CLARET & BLUE LIONS
BOOKS
DVDS
SOCIAL NETWORKING
|
 FIRST ENGLAND KEEPER TO BE SENT OFFHAMMER Robert Green made unwanted history in England's World Cup qualifying defeat by Ukraine in Dnipropetrovsk on October 10, 2009, when he became the first-ever England goalkeeper to be sent off. Earning his seventh consecutive cap, Green was rightly shown the red card by referee Damor Skomina in the 13th minute for bringing down Ukraine striker Artem Milevskiy, who had been allowed a free run on goal following a lapse by former Hammer Rio Ferdinand. Green was immediately replaced by former West Ham No.1 David James, who was grateful to see Andriy Shevchenko's spot kick hit the post. But within minutes, Portsmouth keeper James had conceded the only goal of the game - the first defeat in a competitive game for coach Fabio Capello. It wasn't a disaster, though - England having already booked their ticket to the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa as qualifying group winners. The connection between England and West Ham originally began back in our Southern League days more than 94 years ago, on March 13, 1911, when Hammers centre-forward George Webb marked his debut by scoring in a 3-0 win over Wales at Millwall. Three weeks later, Poplar-born George followed that with what was to be his second and final cap in a 1-1 draw against Scotland. Sadly, tragedy was to follow just four years later when, at the age of just 27, he died of consumption. It was to be another 12 years before another West Ham United player represented the country, when legendary striker Vic Watson followed in Webb's footsteps and made a goalscoring debut against Wales, this time in a 2-2 draw at Cardiff on 5 March, 1923. By then, West Ham had been established as a Football League Club for almost four years and were about to win promotion to the top flight and appear in the first-ever FA Cup final to be held at Wembley Stadium - the famous White Horse Final in April 1923.Despite the 2-0 defeat against Bolton Wanderers, West Ham's performance clearly had an affect on the FA's selection committee, as no fewer than FOUR more Hammers players went on to make their England debuts after Watson that very same year. Jack Tresadern, William ‘Billy' Moore, Ted Hufton and William Brown had all played in that historical FA Cup final and were all handed their first caps in the following months, making 1923 the most successful year for England call-ups in the club's history. Watson, Hufton and Tresadern all went on to add to their tally of caps in later years, while Moore and Brown - a pair of surnames that would famously appear together in the centre of defence at Upton Park some 40 years later - had to make do with solitary appearances for their country. In 1926, another member of that 1923 FA Cup final team, flying winger Jimmy Ruffell, won the first of six England caps, and he was soon followed by two more members of the roaring 20s era at Upton Park - Stan Earle and big Jim Barrett, who both won just the one cap. Relegation to the second division in 1932 understandably stemmed the flow of West Ham stars progressing to full international honours but, with the club having rebuilt under Charlie Paynter following the departure and tragic death of long-serving manager Syd King, 1937 saw two more Hammers wear the three lions on their chest for the first time. Stylish forward Len Goulden - described by many as one of the most talented Englishmen of his era - marked the first of 14 caps with a goal in a 4-0 win over Sweden in May 1937, while club-mate Jackie Morton joined him by scoring on his one and only appearance - a 5-4 victory against Czechoslovakia in December of that year.  Sadly, the outbreak of World War Two denied Goulden the chance to extend his international career further and meant he never truly realised the potential that could have made him one of England's all-time greats.War also halted West Ham's progress as a club and it would be another 22 years before one of their players next appeared in an England shirt, when long-serving defender Ken Brown won his one and only cap in a 2-1 win over Northern Ireland in November 1959. Three years later, England manager Walter Winterbottom handed a full England debut to another West Ham United defender in a friendly against Peru on the eve of the 1962 World Cup finals in Chile. Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore was by then West Ham's youngest ever captain at the age of 21 and on the verge of leading the club to the most successful period in their history. 11 days after his full international debut, Moore became the first Hammer to appear in the World Cup finals, and less than a year later he was captaining his country under new manager Alf Ramsey. He went on to amass 108 caps in a 12-year international career - still the record for an outfield player - and is still the only West Ham player to have captained the country, an honour he carried out with distinction 90 times. EX readers will need no reminding of his finest hour in an England shirt - a sunny day at Wembley in July 1966 that secured his place forever in football folklore. The glory days at Upton Park under former England under-23 coach Ron Greenwood in the mid-60s meant that it wasn't long before several other Hammers were knocking on Ramsey's door. Classy striker Johnny Byrne was already a full England international by the time he arrived at West Ham in a record £58,000 transfer from Crystal Palace in March 1962, and it wasn't long before he was back in the international fold. He went on to win another 11 caps during his time in the claret and blue and, in May 1964 - just weeks after appearing in the our first-ever major domestic cup triumph - he became the first West Ham player to score a hat-trick for England, in a 4-3 win over Portugal in Lisbon. Of course, that feat would soon by equalled in more memorable style by the next West Ham player to be called up by the country - Geoff Hurst striker. Like his friend and team-mate Moore four years earlier, Hurst made his impact on the eve of a World Cup finals - making his debut against West Germany in February 1966, just four months before the tournament took place on home soil. Hurst became the 843rd player to be capped by England at full international level, and at 844 came another West Ham star, Martin Peters, whose debut arrived two months after his Hammers colleague, in a 2-0 victory against Yugoslavia. Ironically, when the finals started two months later, it was Peters who found himself in Ramsey's team and Hurst who had to sit on the bench waiting for another chance. That opportunity famously arrived when future Hammer Jimmy Greaves suffered injury and the quarter-final win over Argentina on July 23 marked the first occasion on which three West Ham United players appeared in the same England team. The unforgettable performances of all three in the final against West Germany ensured it wasn't a fleeting occurence and they went on to play together as a Hammers trio for their country on 22 separate occasions, the last of which came in a friendly against Belgium in February 1970, just before Peters moved across London to Spurs. It was 1972 before the next new face made the transition from Hammers regular to England star, when full-back Frank Lampard appeared in a 1-1 draw against Yugoslavia. The long-serving Hammer had to wait another eight years before winning another cap (surely the longest ever wait for a second cap?), and it turned out to be his last, in a 2-1 win against Australia in Sydney. In between that period, Lampard's team-mate Trevor Brooking had established himself during one of England's more rocky periods, when three different managers took charge of the national team following Ramsey's departure in 1974. Brooking made his debut against Argentina in a 2-2 draw at Wembley in May 1974, under caretaker manager Joe Mercer, and went on to win 47 caps, the last of which came as a substitute against Spain in the 1982 World Cup finals, in Ron Greenwood's final match in charge. His tally makes Sir Trevor West Ham's third most-capped England player behind Moore and Hurst and, of course he now serves his country in a new role as the FA's Director of Football Development. The next Hammer after Brooking to pull on an England shirt was his friend and midfield colleague Alan Devonshire, who made his debut in May 1980 against Northern Ireland and went on to win seven more caps over the next three years - a total that would surely have been higher had he not suffered a serious knee injury in January 1984 that almost ended his career. In May 1981, England boss Greenwood went back to his old club again and selected young defender Alvin Martin, whose debut came in a 1-0 defeat against Brazil at Wembley. The talented centre-half went on to make 17 appearances for his country and in the summer of 1986 became the fifth Hammer to play for England in the World Cup finals when he starred against Paraguay. In 1982, striker Paul Goddard enjoyed a brief but rewarding international career, when he scored on his England debut after coming on as a substitute in a 1-1 against Iceland. It was to be his one and only appearance for the country, but at least he can look back on an impressive ratio of a goal per game! Alvin Martin's final cap came in a 1-0 defeat against Sweden in Stockholm in September 1986 - a game that also marked the debut of 21-year-old Hammers striker Tony Cottee as a substitute. The pint-sized goal-poacher went on to make two more sub appearances for his country while at West Ham, and added four more caps to his tally as an Everton player. After Cottee's brief appearance against Hungary in 1988, it was to be another nine years before West Ham were represented in the full England side. By then, Glenn Hoddle was managing the country and it was another homegrown Hammer, Rio Ferdinand, who made his mark at international level. After an impressive substitute debut against Cameroon at Wembley in November 1997, Rio went on to win 10 caps before his British record transfer to Leeds United three years later. He also became the first Hammer to travel to a World Cup finals tournament with England but not taste a minute of the action, when Hoddle took him along for the experience to France 98. Rio's emergence then paved the way for another successful era of West Ham United players going on to represent England. Veteran stars Ian Wright and Stuart Pearce were already well established at international level when they arrived at Upton Park in the late 90s, but both managed to add to their tally of caps while playing under Harry Redknapp. In October 1999, Frank Lampard junior made his full England debut in a 1-0 win against Belgium at the Stadium of Light and, just like his father, also went on to win only one more cap as a West Ham player before his £11m move to Chelsea in the summer of 2001. The next four Hammers to appear for England all did so for the first time in 2001. Young midfielders Joe Cole and Michael Carrick had grown up together in the youth ranks at Upton Park and famously led the club to FA Youth Cup glory just two years earlier, so it was perhaps fitting that they made their full England debuts together, as substitutes in a 4-0 friendly win against Mexico in May 2001. Carrick won just one more cap while at Upton Park, but Cole went on to make nine more appearances for his country before his move to Chelsea in August 2003, and also became the first Hammer to hit the net for England since his Upton Park coach at the time, Paul Goddard, when he fired home a free-kick against Serbia and Montenegro in June 2003. Goalkeeper David James hadn't actually made a competitive appearance for the Hammers when he played for England against Holland in August 2001, just weeks after arriving at Upton Park, and a knee injury sustained in that friendly meant he had to wait until November before finally making his debut for his new club. Perhaps the most sudden and fairytale-type England call-up was enjoyed by midfielder Trevor Sinclair who, having appeared to be on the fringes of the full national side for years beforehand, finally won a call-up for a friendly against Sweden at Old Trafford in November 2001. Having kept his place in the squad, Sinclair was then left heartbroken to be left out of Sven-Goran Eriksson's final 22 for the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea. However, injuries to Steven Gerrard and then Danny Murphy handed the already-holidaying Sinclair an 11th hour reprieve, and he responded by making an impressive substitute appearance in the memorable 1-0 win over Argentina, before going on to hold down his place on the left side of midfield as England reached the quarter-finals. Dean Ashton's call-up by coach Fabio Capello was his reward for battling back from the broken ankle he suffered while training with the England squad at the start of the 2006-07 season. West Ham United's England Roll-call
|
MAGAZINE
RECOMMENDED
EDITORIAL ARCHIVE
|
