60 Fun Facts About West Ham United

Which French star refused to play for West Ham in January 2017 to force a move back to Marseille?

Dimitri Payet. He had signed a contract to 2021 less than a year earlier, and although the club vowed not to sell, he was on his way within three weeks for £25 million.

Which Victorian warship, built by Thames Ironworks, gives its hull shape to West Ham's 2016 crest?

HMS Warrior. Britain's first iron-hulled armoured warship changed naval design so quickly that she was outdated within a decade of her 1860 launch, yet she survives as a museum ship in Portsmouth.

Who became West Ham United's first manager, staying in charge until 1932?

Syd King. Still a full-back when he took the job in 1902, he ran the team for thirty years until the board suspended him for being 'drunk and insubordinate' at a meeting.

By one account, how did West Ham's forerunners acquire Aston Villa's claret and blue kit?

Won in a bet on a foot race. As the story goes, a sprinter who coached the Ironworks outran four Villa players at a Birmingham fair in 1899, and the losers settled up with a set of their club's shirts.

West Ham's first match at Upton Park in September 1904 was a 3-0 win over which fierce rivals?

Millwall. The two clubs were still neighbours north of the Thames then: the visitors played on the Isle of Dogs and did not cross the river until 1910.

Which club's reserve side did West Ham beat behind closed doors at Upton Park in the 1980 'ghost match'?

Real Madrid. Their reserve team Castilla had qualified for Europe as Spanish cup runners-up to the senior side, and after crowd trouble at the first leg West Ham won the return 5-1 before an official crowd of 262.

Which West Ham defender scored a hat-trick past three different Newcastle goalkeepers in an 8-1 win in 1986?

Alvin Martin. The centre-half scored past the first-choice keeper, then stand-in Chris Hedworth after an injury, and finally England forward Peter Beardsley, Newcastle's third goalkeeper of the match.

Which club won the 1923 'White Horse final' at Wembley 2-0?

Bolton Wanderers. They beat West Ham 2-0 once mounted police had pushed an overflowing crowd off the Wembley pitch, and the 'white' horse of the famous photographs was really a grey.

West Ham beat Blackburn Rovers 1-0 at Wembley to win the first edition of which competition?

The Football League War Cup. It stood in for the suspended FA Cup, and Sam Small's goal settled the June 1940 final in front of more than 42,000 fans who turned out despite fears of an air raid.

Malcolm Allison's 1950s meetings that grew into the 'Academy of Football' were held at which venue?

Cassettari's Café on Barking Road. The players pushed salt and pepper pots around the tables to map out formations, in afternoon sessions that manager Ted Fenton encouraged.

Which manager, appointed in 1961, led West Ham to the 1964 FA Cup and the 1965 Cup Winners' Cup?

Ron Greenwood. He moved 'upstairs' as general manager in 1974 and left three years later to take the England job after Don Revie resigned.

Which West Ham player scored England's other goal in the 1966 World Cup final, alongside Geoff Hurst's hat-trick?

Martin Peters. He put England 2-1 up before West Germany forced extra time, so West Ham players scored all four goals in the 4-2 win, with club-mate Bobby Moore as captain.

Bobby Moore lost the 1975 FA Cup final to West Ham while playing for which club?

Fulham. Moore had left West Ham 14 months earlier, and both goals in the 2-0 win came from Alan Taylor, a 21-year-old signed from Fourth Division Rochdale for £40,000.

West Ham lost a European final in 1976, 4-2, to which Belgian club?

Anderlecht. The final was played in Brussels, their home city, and François Van der Elst, who scored twice in the 4-2 win, later signed for West Ham.

West Ham won the 1980 FA Cup while playing in which division?

The Second Division. As of 2025 no club from outside the top flight has won the FA Cup since, and the only goal against the holders was a rare header from West Ham's England playmaker.

The West Ham side that finished third in the top flight in 1985-86 became known as what?

The Boys of 86. Third place should have meant a UEFA Cup place, but English clubs were banned from Europe after the Heysel disaster, and as of 2025 it remains the club's highest league finish.

Which West Ham manager won the FA Cup in 1975 and 1980 but was sacked after relegation in 1989?

John Lyall. He joined as a ground-staff boy, retired at 23 with a knee injury and worked in the club's wages office before coaching; he was only West Ham's fifth manager in 87 years.

Which West Ham manager resigned in 1990, after seven months, amid betting allegations from his time at Swindon?

Lou Macari. His replacement, long-serving former captain Billy Bonds, won promotion back to the top flight in his first full season, 1990-91.

Which West Ham signing from Oxford United in 1994 grew homesick and left for Swindon without playing a competitive game?

Joey Beauchamp. The winger disliked the commute from Oxford and was sold within two months, in a deal that sent defender Adrian Whitbread to West Ham.

Which West Ham academy graduate played under his uncle, manager Harry Redknapp, and his father, the assistant manager?

Frank Lampard. After both men left in 2001 he moved to Chelsea for £11 million and went on to become that club's all-time leading goalscorer.

Which £1 million West Ham signing of 1995 is remembered mainly for being sent off for a foul on Gary Neville?

Marco Boogers. Harry Redknapp said he had bought the Dutchman on the strength of a video, and within months a newspaper story had him hiding out in a caravan in the Netherlands.

West Ham's fifth place in 1999 was followed by winning which European trophy against Metz?

The Intertoto Cup. Beating Metz took West Ham into the UEFA Cup, their first European campaign since 1980-81, which ended against Steaua Bucharest in the second round.

Which West Ham manager collapsed after a win in April 2003, weeks before his side went down with 42 points?

Glenn Roeder. He had a brain tumour that was later removed, and a caretaker went unbeaten in the last three games, yet 42 points, then a record for a relegated side in a 38-game season, was not enough.

Alan Pardew's West Ham won the 2005 play-off final 1-0 against Preston with a goal from whom?

Bobby Zamora. His goal in Cardiff sent West Ham up a year after they had lost the same final to Crystal Palace, manager Alan Pardew's former club.

Whose long-range equaliser in stoppage time denied West Ham the 2006 FA Cup before Liverpool won on penalties?

Steven Gerrard. West Ham led 2-0 and then 3-2 in Cardiff before the Liverpool captain's second goal of the game made it 3-3, and they lost the shoot-out 3-1.

West Ham were fined £5.5 million in 2007 over signing Carlos Tevez and which other Argentine?

Javier Mascherano. Avoiding a points deduction proved decisive: Tevez's winner on the final day kept West Ham up, and relegated Sheffield United later won an arbitration ruling against the club.

The consortium that bought West Ham in November 2006 came from which country?

Iceland. Eggert Magnússon fronted the £85 million takeover for banker Björgólfur Guðmundsson, whose fortune collapsed with the country's banks, and by January 2010 new owners had bought in.

Who became West Ham's first non-British manager in September 2008?

Gianfranco Zola. The former Chelsea forward's stylish side finished ninth in his first season, but he was dismissed in May 2010 after West Ham ended one place above the relegation zone.

West Ham's 2011 relegation was sealed when they blew a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 at which club?

Wigan Athletic. Demba Ba's two goals had West Ham ahead at half-time, but Charles N'Zogbia's added-time winner sent them down, and manager Avram Grant was sacked after the game.

Who scored West Ham's late winner against Blackpool in the 2012 Championship play-off final?

Ricardo Vaz Tê. He made it 2-1 at Wembley after Blackpool had cancelled out Carlton Cole's opener, taking West Ham back to the Premier League after one season away.

How did West Ham qualify for the 2015-16 Europa League?

By topping the Fair Play table. It meant the season began on 2 July with a qualifier against Andorra's Lusitanos, when 16-year-old Reece Oxford became the club's youngest ever player.

West Ham ended 112 years at the Boleyn Ground in May 2016 with a 3-2 win over which club?

Manchester United. Winston Reid's 80th-minute goal completed a comeback from 2-1 down, in a match that kicked off late after the visitors' team coach was pelted with missiles outside.

What nickname did West Ham fans give the old East Stand terrace at the Boleyn Ground?

The Chicken Run. The original was a wooden terrace partly enclosed in chicken wire, and the name lived on after the stand was rebuilt in 1969.

Which two clubs mounted the legal challenge that collapsed West Ham's first Olympic Stadium deal in 2011?

Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient. Spurs had bid for the stadium themselves, while Orient, the nearest league club, feared a top-flight neighbour on their doorstep would put them out of business.

West Ham's 2013 London Stadium agreement made the club the stadium's what?

Tenants. After the first deal collapsed, the stadium was kept in public ownership, so West Ham play there on a 99-year lease instead of owning their home ground.

Which German club beat West Ham in the 2022 Europa League semi-final, 46 years after losing a European semi-final to them?

Eintracht Frankfurt. West Ham had knocked the same club out of the 1976 Cup Winners' Cup semi-final, but this time the Germans won 3-1 on aggregate and went on to lift the trophy.

West Ham's 2023 Conference League win, their first major trophy since 1980, came against which club?

Fiorentina. Jarrod Bowen ran clear to score in the 90th minute in Prague, sealing a 2-1 win and the club's first European trophy in 58 years.

Which midfielder retired in 2022 after 550 West Ham appearances and later returned as sporting director?

Mark Noble. Nicknamed 'Mr West Ham' after 18 years in the first team, he had publicly attacked the board's sale of Grady Diangana while captain, then joined the club's management within a year of retiring.

Which club paid West Ham £100 million for captain Declan Rice in July 2023?

Arsenal. Rice left weeks after lifting the Conference League trophy, and in 2026 he won the Premier League with his new club in the very season West Ham were relegated.

Who overtook Paolo Di Canio in 2021 to become West Ham's record Premier League goalscorer?

Michail Antonio. First used on the wing and even at right-back, he broke the record with two goals against Leicester and celebrated by lifting a cardboard cut-out of himself, Dirty Dancing style.

Which manager, Lopetegui's January replacement, was sacked in September 2025 with West Ham 19th?

Graham Potter. He was dismissed after nine months, and successor Nuno Espírito Santo could not stop West Ham going down on the final day of the 2025-26 season.

West Ham's 2026 relegation was confirmed on the final day when which club beat Everton to stay up?

Tottenham Hotspur. West Ham beat Leeds 3-0 at the same time, but Spurs held on to their first-half lead over Everton, ending the Hammers' 14-year stay in the Premier League.

The crossed tools on West Ham's badge are what?

Rivet hammers. They recall the shipyard workers the club was founded for, and crossed hammers also sit in the borough of Newham's coat of arms.

What did West Ham add beneath their crest in the redesign for the 2016 stadium move?

The name of the capital city. 'London' went beneath the badge as the club prepared to leave for the Olympic Stadium, and the castle that recalled the Boleyn Ground was removed.

Which German club did West Ham beat 2-0 at Wembley to win the 1965 European Cup Winners' Cup?

TSV 1860 Munich. Alan Sealey scored twice in three second-half minutes, and Bobby Moore lifted a trophy at Wembley for the second of three summers running: FA Cup, this final, then the World Cup.

West Ham's anthem is said to trace back to a player's likeness to the child in adverts for what?

Pears soap. Its adverts used Millais's painting Bubbles, and Billy Murray, said to resemble the curly-haired boy, became known as 'Bubbles'; it is one of several stories of how I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles reached the terraces.

Which pub song sung by West Ham fans also gives its name to a supporters' website?

Knees Up Mother Brown. The East End song also inspired 'Step in Time' in Mary Poppins: the Sherman brothers wrote it after seeing Walt Disney kick up his legs to the dance, taught to him by a British colleague.

West Ham fans chant Paolo Di Canio's name to which Verdi aria?

La donna è mobile. Verdi knew the tune was catchy, so he kept it from his cast until just before Rigoletto's 1851 premiere and banned them from whistling it outside the theatre.

Which hooligan group followed West Ham in the 1970s and 80s?

The Inter City Firm. Named after the InterCity trains its members took to away games, it left calling cards on its victims that read 'Congratulations, you have just met the ICF'.

Which Czech billionaire bought 27% of West Ham in November 2021?

Daniel Křetínský. The lawyer turned investor, whose football interests already included Sparta Prague, bought in through a company called 1890s Holdings and joined West Ham's board as part of the deal.

Which academy graduate left West Ham for Chelsea after the 2003 relegation and rejoined from Liverpool ten years later?

Joe Cole. Long hailed as a child prodigy, he was one of several stars sold after the drop, won three league titles with Chelsea and came back to Upton Park in January 2013.

West Ham retired the number 38 shirt as a posthumous honour for which young striker?

Dylan Tombides. The Australian made his only first-team appearance while being treated for testicular cancer and died in 2014 aged 20; the charity DT38 now campaigns in his name.

Which shirt number did West Ham retire in honour of Bobby Moore?

Number 6. The club retired it in 2008 to mark 50 years since Moore's debut, which meant Matthew Upson, the man then wearing it, had to switch to 15.

West Ham's 3-0 win in August 2015 ended a 52-year wait for a league victory at which ground?

Anfield. Manuel Lanzini scored inside three minutes on his Premier League debut and both sides finished with ten men, as West Ham won a league game at Liverpool for the first time since 1963.

Much of the West Ham academy's success is credited to which youth coach, in post from 1973 to 2014?

Tony Carr. A former West Ham youth player whose own career was ended by injury, he coached future England internationals such as Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick and was made an MBE.

Which West Ham player was the first to be voted Hammer of the Year five times?

Trevor Brooking. He won it three years running from 1976 and again in 1984, his final season, then twice stepped in as West Ham's caretaker manager in 2003 and lost only one game.

Which Everton player joins West Ham's three 1966 heroes on the Champions statue near the Boleyn Ground?

Ray Wilson. The sculpture copies the famous lap-of-honour photograph of Bobby Moore held shoulder-high with the trophy, and the Everton left-back was one of the three team-mates in the picture.

What did Thames Ironworks players wear on their shirts as a badge before the club became West Ham?

The Union Flag. It sat on shirts that were dark blue, not claret and blue: the works side went through several kits before the colours West Ham are known for took hold.

Which 2005 film starring Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnam is based on West Ham hooligan firms?

Green Street. The title comes from the road beside the old Boleyn Ground, and the film's fictional gang, the Green Street Elite, sing I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles as their anthem.

Which West Ham player was named Footballer of the Year by football writers in 2011, the season the club was relegated?

Scott Parker. The writers chose him even though West Ham finished bottom of the league, and the club's own fans had just voted him Hammer of the Year for a third season running.