Portsmouth v West Ham

The club was founded in 1898 with John Brickwood, owner of the local brewery, as chairman, and Frank Brettell as the club's first manager. The club joined the Southern League in 1899 and their first league match was played at Chatham Town on 2 September 1899 (a 1-0 victory), followed three days later by the first match at Fratton Park against local rivals Southampton. That first season was hugely successful, with the club winning 20 out of 28 league matches, earning them the runner-up spot in the league. 1910-11 saw Portsmouth(Click here to buy Portsmouth tickets) relegated, but with the recruitment of Bob Brown as manager the team were promoted the next season.

Football was suspended during World War I, but following the resumption of matches Portsmouth(Click here to buy Portsmouth tickets) won the Southern League for the second time. Continuing success saw them in the Third Division for the 1920-21 season. They finished 12th that year, but won the league in the 1923-24 season. The club continued to perform well in the Second Division, winning promotion by finishing 2nd in the 1926-27 season, gaining a record 9-1 win over Notts County along the way.

Portsmouth(Click here to buy Portsmouth tickets)'s debut season in the First Division was a struggle. The next season they continued to falter, losing 10-0 to Leicester City, still a club record defeat. However, despite their failings in the league, that season also saw Portsmouth(Click here to buy Portsmouth tickets) reach the FA Cup final for the first time, which they lost to Bolton Wanderers.

Portsmouth(Click here to buy Portsmouth tickets) managed to survive relegation, and their fortunes began to change. The 1933-34 season saw Portsmouth(Click here to buy Portsmouth tickets) again reach the FA Cup Final, beating Manchester United, Bolton Wanderers, Leicester City and Birmingham City on the way. Unfortunately the club was again defeated in the final, this time to Manchester City.

Having established themselves in the top flight, the 1938-39 season saw Portsmouth(Click here to buy Portsmouth tickets) reach their third FA Cup Final. This time the club managed to defeat the favourites, Wolves, convincingly 4-1. Bert Barlow scored twice whilst Cliff Parker and Jock Anderson completed the famous victory.

League football was again suspended due to World War II, meaning Pompey hold the unusual distinction of holding the FA Cup for the longest uninterrupted period as the trophy wasn't contested again until the 1945-46 season.

League football resumed for the 1946-47 campaign. In Pompey's Golden Jubilee season of 1948-49, the club were tipped to be the first team of the 20th century to win the Football League and FA Cup double. However, Pompey crashed out of the FA Cup in the semi-final against Leicester City, but made up for it by claiming the league title in spectacular fashion. That season also saw a record attendance of 51,385, a record which still stands to this day.

The club retained the title the following year, beating Aston Villa 5-1 on the last day of the season, and are thus one of only five English teams to have won back to back titles since World War II. Although the team finished third in 1954-55, subsequent seasons saw Pompey struggle and they were relegated to the Second Division in 1959.

Portsmouth(Click here to buy Portsmouth tickets) went down to the Third Division in 1961 but were promoted back to the Second Division at the first time of asking under the guidance of George Smith. Despite limited financial means, Smith maintained Portsmouth(Click here to buy Portsmouth tickets)'s Second Division status throughout the sixties until moving upstairs to become General Manager in April 1970.

A cash injection, that accompanied the arrival of John Deacon as chairman in 1972, failed to improve Pompey's league position. With Deacon unable to continue bankrolling the club on the same scale, Pompey were relegated to the Third Division in 1976.

In November 1976 the club found itself needing to raise £25,000 to pay off debts and so avoid bankruptcy. With players having to be sold to ease the club's financial situation, and no money available for replacements, Pompey were forced to rely on an untried manager, Ian St John and inexperienced young players. Consequently, they were relegated to the Fourth Division in 1978.

Pompey were promoted back to Division Three in 1980, and in the 1982-83 season they won the Third Division championship, gaining promotion back to the Second Division. Under Alan Ball's management, Pompey narrowly missed winning promotion to the First Division twice before finally succeeding in 1986-87. Unfortunately, by the middle of the 1987-88 season the club was again in grave financial trouble, and Pompey were relegated straight back to the Second Division. The summer of 1988 saw Deacon sell the club to London based businessman and former QPR Chairman, Jim Gregory.

Jim Smith's arrival as manager at the start of the 1991-92 season, combined with the emergence of some good young players, sparked a revival in the team's fortunes and that year Pompey reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, losing on penalties to eventual winners Liverpool after a replay. The following season, Pompey missed out on promotion to the FA Premier League only by virtue of having scored one less goal than West Ham United.

In the summer of 1996 Terry Venables arrived at Pompey as a consultant, later taking over as chairman after buying the club for £1. The team enjoyed a run to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in 1996-97, beating FA Premier League side Leeds United en route, but finished just short of the qualifying places for the play-offs for promotion to the Premier League.

Pompey's centenary season, 1998-99, saw a serious financial crisis hit the club, and in December 1998 Portsmouth(Click here to buy Portsmouth tickets) went into financial administration. Milan Mandarić saved the club with a takeover deal in May 1999, and the new chairman immediately started investing. However the club only survived on the last day of the 2000-2001 season when they won their final game and Huddersfield Town lost theirs, keeping Portsmouth(Click here to buy Portsmouth tickets) up at their expense.

Harry Redknapp took over as manager in early 2002, with Jim Smith as assistant. Just over a year later, Pompey were celebrating winning the Division One Championship and promotion to the Premier League, winning the title with a game to spare.

Since arriving in the Premier League, the club finished 13th, 16th and 17th in its first three seasons before being bought by businessman Alexandre Gaydamak in January 2006. With funds available for the manager to make big-name signings, the club finished their 2006-2007 season in the Premier League in the top half of the table for the first time.

Rumours surfaced in October 2007 about the possibility of Gaydamak selling his stake in the club, with Irish property developers Brian and Luke Comer mentioned as possible suitors.

The earliest generally accepted incarnation of West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) United was founded in 1895 as the Thames Ironworks works team by foreman and local league referee Dave Taylor and owner Arnold Hills and 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), Johnny Stewart, Walter Tranter and James Lindsay (all boilermakers), William Chapman, George Sage, and William Chamberlain and apprentice riveter Charlie Dove.

The club, Thames Ironworks F.C. were the first ever winners of the West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) Charity Cup in 1895 contested by clubs in the 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 F.C. 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 a 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 F.C. players.

Following growing disputes over the running and financing of the club in June 1900 Thames Ironworks F.C. was wound up, then almost immediately relaunched on 5 July 1900 as West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) 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 to this day as 'the Irons' or 'the Hammers' amongst fans and the media.

The reborn club continued to play their games at the Memorial Ground in Plaistow (funded by Arnold Hills) but moved to a pitch in the Upton Park area when the team officially severed ties with the company (losing their works provisioned offices in the process). After being made groundless in 1901 the team became transient, playing their home games on a number of local teams grounds. However, in 1904 the team moved to its current home of Upton Park in the guise of the Boleyn Ground stadium.

West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) Utd F.C. had joined the Western League for the 1901 season in addition to continuing playing in the Southern Division 1. In 1907 West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) were crowned the Western League Division 1B Champions, and then defeated 1A champions Fulham 1-0 to become the Western Leagues Overall Champions.

In 1919, still under King's leadership, West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) gained entrance to the Football League Second Division and were promoted to Division One in 1923, making the FA Cup final at the same time. The team enjoyed mixed success in Division 1 but retained their status for 10 years and reached an FA Cup semi final in 1927, 4 years later.

In 1932 the club was relegated to Division Two and long term custodian Sydney King was sacked after serving the club in the role of Manager for 32 years, and as a player from 1899 to 1903. 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 in helping develop both the initial batch of future West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) stars and West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets)'s approach to the game.

Ron Greenwood was appointed as Fenton's successor in 1961 and he soon led the club to two major trophies, winning the FA Cup in 1964 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965. During the 1966 World Cup, an important part of the England national football team was composed of West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) players, including the captain, Bobby Moore, Martin Peters (who scored in the final), and Geoff Hurst, who scored the only ever hat-trick to-date in a World Cup final. 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 to the role of Team manager. The result was instant success as the team went on an incredible goalscoring run hitting the net no fewer than 20 times in their first 4 games under the new Manager who then led them on to win the FA Cup in his first season.

Lyall then guided West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) to another European Cup Winners' Cup final in 1976, though the team lost the match 4-2 to Anderlecht. Greenwood's new role within the club lasted less than three years as he was appointed to manage England in the wake of Don Revie's resignation in 1977.

In 1978, the club were again relegated to Division Two but the board stuck by their manager and Lyall was able to lead West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) to another FA Cup win in 1980. No team since has won the trophy from outside the top division. They were promoted to Division One in 1981, having spent only 3 years in the lower league, although they were relegated after 8 seasons in 1989 This relegation resulted in John Lyall's sacking, in spite of the fact that this stay in Division One saw West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) achieve their highest ever placing in the top division, finishing 3rd in 1986.

Very briefly, they were led by Lou Macari, though he resigned after less than a single season in order to clear his name of allegations of illegal betting whilst manager of Swindon Town, and former player Billy Bonds was the next West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) manager in charge. In his first full season, 1990-91, West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) again secured promotion to Division One. The following season, 1991-92, they were relegated, to the newly christened Division One (formerly Division 2), missing out on the inaugural Premier league season. West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) again only spent one year in Division One, before finishing 2nd and gaining promotion to the Premier League in May 1993.

After a more stable season in the Premier League, Bonds acrimoniously and controversially quit, and was replaced by Harry Redknapp in August 1994. Redknapp was active in the transfer market, and gained a reputation as a "wheeler-dealer" especially with foreign players being more available following the Bosman ruling. He led West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) to 5th place in 1998/99 but they missed out on automatic qualification for the UEFA Cup (despite seasons prior to and since where 5th was good enough), but did indeed qualify for that competition as winners of the Intertoto Cup. Despite consolidating the league placings for a handful of seasons, a disagreement with the board of directors during the close of the 2000-01 season, found Redknapp replaced with Glenn Roeder, promoted from Youth team coach.

In Roeder's first season the team finished 7th (an improvement on Redknapp's last finish of 15th.), but there were worrying signs as West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) lost 7-1 to Blackburn and 5-0 and 5-1 to Everton and Chelsea respectively. The subsequent season started poorly and eventually resulted in relegation. Following ill-health and poor results, Roeder was sacked in August 2003 after only 3 games in charge in Division 1. Trevor Brooking (who served as manager during Glenn's ill health the previous season) stepped in as interim manager before being replaced with Alan Pardew in October 2003, headhunted from promotion rivals Reading. Pardew led the team to a playoff final, though they were beaten by Crystal Palace. The club stayed in Division One for another season, when they again reached the playoff final, but this time won and gained re-entry to the Premiership.

On their return to the Premiership, West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) finished in 9th place, restoring pride to many West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) supporters. The highlight of the 2005-06 season, however, was reaching the FA Cup final, and taking favourites Liverpool to a penalty shootout where they lost, but gained entry to the UEFA Cup as Liverpool had qualified for the Champions League through league position.

West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) completed a major coup by the end of the 2006 transfer window, after completing the signings of Carlos Tévez and Javier Mascherano. The club was eventually bought by an Icelandic consortium, led by Eggert Magnússon in November 2006. Manager Alan Pardew was sacked after poor form during the season and was replaced by former Charlton manager Alan Curbishley.

The signings of Mascherano and Tévez were investigated by the Premier League, who were concerned that details regarding the transfers had been omitted from official records and the club was found guilty and in April 2007 fined 5.5 million pounds. However, the Club was lucky to avoid any points deduction which ended up being critical in their fight to avoid relegation at the end of the 2006/07 Season. Following on from this event, the Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan threatened legal action supported by other sides facing possible relegation, including Fulham and Sheffield Utd.

West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) ultimately escaped relegation by winning seven of their last nine games, including a 1-0 win over Arsenal, and on the last day of the season defeating newly crowned League Champions Manchester United 1-0 with a goal by Carlos Tevez to finish outside the relegation zone in 15th. The contribution of Carlos Tevez ended up being critical to the survival of the club in the Premiership as he scored seven goals, five of them crucial, in the last couple of months of the season to enable the team to stay up.

The signs after a dozen games of the 2007/08 season were that West Ham(Click here to buy West Ham tickets) would produce a more stable season in mid-table of the Premier League.