The earliest generally accepted incarnation of West Ham United was the founding of the Thames Ironworks team by foreman and local league referee Dave Taylor and owner Arnold Hills, which was announced in the Thames Ironworks Gazette of June 1895. The team played on a strictly amateur basis for 1895 at least, with a team featuring a number of works employees including Thomas Freeman (ships fireman), Walter Parks (clerk), Tom Mundy, Walter Tranter and James Lindsay (all boilermakers), William Chapman, George Sage, and William Chamberlain and apprentice riveter Charlie Dove. The club, Thames Ironworks were the first ever winners of the West Ham Charity Cup in 1895 contested by clubs in the West Ham locality, then won 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. The following year they came second from bottom, but had established themselves as a fully fledged competitive team. They comfortably fended off the challenge of local rivals Fulham in a relegation play-off, 5–1 in late April 1900 and retained their First Division status. The team initially played in full dark blue kits, as inspired by Mr. Hills, who had been an Oxford University "Blue," but changed the following season by adopting the sky blue shirts and white shorts combination worn through 1897 to 1899. In 1899, they acquired their now-traditional home kit combination of claret shirts and sky blue sleeves in a wager involving Aston Villa players, who were League Champions at the time.
Following growing disputes over the running and financing of the club, in June 1900 Thames Ironworks F.C. was disbanded, then almost immediately relaunched on 5 July 1900 as West Ham United F.C. with Syd King as their manager and future manager Charlie Paynter as his assistant. Because of the original "works team" roots and links (still represented upon the club badge), they are still known as "the Irons" or "the Hammers" amongst fans and the media. West Ham Utd joined the Western League for the 1901 season while also continuing to play in the Southern Division 1. In 1907, West Ham were crowned the Western League Division 1B Champions, and then defeated 1A champions Fulham 1–0 to become the Western League Overall Champions. The reborn club continued to play their games at the Memorial Grounds in Plaistow (funded by Arnold Hills) but moved to a pitch in the Upton Park area in the guise of the Boleyn Ground stadium in 1904. West Ham's first game in their new home was against fierce rivals Millwall (themselves an Ironworks team, albeit for a rival company) drawing a crowd of 10,000 and with West Ham running out 3–0 winners, and as the Daily Mirror wrote on 2 September 1904, "Favoured by the weather turning fine after heavy rains of the morning, West Ham United began their season most auspiciously yesterday evening; when they beat Millwall by 3 goals to 0 on their new enclosure at Upton Park."
In 1919, still under King's leadership, West Ham gained entrance to the Football League Second Division, their first game being a 1–1 draw with Lincoln City, and were promoted to Division One in 1923, also making it to the first ever FA Cup Final to be held at the old Wembley stadium. Their opponents were Bolton Wanderers. This was also known as the White Horse Final, so named because an estimated 200,000 people came to see the match; spilling out on to the pitch, which had to be cleared prior to kick-off, by "Billie," a giant white horse (actually grey) being ridden by PC George Scorey. The Cup Final match itself ended 2–0 to Bolton. The team enjoyed mixed success in Division 1 but retained their status for ten years and reached the FA Cup semi-final in 1933. In 1932, the club was relegated to Division Two[13] and long term custodian Syd King was sacked after serving the club in the role of manager for 32 years, and as a player from 1899 to 1903. Following relegation, King had mental health problems. He appeared drunk at a board meeting and soon after committed suicide. He was replaced with his assistant manager Charlie Paynter, who himself had been with West Ham in a number of roles since 1897 and who went on to serve the team in this role until 1950 for a total of 480 games. The club spent most of the next 30 years in this division, first under Paynter and then later under the leadership of former player Ted Fenton. Fenton succeeded in getting the club once again promoted to the top level of English football in 1958, and, with the considerable input of player Malcolm Allison, helped develop both the initial batch of future West Ham stars and West Ham's approach to the game.’
Ron Greenwood was appointed as Fenton's successor in 1961 and soon led the club to two major trophies, winning the FA Cup in 1964. The team was led by the young Bobby Moore. They also won the European Cup Winners' Cup. During the 1966 FIFA World Cup, key members of the tournament winners England were West Ham players, including the captain, Bobby Moore; Martin Peters (who scored in the final); and Geoff Hurst, who scored the first, and only, hat-trick in a men's World Cup final. All three players had come through the youth team at West Ham. There is a "Champions" statue in Barking Road, opposite The Boleyn Tavern, commemorating West Ham's "three sons" who helped win the 1966 World Cup: Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters. Also included on the statue is Everton's Ray Wilson. They also won the FA Cup in 1975 by defeating Fulham 2–0. The Fulham team had former England captains Alan Mullery and West Ham legend Bobby Moore. After a difficult start to the 1974–75 season, Greenwood moved himself "upstairs" to become general manager and, without informing the board, appointed his assistant John Lyall as team manager. The result was instant success – the team scored 20 goals in their first four games combined and won the FA Cup, becoming the last team to win the FA Cup with an all-English side when they beat Fulham 2–0 in the 1975 final. Lyall then guided West Ham to another European Cup Winners' Cup final in 1976, though the team lost the match 4–2 to Belgian side Anderlecht. Greenwood's tenure as general manager lasted less than three years, as he was appointed to manage England in the wake of Don Revie's resignation in 1977.
The original club crest was a crossed pair of rivet hammers; tools commonly used in the iron and shipbuilding industry. A castle was later (circa 1903–04) added to the crest and represents a prominent local building, Green Street House, which was known as "Boleyn Castle" through an association with Anne Boleyn. The manor was reportedly one of the sites at which Henry VIII courted his second queen, though in truth there is no factual evidence other than the tradition of rumour. The castle may have also been added as a result of the contribution made to the club by players of Old Castle Swifts, or even the adoption (in 1904) of Boleyn Castle FC as their reserve side when they took over their grounds on the site. A new badge was approved by supporters in July 2014 and was introduced following the end of the 2015–16 season, when the club moved into the Olympic Stadium. It removes the Boleyn Castle due to the club moving away, leaving just the crossed hammers, which the club says is inspired by the crest during the career of Bobby Moore. The word "London" will be introduced below to "establish the club firmly on the international stage", and the more minimalist approach is to give a "strong statement that is instantly West Ham United". The shape of the crest is that of the hull of HMS Warrior, the first ironclad warship in the Royal Navy, which was built by Thames Ironworks.
The original colours of the team were dark blue, due to Thames Ironworks chairman Arnold Hills being a former student of Oxford University. However, the team used a variety of kits including the claret and sky blue house colours of Thames Ironworks, as well as sky blue or white kit. The Irons permanently adopted claret and blue for home colours in the summer of 1899. Thames Ironworks right-half Charlie Dove received the Aston Villa kit from his father William Dove, who was a professional sprinter of national repute, as well as being involved with the coaching at Thames Ironworks. Bill Dove had been at a fair in Birmingham, close to Villa Park, the home ground of Aston Villa and was challenged to a race against four Villa players, who wagered money that one of them would win. Bill Dove defeated them and, when they were unable to pay the bet, one of the Villa players who was responsible for washing the team's kit offered a complete team's "football kits" to Dove in payment. The Aston Villa player subsequently reported to his club that the kit was "missing." This, however, is often disputed. The predecessors of Thames Ironworks, Old Castle Swifts FC, played in pale blue shirts, white shorts and claret socks as early as 1892, around the same time Aston Villa played in said same colours. Thames Ironworks, and later West Ham United, retained the claret yoke/blue sleeves design, but also continued to use their previously favoured colours for their away kits.
London Stadium, commonly known as the Olympic Stadium, is a stadium in Stratford, London, at Marshgate Lane in the Lower Lea Valley. It was constructed to serve as the home stadium for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, hosting the track and field events and opening and closing ceremonies. It was subsequently renovated as a multi-purpose stadium, with its primary tenants being West Ham United Football Club and British Athletics. The stadium is 6 1⁄2 miles from Central London. Land preparation for the stadium began in mid-2007, with the official construction start date on 22 May 2008, although piling works for the foundation began four weeks before. The stadium held its first public event in March 2012, serving as the finish line for a celebrity running event organised by the National Lottery. Following the Paralympics the stadium was used intermittently whilst under renovation, before re-opening in July 2016 with a capacity of 60,000. The decision to make West Ham United the main tenants was controversial, with the initial tenancy process having to be rerun. As well as its regular tenants, the stadium will continue to be used for a series of special events. The stadium hosted several 2015 Rugby World Cup matches, one test match of a tri-series between England Rugby League and New Zealand Rugby League in November 2015, and will host both the 2017 IAAF World Championships in Athletics and the 2017 World ParaAthletics Championships, the first time both events have been held in the same location consecutively. The stadium can also hold concerts with up to 80,000 spectators, and due to its oval shape and relocatable seating, it is suitable to host other sporting events such as Cricket or Baseball.
A total of four free shuttle buses are to operate on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, ferrying supporters with accessibility needs from Stratford Station to London Stadium. Staffed by the West Ham United Foundation, the buses will run from two hours prior to kick-off, to coincide with the turnstiles opening. Supporters will be collected from platform 13, near the Jubilee Line, and the shuttles will run at regular intervals. Following the final whistle, as soon as the police allow, the buses will continue to take supporters back to Stratford Station and, on Thursday, this system will operate until 10.45pm. The Hammers’ new home also boasts a disabled car park, with 49 Blue Badge parking spaces in Car Park 1A. All disabled Season Ticket Holders who had a parking space at the Boleyn Ground will automatically be allocated parking at the new Stadium. All accessible Blue Badge parking spaces on the Stadium Island are located as close as possible to main entrances within the parking area, with direct, clear and safe pedestrian routes provided. All the most local DLR, Underground, Overground and National Rail stations are fully accessible – Stratford, Pudding Mill Lane, Stratford International and Hackney Wick.
For ambulant disabled spectators, rest areas, including benches, some with back and arm rests, will be provided at no more than 50 metre intervals around the Stadium Island and landscaped areas. Additionally, supporters should note that West Ham’s expert accessibility staff will be on hand, both inside and en route to the Stadium, to provide any additional support and assistance required. There are 253 WAV spaces available, more than any other Premier League ground. It places the former Olympic Stadium ahead of other comparably sized stadia such as the Etihad Stadium (231) and well clear of Old Trafford (120). WAV spaces at London Stadium are located in a range of positions within the Stadium, at lower tier, middle-tier and upper tier, including 37 within the Club London hospitality suites. This provides wheelchair users with an excellent choice of location around the stadium. Similarly, all WAVs have a minimum clear sightline value of C-60 in accordance with Level Playing Field’s guidance. This ensures that wheelchair users will have a clear view of the playing surface at all times, even if supporters in front were to stand up. On the concourses, all catering outlets will be accessible and are located in relatively close proximity to the WAV viewing positions (WAVs); the outlets have been specifically designed to accommodate wheelchair-users. Twenty-five per cent of ticket counters are at an accessible height for wheelchair-users and include induction loops to support hearing aid users
The stewards are very helpful, especially about ensuring the visitor has the best possible seating. Disabled supporters ticket purchase and contact information: Disability Liaison Officer - Julie Pidgeon; Email - accessibility@westhamunited.co.uk; Telephone - 0845 174 0174. There is currently no Disabled Supporters Association. For the visually impaired Audio Descriptive Commentary is available with headsets needing to be pre-booked with the club. They are delivered to your seat and collected after the game. Hammers fans can go behind the scenes at the Club’s magnificent new Stadium on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. With an interactive, multimedia tour guide to lead the way, you can see for yourself how the home of the London 2012 Olympic Games became the stunning new home of West Ham United. This is your chance to snoop about in the home dressing room, experience that magical walk down the tunnel out onto the pitch, and see the Stadium through the eyes of Slaven Bilic with a seat in the dugout. You will be privy to never-before-seen West Ham video content with players and staff, as well as a host of unique photo opportunities and vantage points in the Stadium bowl. The Tour starts off in the Hammers new Stadium Store – which boasts over 1,200 new products and the new 2016/17 home and away kits – and is then rounded off back in the new Stadium Store, where supporters will receive an exclusive and complimentary, personalised certificate to remember the day.
Location : West Ham United Football Club, London Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London E20 2ST
Transport: Stratford (Central Line, Jubilee Line, DLR, TfL Rail, London Overground, Greater Anglia, C2C - National). Bus Routes: 25, 86, 97, 104, 108, 158, 241, 257, 262, 276, 308, 425, 473, and D8 stop close by at Stratford Bus Station.
Capacity : 60,000.
Stadium Tours: Daily 10:00 and 15:00.
Tickets Stadium Tour: Adults £17.00; Concessions £14.00; Children £10.00.
Tel: 0845 174 0174
