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1986-87 The Today League Division One

Manager : John Lyall

There were no new signings to excite the fans but with wins over Coventry and Manchester United it had been a good start. The visit of Liverpool brought warning signs as the Merseysiders won 5–2, but a week later Tony Cottee scored a hat-trick in the 3–2 victory at Queens Park Rangers. Another Cottee hat-trick saw Preston North End knocked out of the League Cup and this was followed in the next round with a 3–2 win at Watford. At home to Chelsea the Hammers were losing 3–2 after an hour but in an exciting finish West Ham won 5–3 to move up to fourth place.

A penalty by Cottee gave West Ham a 1–0 victory over Oxford United in the League Cup, which was followed by a poor showing in the 4–0 defeat at Newcastle in the league. The team struggled throughout December and it was a miserable Christmas for Hammers supporters after the 4–0 loss at Tottenham on Boxing Day.

Results improved in January as Orient were beaten in the FA Cup and there were league victories over Leicester City and Coventry City. Disaster struck in the League Cup, though, as after a 1–1 home draw with Tottenham the Hammers crashed out when losing 5–0 at White Hart Lane. In the FA Cup Sheffield United were beaten 4–0 at home but the next round brought a 2–0 home loss to Sheffield Wednesday.

The squad was now hit with injuries and five successive league defeats brought a threat of relegation. There was good news in March when midfielder Liam Brady was signed from Ascoli, and he soon showed his wonderful skill in scoring against Arsenal in a 3–1 home win. Despite 4–0 away defeats at Everton and Aston Villa the side managed to finish fifteenth.

Note:

Players in BOLD made their debuts for West Ham United

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The Big Freeze

The Big Freeze played havoc with the football fixtures and disrupted most of our everyday lives as snow and ice halted trains and blocked roads. The South-East was one of the worst hit areas of Britain. And West Ham United suffered, too.

The Siberian temperatures not only prevented John Lyall's men from playing a home match in 26 days during January, the weather also took its toll on the Upton Park ground.

Burst pipes caused considerable damage in the West Stand, where parts of ceilings collapsed and rooms and corridors were flooded. Every toilet in the stadium was also frozen solid.

All the pipes in the ground are lagged but there was nothing Stan Botham — Clerk of Works at West Ham for nearly 28 years — and his groundstaff could do except repair the damage, mop up the mess and wait for the thaw.

They were helpless, too, to resist the snow that covered the Upton Park turf, although the perforated plastic covering the club purchased last year did at least help matters.

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