All Time Head to Head
Home - W 21 - D 8 - L 4
Away - W 5 - D 11 - L 17
Total - W 26 - D 19 - L 21
Premiership only
Home - W 0 - D 2 - L 0
Away - W 0 - D 1 - L 1
Total - W 0 - D 3 - L 1
The first time these two teams met was in the Southern League First Division in October 1905, with West Ham suffering a 1-0 defeat away. The two teams continued to battle in the same league for the next ten years, until the First World War (and the Canaries voluntary liquidation) ended their fixtures.
A restructuring of the leagues after the war saw the Irons admitted into the national Second Division, whilst newly reformed Norwich eventually entered into the fledgeling Third Division. West Ham went on to enjoy a decade in the top flight and it was not until the mid 1930's, when they were relegated and Norwich promoted, that the two teams met each other again. West Ham dominated the fixture over the next five seasons, with only one loss in 10 games, before war once again put football on hold.
After bouncing around between the Second and Third divisions for over three decades Norwich finally won promotion to the top flight for the first time in 1972, putting them back into regular fixtures with the Hammers. Fairly evenly matched throughout the 1970's and 80's, each side seemed to dominate their own home fixture but suffer on the road.
Norwich were one of the founding members of the Premier League in 1992, leading the table for most of the season before faltering towards the end. West Ham missed this inaugural season, but after coming second in the new Division One they achieved promotion and the two teams were playing each other again - albeit only for two seasons, producing three draws and one victory for the Canaries. Since then both teams have only met each other in Division 1 during the one 2003/04 season (two more draws, the seaon ending with Norwich promoted from first place but West Ham missing promotion by losing the play-off final) and in two FA Cup games.
The stats suggest a tougher tie than one might initially think - West Ham don't seem to have had much luck on the road against Norwich, with only 5 wins out of 33 away games... and, of course, the Hammers have never beaten them in the Premier league (in fact, the last time West Ham beat Norwich in any league game was 11th April 1992). However, with Norwich struggling to find their first win of the season and West Ham starting to gel, any Irons fan can afford a little confidence ahead of this tie....
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