West Ham Odds

West Ham Odds

West Ham odds have always proven popular with bettors. With West Ham’s topsy turvy league history, odds on West Ham to get relegated or odds on West Ham to stay up have in the past been popular betting markets.

With West Ham seemingly becoming a better side, their chances for silverware are increasing. Because of this, West Ham odds to finish top four, or West Ham odds to win the FA Cup can provide some chances for finding value in betting.

History

West Ham United are a professional football team from East London. They are currently members of the Premier League. They are also one of a number of Premier League clubs who have never professionally played outside of the top two divisions in English football.

The West Ham history begins in 1895. Dave Taylor and Arnold Hills formed a football club and named it Thames Ironworks.

An amateur team for its first year in existence, the Thames Ironworks players mostly came from the workforce from the ironworks itself. 

The club won the London League in 1897, and the following season the club turned professional. They were awarded a place in the Southern League Second Division and won promotion in their first season. They finished second from bottom, and had to play a promotion/relegation play-off against Fulham, which Thames Ironworks won comfortably, thus retaining their First Division place.

In 1890, the club disbanded due to financial worries and behind the scenes disagreements. Immediately afterwards, the club relaunched as West Ham United.

In 1901, West Ham United joined the Western League whilst also keeping their place in the Southern League First Division. At the time, West Ham were playing their home matches at the Memorial Grounds, but in 1904 they moved to the Boleyn Ground in the Upton Park area. Their first match in their new home was against Millwall, and West Ham ran out 3-0 winners.

West Ham were awarded a place in the Football League Second Division in 1919. The club remained in this division for four years until the 1922/1923 season brought success. West Ham finished second in the league, winning promotion to the First Division, and also played in an FA Cup Final for the first time in their history.

West Ham United’s stay in the First Division lasted for nine years. In the 1931/1932 season, the club suffered relegation and manager of 32 years Syd King was fired.

West Ham remained a Second Division side until 1958. The club won its first Second Division title in the 1957/1958 season and the club moved back into the top tier of English football.

The 1960’s became a successful decade for West Ham. In 1964, West Ham United won the FA Cup for the first time in its history. This was followed by success in Europe. The 1964/1965 season saw West Ham pick up the European Cup Winner’s Cup, and the club added this to the Charity Shield they had won at the start of the season.

Another source of pride occurred in 1966. England won the World Cup, and the England’s side’s key players all played for West Ham - Martin Peters, Geoff Hurst and Bobby Moore. Peters and Hurst both scored in the World Cup Final, Hurst scoring a hattrick, and Moore had captained his country to the World Cup win. All three of these players had come through the youth ranks at West Ham, adding to local pride.

In the 1970’s, Ron Greenwood, who had managed West Ham to their first FA Cup and European success, took the role of general manager, and appointed his assistant John Lyall as the permanent first team boss. Lyall led the side to more success, with two more FA Cup wins happening in 1975 and 1980.

However, by the time of West Ham’s third FA Cup win, the club had already suffered relegation. The 1980 FA Cup win is the last time any team from outside the top flight has won the trophy.

Promotion soon followed in the 1980/1981 season, as West Ham won the Second Division title. They performed well back in the top tier, but as the decade progressed West Ham started losing form, culminating in another relegation in the 1988/1989 season.

This relegation also confirmed the departure of John Lyall, who left the club after 34 years. Billy Bonds eventually took the reins and led the club to another promotion, only for the club to be relegated straight away. 

Although the club missed out on the inaugural Premier League season, they did gain promotion in the 1993/1993 season. 

This led to ten consecutive seasons in the Premier League. It wasn’t a particularly successful time for the Hammers, although the club did achieve two FA Cup quarter final places and two League Cup quarter final places. With unrest and disharmony allegedly behind the scenes, with Harry Redknapp coming in to replace Billy Bonds.

Redknapp was very active in the transfer market, signing a whole host of players. Some of these players went on to be cult heroes at West Ham, such as Trevor Sinclair and Stuart Pearce, but others couldn’t handle football in the Premier League.

With Redknapp wanting more money for transfers, the board lost patience with their manager and in 2001, Redknapp was sacked. Glenn Roeder took over, and led the club to a seventh place finish, but after suffering with a serious illness, had to step down the following season.

In was in this 2002/2003 campaign that West Ham suffered another relegation. The following season, Roeder returned as boss but ultimately was fired after a string of poor results. Alan Pardew was offered the manager’s job, which he took, and led the club to a successful play off victory in the 2004/2005 season.

Upon their return to the Premier League, West Ham came very close to winning the FA Cup, but were eventually defeated in the final on penalties by Liverpool. However, as Liverpool had already qualified for the Champions League through their league position, West Ham were awarded the UEFA Cup spot.

The 2006/2007 season was a controversial one for West Ham United. Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez, two of South America’s brightest talents, signed for the club but certain details had been left out of the documentation. As a result, West Ham were fined over £5 million in the following April, but many other struggling teams called for a points deduction. None were forthcoming, and West Ham escaped relegation with an end of season winning streak. Sheffield United, who eventually went down, threatened to sue as they believed that a points deduction would have relegated West Ham thus saving Sheffield United from the drop. This controversy has remained an issue between the club’s fans ever since.

West Ham appeared to have consolidated their Premier League status, but as the turn of the decade approached, they started to slide down the table. In the 2010/2011 season, the Hammers suffered another relegation.

It was just a one season break from Premier League football. West Ham immediately gained promotion by beating Blackpool in the Championship play-off final. Since 2012, West Ham have remained a Premier League team.

West Ham Badge

There have only been two incarnations of the West Ham badge. West Ham logo history began with the original West Ham crest containing a pair of hammers crossed over. An image of the Boleyn Castle was then added.

This West Ham club crest was used for 100 years. In 1997, a modernised version of the badge was created. The colours were altered, resulting in a claret coloured shield, and aspects on the image of the Boleyn Castle were slightly changed.

In 2016, with the club moving to the Olympic Stadium, a new West Ham badge was designed. A more simplified version of the old West Ham badge, this new crest removed the castle to leave just the two crossed hammers. ‘West Ham United’ was printed above the hammers, with ‘London’ written below. The new badge still used the shield shape that had been a feature of the old West Ham badge.

Colours

West Ham football colours are traditionally claret and blue. In 1899, a Thames Ironworks player received the Aston Villa kit, who played in claret and blue’, as a gift from his father. The alleged story is that the father had met a number of Aston Villa players and had challenged them to a race. The father won, and in lieu of payment, the Aston Villa players donated their kit.

In the early days of the West Ham kit history, the original West Ham kit colours had been dark blue. From 1895 to 1897, the team played in dark blue shirt, dark blue shorts and dark blue socks. In 1897, the colours changed to a blue shirt, worn with white shorts and red socks, before the club adopted the claret and blue.

West Ham Stadium

The West Ham home ground is the London Stadium. Used as the venue for the London 2012 Olympics, West Ham had to fight Tottenham Hotspur for the rights to the stadium, a battle that West Ham eventually won in 2011.

West Ham moved into the London Stadium in time for the 2016/2017 season. Before this move, West Ham had played their home games at the famous Upton Park, also known as the Boleyn Ground. The club had played at the Boleyn since 1904.

Before 1904, West Ham had played at the Memorial Grounds, after using Hermit Road and Browning Road as temporary homes.

The West Ham stadium address is the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London. London Stadium has a maximum capacity for football of 60,000.

Supporters 

The most famous song that West Ham fans are known for singing is ‘I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles’. The club anthem, it’s said to have been adopted by the club after the song was used on an advert for a soap product in the 1920’s.

Other popular West Ham supporters songs include ‘The Bells Are Ringing’, ‘That’s Amore’ and ‘Gold’. The lyrics of these songs are changed and replaced with the names of the players who have become fan favourites.

West Ham fans enjoy rivalries with a number of London teams. The most fierce is probably that with Millwall, with the history of the rivalry going back to the 1880’s when both clubs were formed. It developed over the years, with violence from both sets of fans marring the occasion any time these clubs have met.

West Ham also have a huge rivalry with Chelsea, in the East v West London derby, and Tottenham Hotspur.

West Ham United have a huge fan base. Most of the club’s fans come from the local area, but the West Ham Supporters Club have branches across the globe.

Owners

David Sullivan and David Gold bought a 50% stake in West Ham United in 2010. Three years later, the pair purchased another 10%. With that, they made shares available for fans of the club to buy.

In 2013, Sullivan bought a further 25% of West Ham shares. 

Gold and Sullivan had bought the club in 2010 from CB Holding. CB Holding had acquired the club because Hansa Holding, who owned the club at that time, were facing liquidation and West Ham United Football Club was its only asset.

Eggert Magnusson had bought the club in 2006, but this move had led to financial instability for the club.

The current chairman of West Ham United is a shared role between David Gold and David Sullivan. Karren Brady is vice chairman.

Stats

In terms of West Ham player stats, Billy Bonds is the club’s leading appearance maker, playing 799 times for West Ham from 1967 to 1988. Bonds is the only West Ham player in its history to have made over 700 appearances. Four players have made 600 or more - Alvin Martin, Trevor Brooking, Bobby Moore and Frank Lampard Snr.

Vic Watson leads West Ham United’s all time top goalscorer list. Watson scored 326 goals for the club between 1920 and 1935. Only one other player has scored more than 200 West Ham United goals, that player is Geoff Hurst who scored 252 goals for the club from 1959 to 1972.

West Ham United’s record victory in the Premier League came in 1998, when the club defeated Barnsley 6-0 at home. West Ham’s biggest away victory in the Premier League occurred in 2007, when they beat Derby County 5-0.

West Ham United’s biggest victory in any competition came in 1983. West Ham defeated Bury 10-0 in the League Cup Round Two Second Leg.

West Ham United’s record defeat in the Premier League came at the hands of Everton, who defeated the Hammers 6-0 in 1999. West Ham’s record defeats in any competition came in the old First Division. The record home defeat was 8-2 by Blackburn Rovers in 1963. Their record away defeat occurred in 1959, when Sheffield Wednesday beat West Ham 7-0.

West Ham’s all time record attendance happened in 2016, when 56,977 spectators saw West Ham play Bournemouth at the new London Stadium.

The record attendance at the Boleyn Ground was 42,322. This occurred in 1970 when West Ham United took on Tottenham Hotspur.

West Ham Players 

West Ham United have a rich history of famous and talented footballers playing for their club. Notable ex West Ham players include Bobby Moore, Billy Bonds, Trevor Brooking, Frank Lampard Snr, Frank Lampard Jnr, Geoff Hurst, Vic Watson and many, many more.

The most expensive West Ham player transfer was in the signing of Felipe Anderson for a fee of around £35 million given to Lazio in 2018.

The record transfer fee West Ham have ever received is £28 million, a fee Marseille paid for Dimitri Payet in 2016.

There have been a huge number of West Ham players playing for England. Along with Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst, who were part of the England World Cup winning squad of 1966, West Ham have had 39 different players represent England whilst playing their club football for the Hammers.

West Ham also hold the record for the highest number of nationalities to play for one club in the Premier League, with players from over 50 different countries all having played for West Ham United during the club’s Premier League history.

The West Ham players 2016 list includes 27 members of the first team, along with players from the West Ham Academy. The West Ham United Academy has become renowned for producing some of England’s best talent, with some of West Ham youth academy players going on to represent their country at the highest level.

The current West Ham player of the year, or Hammer of the Year, is Marko Arnautovic. 

In 2003, a West Ham dream team was voted for by fans. The players chosen were Phil Parkes, Ray Stewart, Julian Dicks, Billy Bonds, Alvin Martin, Bobby Moore, Martin Peters, Trevor Brooking, Geoff Hurst, Paolo Di Canio and Alan Devonshire.

West Ham Manager

The current West Ham United manager is Manuel Pellegrini. A Premier League title winner after leading Manchester City to the crown in 2014, Pellegrini took charge of the Hammers in 2018.

Manuel Pellegrini is West Ham's 17th permanent manager. Syd King, West Ham United’s first manager, still holds the record of longest serving manager, having had been in charge for 31 years.

Billy Bonds as a permanent manager holds the record of the highest win percentage at any point in West Ham’s history, with a win percentage of 43.61.

Ex West Ham managers in recent history include Sam Allardyce, Avram Grant, Gianfranco Zola, Alan Curbishley and Alan Pardew.

Honours

The West Ham honours list includes three FA Cup trophies (1964, 1975 and 1980); two FA Cup runners-up (1923 and 2006); one European Cup Winner’s Cup (1965); one European Cup Winner’s Cup runners-up (1976); and one Intertoto Cup (1999).