West Ham .v. Fulham - the history

All Time Head to Head

Home - W 24 - D 13 - L 11

Away - W 20 - D 10 - L 19

Total - W 44 - D 23 - L 30

Premiership only

Home - W 3 - D 4 - L 1

Away - W 6 - D 1 - L 1

Total - W 9 - D 5 - L 2

Thames Ironworks FC was only three years old when it turned professional in 1898, entering the Southern League Second Division, and it was in the 8th match of the season that they welcomed Fulham to the old stadium, Memorial Grounds. Thames Ironworks won both the home and away games against their London rivals, en route to finishing the season as champions, and continued to dominate the fixture once Fulham caught up with them in the Southern League First Division - five seasons (and a name change) later at the new Boleyn Ground.

In the early 1920's and throughout the 1930's the two teams were fairly evenly matched in the old League Division 2, but post-war West Ham began to exert their dominance as both sides gradually climbed into the top tier. Separated by a division for much of the 1970's and 80's it was not until 2001 that Fulham and West Ham met for their first clash in the Premier League. Despite doing a better job of staying in the top flight than the Irons, and amazingly reaching the final of the Europa League in 2010, Fulham have performed poorly against West Ham in the Premier League with only two wins out of 16 games. That said, 21st century games between these two sides at the Boleyn Ground have predominantly ended in a draw, a result that would probably satisfy the Cottagers more than the Hammers...

West Ham .v. Crewe Alexandra - Match Stats

28th August 2012

     West Ham            .v.        Crewe Alexandra

2                                           0
Maynard (34')                                .
Maiga (55')                            .

21               Shots                  9

10            On Target              6

11              Corners                4

 1              Offsides                0

 5                 Fouls                  5

 1            Yellow Cards            1
   Spence (13')                 (53') Mellor
 0              Red Cards              0

  6                 Saves                 12

   62%           Possession            38%

Starting XI

13 Stephen Henderson                    Alan Martin 13           .

         33 Daniel Potts                    Gregor Robertson 15
17 Joey O'Brien            (73') Mark Ellis 5    .
 23 Alou Diarra                    Harry Davis 3.
27 Jordan Spence                    Kelvin Mellor 14 .
           32 Gary O'Neil                    Ashley Westwood 4
14 Matthew Taylor (60')            Luke Murphy 8   .
     4 Kevin Nolan (84')            Byron Moore 11
         8 Nicky Maynard            (80') Ajay Leitch-Smith 10
12 Ricardo Vaz Te (73')            Max Clayton 7   .
11 Modibo Maiga            (62') Harry Bunn 25 .

Bench

30 Spiegel Raphael                    Ben Garratt 21   .
      20 Guy Demel            (73') Adam Dugdale 6
       41 Callum Driver            (80') Oliver Turton 12   .
       40 Matthias Fanimo (60')            George Ray 17           .
  45 Paul McCallum            (62') Abdul Osman 19
42 George Moncur (84')            Jon Guthrie 16 .
           46 Robert Hall (73')            Brendon Daniels 18

Attendance: 18,063        Referee: Fred Graham

West Ham .v. Crewe Alexandra - the history

All Time Head to Head

Home - W 2 - D 2 - L 0

Away - W 2 - D 0 - L 1

Total - W 4 - D 2 - L 1

League Cup only

Home - W 0 - D 1 - L 0

Away - W 0 - D 0 - L 1

Total - W 0 - D 1 - L 1

Despite being formed in 1877 Crewe Alexandra lingered mainly in the old divisions three and four (with a brief dalliance in the First Division at the turn of this century) and as such didn't play a competitive match against West Ham until 1991, when the Irons scored a solitary goal to knock the Railwaymen out of the FA Cup.

The following year the two sides met again, in the league cup, where a draw in London resulted in the Hammers first visit to Alexandra Stadium, a disappointing 2-0 loss considering the two divisions separating the teams.

With West Ham being relegated from the Premiership in 2003 the two teams were in the same league for the first time in their history. They met each other four times over two seasons before West Ham were eventually promoted in 2005, with Crewe finally succumbing to relegation in 2006.

With Crewe playing in League One there are once again two divisions separating the teams, making this match look like an easy victory on paper, especially considering the head to head statistics. However, it is worth noting that Crewe routed fellow League One team Hartlepool United 5-0 in the first round of the cup... oh, and that the Hammers only ever loss to Crewe was in the league cup with a two tier difference between the teams. Not that we're superstitious...

Swansea .v. West Ham - Match Stats

25th August 2012

Swansea City            .v.           West Ham     .

3                                            0 .
Rangel (20')                             .
Michu (29')                            .

Graham (64')                              .

12                 Shots                  9. .

5               On Target              5 .

5                Corners                4 .

4                Offsides                2 .

14                 Fouls                 19 .

2             Yellow Cards            4 .
Rangel (31')            (38') Cole   .
Chico (68')            (53') Nolan
                             (58') Collins
                          (83') Reid

0               Red Cards             0 .

5                 Saves                  2 .

62%           Possession           38%

Starting XI

      1 Michael Vorn                            Jussi Jaaskelainen 22

6 Ashley Williams                            Winston Reid 2    .
            4 Chico                            James Collins 19
           3 Neil Taylor (84')                    George McCartney 3
22 Angel Rangel                            Guy Demel 20  .
    7 Leon Britton                    (45') James Tomkins 5
20 Jonathan de Guzman (75')                    Mark Noble 16            .
  10 Danny Graham                    (70') Mohamed Diame 21
            9 Michu                            Matthew Jarvis 7
15 Wayne Routledge (81')           (62') Carlton Cole 9        .
12 Nathan Dyer                           Kevin Nolan 4 .
Bench

      33 Ben Davies (84')                   Matthew Taylor 14
27 Mark Gower                           Joey O'Brien 17.
       5 Alan Tate                           Nicky Maynard 8
19 Luke Moore (81')           (70') Alou Diarra 23 .
26 Kemy Agustien (75')           (45') Ricardo Vaz Te 12
 25 Gerhard Tremmel                           Stephen Henderson 13
14 Stephen Dobbie                   (62') Modibo Maiga 11  .

Attendance: 20,424        Referee: Martin Atkinson

Swansea .v. West Ham - the history

All Time Head to Head

Home - W 18 - D 7 - L 1

Away - W 5 - D 5 - L 15

Total - W 23 - D 12 - L 16

Premiership only

No meetings in the Premiership to date

The first three meetings between these two sides were all held in the space of 9 days in January 1922. In the first two a scoreless draw in Wales for the FA Cup competition was followed by a 1-1 draw back in London. Whereas under the current system Swansea would have won on away goals back then the rules decreed another match to be played, again back in Swansea where they this time won 1-0.

It was to be more than 10 years before these sides would meet again in the old Division 2, where regular meetings throughout the 1930's were dominated by the Irons. Post-war and throughout the 1950's the two sides continued to battle in the Second Division, sharing the spoils fairly evenly, but after promotion for the Hammers in 1958 (and Swansea dropping down to the 4th tier) their only meeting for two decades was another FA Cup tie in 1963, West Ham this time taking the win.

With West Ham dropping back down to Division 2 in 1978 and Swansea being promoted out of Division 3 in 1979, the two clubs were back in line to face each other again - including a 2-0 win for West Ham on their way to lifting the FA Cup in 1980. Both teams secured promotion to the top flight in 1981 (Swansea achieving promotion from bottom tier to top tier in 4 seasons, a feat only matched by Wimbledon FC) and continued to fight it out for two seasons until Swansea were once again relegated.

After 1983 Swansea yo-yoed up and down the four divisions, flirting briefly with liquidation, and gaining notoriety in 1996 as the first club to have four managers in one season. The only meetings between the two clubs in the last 29 years have been in the 1985 Milk Cup and 1999 FA Cup competitions - where West Ham embarrassingly became the first Premier league team to be beaten by opponents from the bottom tier.

With Swansea only making their debut in the Premiership in 2011 (the first Welsh side to do so) and West Ham regaining their spot this year, this will be the first Premiership meeting between the two sides. Head to head, whilst West Ham have more wins to their name overall it should be noted that Swansea have won 60% of games in Wales, compared to the Hammers 20%. Couple that with their year to adjust to the top league and the whopping 5-0 win they produced last weekend, this match should in no way be viewed as a walk in the park....

West Ham .v. Aston Villa - Match Stats

18th August 2012

West Ham            .v.           Aston Villa

1                                           0
Nolan (40')                            .

8                Shots                 13

3              On Target              2

6               Corners                4

0               Offsides                2

17                Fouls                 9

0            Yellow Cards            1
                                       (39') Ciaran Clarke

0             Red Cards              0

2                Saves                  2

34%          Possession           66%

Starting XI

22 Jussi Jaaskelainen                           Shay Given 1           .

19 James Collins                           Ciaran Clarke 16.
2 Winston Reid                           Ron Vlaar 4    .
3 George McCartney (71')                  Nathan Baker 32     .
        20 Guy Demel                          Matthew Lowton 34
21 Mohamed Diame                          Karim El Ahmadi 8 .
   4 Kevin Nolan (73')           (77') Fabian Delph 16
16 Mark Noble                          Darren Bent 9 .
14 Matthew Taylor                          Stephen Ireland 7  .
  9 Carlton Cole (81')           (62') Brett Holman 14
12 Ricardo Vaz Te                   (74') Charles N'Zogbia  .
Bench

32 Gary O'Neil                          Brad Guzan 22
17 Joey O'Brien (71')                  Chris Herd 31  .
8 Nicky Maynard                          Eric Lichaj 30    .
       Alou Diarra                  (77') Barry Bannan 25
13 Stephen Henderson                  (62') Andreas Weimann 26.
11 Modibo Maiga (81')          (74') Gary Gardner 38
5 James Tomkins (73')                  Graeme Burke 36

Attendance: 34,172        Referee: Mike Dean

West Ham .v. Aston Villa - the history

All Time Head to Head

Home - W 25 - D 17 - L 10

Away - W 12 - D 12 - L 26

Total - W 37 - D 29 - L 36

Premiership only

Home - W 4 - D 8 - L 4

Away - W 2 - D 7 - L 7

Total - W 6 - D 15 - L 11

Legend has it that in 1899 William Dove, father of a Thames Ironworks FC right-half, beat four Aston Villa players in a race. Unable to pay the money they wagered they instead paid off their bet with a complete team kit in the Villa colours of claret and blue - colours which Thames Ironworks would carry on wearing as they became West Ham....

It wasn't for another 14 years that the two teams first met each other in competition, with the Villains defeating the Irons 5-0 in an FA Cup match. Throughout the 1920's, however, they regularly faced each other in the old Division 1, with West Ham maintaining a degree of dominance. Post-war the two teams didn't clash until 1958, with the Irons again dominating through the '60's, yet from the '70's onwards West Ham experienced a reversal of fortunes and Villa made up lost ground.

Overall the two teams have played each other competitively 102 times with the spoils split fairly evenly - 37 wins for the Irons, 36 for Villa and 29 draws. Slightly more sobering is the fact that in 32 Premiership clashes West Ham have only won 6, losing 11 and drawing 15 - with only one win since 2006!

Mind you, we're still on a high after Wembley, whereas they had a rough end to their last season - opening game at home? I reckon William Dove would place another wager on it.....

We can be heroes....

If summer blockbuster films have taught us anything it's that the villains always get defeated... something we can get behind when we take on Aston Villa this coming Saturday!

WEST HAM UNITED .v. ASTON VILLA

10pm on Saturday 18th August

It's the opening game of the season, so let's show our new hosts at UncaBunca Robertson Quay that we mean business!

PRE-GAME DRINKS AND FOOD!

UncaBunca are kindly laying on some finger food for us at 8.30pm, plus those of you who collect your HAMMER CARD will get a bottle of Pure Blonde beer on the house. Then all West Ham fans will enjoy happy hour prices for the rest of the night!

Haven't signed up for your Hammer Card yet? E-mail singaporeirons@gmail.com with your full name and email address....

Calling All Irons!

So you're a West Ham supporter living in Singapore? A rare breed? Not as rare as you may think.... the play-off final last season brought a good contingent of Irons fans out of the woodwork, and a whole new unofficial fan-club was born.... With it came the news that we would have an official home for watching games in 2012/13 - UncaBunca in Robertson Quay - and that the bar would very kindly be extending us extra benefits.

WHAT WE GET:
Screening of every West Ham match in normal opening hours!
Happy hour all night on match nights!
A buffet spread on opening and closing games in the Premier League, and any cup finals we make!
First drink on the house for the opening game of the season!
A discount card for use in both UncaBunca outlets throughout the year!

WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU:
You name and email address.
The commitment to turn up to UncaBunca for as many West Ham games as is possible!

If you have put your email in the box at the top right corner of this page, that just means you will be notified whenever this page is updated. However, the email addresses are not divulged to the site operators (so we can't sell them to spam you!!), so in order to get your discount card we will need you to send us your email direct to singaporeirons@gmail.com

COYI!

Welcome to Singapore Irons!

We are just getting this site up and running, so bear with us... all you need to know for now is that if you are a West Ham United supporter living in Singapore (or just passing through), you are not alone!

Our official venue for watching the games for the 2012/13 season is UncaBunca at Robertson Quay (not the Boat Quay one... that'll be full of dirty Scousers!)... we will see you there on August 18th for the opening game against Villa!