were beaten by Everton 2-1 in FA Cup semi-final at Wolverhampton.
• 1940 – the team won the Football League War Cup, defeating Blackburn Rovers 1-0 at Wembley.
• 1950 – Ted Fenton was appointed manager. Reg Pratt became a new chairman of the club.
• April, 1953 – the first game at Upton Park. Tottenham Hotspur were beaten by the club 2-1.
• March, 1956 – Bury were defeated 3-2 by the Hammers in the first League game at Upton Park. In the final of Southern Floodlight Cup game the club won the cup, beating Aldershot 2-1.
• 1957 – football club reached the FA Youth Cup final but lost 8-2 on aggregate to Manchester United.
• 1958 – Hammers became the champions of the Second Division and got promotion to the First Division.
• 1959 – West Ham football club reached the FA Youth Cup final again, but this time they lost 2-1 on aggregate to Blackburn Rovers.
• 1961 – Ted Fenton was replaced by Ron Greenwood.
• March, 1962 – Ron Greenwood signed Johnny Byrne from Crystal Palace for a record fee of £65,000.
• 1963 - the club won the FA Youth Cup, beating Liverpool 6-5 on aggregate.
• 1964 – in semi-final of the League Cup the Irons lost 6-3 to Leicester City.
• May 2, 1964 – West Ham FC won the FA Cup for the first time in their history, defeating Preston North End 3-2 at Wembley.
• August 15, 1964 - the team played against Liverpool at Anfield in the FA Charity Shield. The result of the game was2-2 draw.
• April 16, 1965 – in 6-1 home match against West Bromwich Albion, Brian Dear scored five goals.
• May 19, 1965 – West Germans TSV Munich 1860 were beaten by the Hammers 2-0. As the result the team won the European Cup Winners’ Cup. Alan Sealey scored both goals.
• 1966 – the first League Cup final appearance against West Bromwich Albion ended in a 5-3 aggregate defeat.
• October 19, 1968 – Geoff Hurst scored six goals in 8-0 home game against Sunderland.
• January 4, 1969 – East Stand was opened for the FA Cup visit of Bristol City.
• March, 1970 – Martin Peters was transferred to Spurs for a record fee of £200,000.
• 1971 - John Lyall took the managerial reigns.
• April 15, 1972 – Geoff Hurst transferred to Stoke City.
• March 14, 1974 – Bobby Moore joined Fulham for a fee of £25,000.
• May 3 , 1975 – the Irons won the FA Cup, beating Fulham 2-0.
• August 9, 1975 – the club lost to Derby County 2-0 at Wembley in the FA Charity Shield.
• 1976 – the team were defeated by Anderlecht (Belgium) 4-2 in the European Cup Winners’ Cup final at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels.
• 1977 – Ron Greenwood was replaced with John Lyall.
• 1978 – the club was relegated to the Second Division.
• 1979 – Len Cearns became a new chairman of the club.
• May 10, 1980 – at the FA Cup at West Ham United beating Arsenal and won the trophy.
• 1981 – the club got the Second Division title and got promotion to the First Division. The Irons reached the the League Cup final, they were defeated by Liverpool 2-1. Nevertheless the team won the FA Youth Cup final, beating Spurs, 2-1 on aggregate.
• October 25, 1983 – a record win – a 10-0 game against Bury in the League Cup at Upton Park.
• 1985 – the youth team of the club won the South East Counties championship for the first time.
• 1986 – West Ham reached the third place in Canon League Division One.
• 1989 – after a 5-1 loss to Liverpool, Hammers were relegated. John Lyall was dismissed and Lou Macari was brought in.
• February 20, 1990 – Billy Bonds became a new manager of the club. The new record for Hammers – 19 consecutive matches without defeat.
• November, 1991 – Peter Storrie took over a post of s the Club’s first Managing Director.
• 1992 – after the relegation to the Second Division, Billy Bonds became an assistant manager, Terence Brown was appointed Chairman and Martin Cearnes became Vice-Chairman.
• 1993 – the team defeated Cambridge United at Upton Park and got promotion. The first FA Premier League game had a such result as: a 1-1 draw at Coventry City.
• January, 1994 – The Bobby Moore Stand was opened.
• August 10, 1994 – Harry Redknapp took the managerial reigns.
• 1995 – Centenary Stand was opened. West Ham lost 2-1 to Leeds United at home match.
• 1996 – the youth team became the South-East Counties League champions, but were defeated by Liverpool in the FA Youth Cup final.
• 1999 – Marc-Vivien Foe was signed for a record fee of £4.5million from French club RC Lens. The club finished in 5th position. They also became winners of Intertoto Cup.
• 2000 – the club lost Worthington Cup in re-match to Villa 3-1.
• 2001 – the Irons defeated Manchester United 1-0 in the FA Cup fourth round. Glenn Roeder was appointed as manager.
• 2002 – under Roeder the team finished in 7th place in the Premiership. Dr Martens West Stand was opened.
• 2003 – the team won the match against Nottingham Forrest in the FA Cup. Alan Pardew became a new manager. He signed such players as: Hayden Mullins and Marlon Harewood and the club reached the playoff, but lost to Crystal Palace.
• 2005 – 2006 – West Ham reached the FA Cup final, but were beaten by Liverpool. Carlos Tévez and Javier Mascherano joined the club.
• 2006 - after a poor results Alan Pardew was replaced by Alan Curbishley.
• 2006 – 2007 – the club won 7 games of last nine and in such a way avoided relegation.