WEST HAM UNITED
FOOTBALL PROGRAMMES &
Collectables through the Decade
theyflysohigh : Steve Marsh
A Pictorial History
1995-96 Springheath Print Capital League
Manager: Paul Hilton
Home matches played at Victoria Road - Dagenham
BARNET
Victoria Road
3 - 0 (Byrne, McFarlane, Moors)
17 August 1995
Finn
Moore
Keith
Partridge
Martin
Canham
McFarlane
Musah
Moors
Byrne
Currie
The Hammers' team for our opening match in the Springheath Capital League at the Victoria Ground, Dagenham included two triallists and the evergreen veteran Alvin Martin, who made his debut before some of his team-mates were born. Chris Moors opened the scoring in the 26th minute when he latched on to a flick-on from Irish triallist Tony Byrne before beating a defender and firing home. Our 'keeper Neil Finn then tipped Barnet's sole first-half effort over the bar, following a corner. A few minutes later Darren Currie crossed for Tony McFarlane to crash home a header from 15 yards. Just before half-time, Canham directed a through ball into the path of Byrne who checked inside a defender before chipping a shot over the Barnet goalkeeper. Byrne also had another effort cleared off the line after a shot from David Partridge hit a post. Just before the end our other triallist Issah Musah had a header cleared off the line following a Currie centre.
WOKING
Victoria Road
1 - 1 (canham)
24 August 1995
Finn
Moore
Blaney
Mitchell
Whitbread
Canham
McPherson (Lampard)
Ferdinand R.
Byrne
Watson (Boylan)
Currie
Woking were the visitors at Dagenham and took the lead in the 75th minute when their goalkeeper John Gregory scored! Punting a long clearance upfield, he watched in amazement as the ball sailed into our penalty-area and over the head of 'keeper Neil Finn who had misjudged his jump. But Neil later redeemed himself with a great diving save to deny Woking a certain goal. Before then, the Hammers should have scored through Mark Watson (twice) and Paul Mitchell. With five minutes remaining Scott Canham earned a point when he collected the ball in midfield and ran-on before crashing home a tremendous shot from 25 yards.
PETERBOROUGH UNITED
London Road
0 - 4
30 August 1995
Finn
Moore
Blaney
Sains
Ferdinand R.
Goodwin
McFarlane
Lampard
Moors
Boylan
Mitchell
Capital League newcomers Peterborough United fielded a very experienced side against a West Ham United team which included seven 16-year-olds.
Although the Hammers created several chances early on, it was Posh who took the lead in the 11th minute and then added a second after Frank Lampard blazed over the bar from 12 yards. Peterborough dominated the second-half, but didn't increase their lead until the 83rd minute as our youngsters began to tire. In the last minute Posh added a fourth to make their victory complete.
SOUTHEND UNITED
Victoria Road
0 - 2
7 September 1995
Finn (Lampard)
Moore
Keith
Ferdinand R.
Blaney
Canham
Mitchell
Goodwin
Moors
Omoyinmi
Currie
A young Hammers' Capital League team were unlucky to get nothing from the visit of a strong Southend United to the Victoria Ground. The Shrimpers, fielding a team that contained several players with first-team experience, took the lead after just seven minutes. We almost equalised in the 25th minute when a Scott Canham volley produce a brilliant save by the Southend 'keeper. Just before the interval our young 'keeper Neil Finn was involved in a collision with an opponent and was forced to go off with head and arm injuries. Rio Ferdinand replaced him and Frank Lampard came on as substitute. Despite the reshuffle, the Hammers played well after the break and were unlucky on several occasions when Moors, Omoyinmi, Lampard and Steve Blaney went close. Meanwhile, at the other end Ferdinand made a great diving save to prevent Southend adding to their score. Our deputy 'keeper was also unfortunate two minutes from the end when a shot hit both posts before he dived on to the ball only for a linesman to rule that it had crossed the line.
COLCHESTER UNITED
Layer Road
2 - 1 (Moors, [og])
27 September 1995
Finn
Moore
Blaney
Ferdinand R.
Bowen
Goodwin (Lampard)
McFarlane (Boylan)
Currie
Moors
Shipp
Hodges
The young Hammers sustained a first-half battering at Colchester and could easily have been four or five goals down. Only luck and a couple of goal-line clearances denied Colchester the lead until a minute before half-time when they scored from a rebound off a post. The second-half was a different story with the Hammers creating several good chances directly after the break. Lee Hodges, starting his first full game since his lengthy injury absence, centred for Danny Shipp who headed just over the bar. Then Frank Lampard, a 60th minute substitute, had his fine shot well-saved. We equalised in the 67th minute when Chris Moors ran on to a Justin Bowen header to score. Our match-winner came three minutes from time when a Danny Shipp cross was knocked into the net by a home defender under pressure.
LEYTON ORIENT
Victoria Road
2 - 1 (McFarlane, Shipp [pen])
3 October 1995
Finn
Moore
Keith
Ferdinand R.
Orfali (Bowen)
Hodges
McFarlane (Sweeting)
Goodwin
McPherson
Shipp
Currie
A West Ham side containing seven youth-team players took the lead at the Victoria Ground when Danny Shipp converted a 20th minute penalty. A minute before half-time we went further ahead through Anthony McFarlane. Although the O's fought back in the second-half and reduced the arrears our youngsters held out to record their second successive victory by the odd goal in three.
LEYTON ORIENT
Brisbane Road
4 - 1 (Canham 2 [1 pen], Moors, Shipp)
11 October 1995
Finn
Moore
Bowen
Blaney
Sains
Goodwin
Currie (Sweeting)
Canham
Moors
Shipp
Hodges
Eight days later in the return Chris Moors opened the scoring in the 13th minute. The best goal of the match was scored by Scott Canham six minutes later. Receiving a pass from a free-kick, Scott ran the length of the pitch before crashing home a great left-foot shot. The game was virtually sewn-up in the 33rd minute when Chris Sains lofted a pass over the Orient defence and Danny Shipp nipped in between two opponents rounded the 'keeper and slid the ball into an empty net. Our goalkeeper Neil Finn prevented Orient from reducing our comfortable lead when he dived full length to save a penalty. But five minutes from time, Scott Canham made no mistake from the spot when we were awarded a penalty after a defender had handled the ball. Orient scored a consolation seconds before the end.
BRENTFORD
Victoria Road
0 - 6
25 October 1995
Reed
Moore
Keith
Bowen (McFarlane)
Orfali
Mitchell
Moors
Goodwin
McPherson
Shipp
Currie
A Brentford side, currently battling it out with Wycombe for top spot in the Capital League, proved much too strong for a West Ham team that included a number of players more used to the pace of the South-East Counties League. For our triallist goalkeeper it was a real baptism of fire as the Bees battered our defence to score four first-half goals. We changed our defensive formation for the second-half in an effort to stifle Brentford's fire-power, but they still managed to add another two goals to inflict our heaviest Capital League defeat and end a run of three successive victories.
SUTTON UNITED
Victoria Road
3 - 0 (McPherson 2, Moors)
1 November 1995
Wright
Moore
Currie
Bowen (McFarlane)
Mitchell
Orfali
Canham
McPherson
Shipp
Moors
Goodwin (Partridge)
The Hammers took the lead in the sixth minute when Jason Moore raced down the right flank and crossed for CHRIS MOORS to score with a low volley. Despite being well on top for the next hour or so, we did not score again until ten minutes from the end when Malcolm McPherson, making up for an earlier miss, chested the ball down in the area, swivelled and fired home. Two minutes later he added our third goal when he sidefooted home a pass from Darren Currie.
BARNET
Underhill
2 - 3 (Boylan, Shipp)
15 November 1995
Little
Moore
Partridge (Keith)
Mitchell
Bowen (Sains)
Blaney
McFarlane (Ferdinand R.)
McPherson
Sweeting
Boylan
Shipp
For our Capital League fixture at Barnet, we included five of our youth squad and triallist goalkeeper Andrew Little. Barnet took the lead, but the Hammers equalised in the 30th minute when an Anthony McFarlane pass found Danny Sweeting who cut the ball back for Lee Boylan to score. Just before half-time Barnet scored their second.
After 60 minutes the Hammers pulled one back when Jason Moore overlapped down the right and centred for Danny Shipp to head home. However. 15 minutes later Barnet scored their third. We had several chances to equalise but first Sweeting lofted a shot over the diving goalkeeper and almost on the final whistle McPherson's shot was just flicked away by the Bamet 'keeper.
WOKINGHAM TOWN : Dexhill President's Cup (2nd Rd)
Town Ground
3 - 4 (Boylan 2, McPherson)
22 November 1995
O'Reilly
Blaney
Keith (Evans)
Bowen (Fitzpatrick)
Mitchell
McPherson
Shipp
McFarlane
Boylan
Partridge
Sweeting (Evans)
Injuries to a number of our more senior players resulted in our line-up containing many members of our youth-team.
Our opponents fielded many of their first-team players who had no match that week and were therefore much physically stronger. They quickly showed their superiority by taking a two goal lead before Joe Keith centred for Malcolm McPherson to head home. After the interval, our youngsters played much better and were rewarded when a long ball out of defence in the 50th minute found McPherson who got clear of his marker and squared a pass to Lee Boylan who netted an equaliser. Five minutes later Boylan was again on hand to score putting us into the lead.
Further substitutions resulted in Chris and Duncan Evans - two associated schoolboys from Wales - making their debuts in the Capital League, and the momentum of our play breaking up with the result that a defensive error brought Wokingham an equaliser.
At 3-3 it looked as though the Hammers had earned a well-deserved draw and a replay, but a second slip in our defence allowed the home side to nick a last-gasp winner and a place in the third round. To add further to our problems, youth-team goalkeeper Alex O'Reilly; was found to have suffered a fractured wrist and broken finger in a post-match check-up.
READING
Elm Park
6 - 4 (McPherson 3, Shipp 2, Lazaridis)
6 December 1995
Finn
Blaney
Keith
Mitchell (Lampard)
Coyne (Bowen)
Canham
Gordon (Omoyinmi)
Hutchison
Shipp
McPherson
Lazaridis
Having shared seven goals in their Presidents' Cup second round tie two weeks previously, our Capital League side travelled to Reading on Wednesday 6th December and were involved in another high-scoring match.
Although fielding a young defence which included 16-year-old Australian triallist Chris Coyne, we included his more experienced countryman Stan Lazaridis as well as Dale Gordon who was making a welcome comeback after long injury problems.
The presence of Don Hutchison in midfield also added much valued strength to counteract the appearance of former Hammer and current joint Reading manager Jimmy Quinn. On a chill evening, the Hammers took an early lead when Lazaridis scored after only three minutes and went further ahead when McPherson added a second in the 31st minute.
After the interval the Elm Park fans saw their side hit back before McPherson scored his second goal in the 59th minute. A three goals in nine minutes spell finally swayed the game our way to enable us to gain maximum points.
Danny Shipp scored our fourth in the 72nd minute and five minutes later McPherson completed his hat-trick. In the 81st minute Shipp netted his second goal and West ham's sixth goal of the night.
WELLING UNITED
Victoria Road
1 - 1 (Watson)
13 December 1995
Finn
Blaney
Partridge
Coyne
Philson
McFarlane
Omoyinmi
Canham (Fernley)
Watson
West
Sweeting
Included in the Hammers' side for the visit of Welling to the Victoria Ground on 13th December were triallist central-defenders Chris Coyne and Graeme Philson. Also in our starting line-up against a more experienced Welling side were another triallist Steve West and several of our youth-team players.
With defences dominating the first-half, few chances and shots on target were created. This pattern of play continued until Welling broke the deadlock 15 minutes after the re-start. But the Hammers equalised within a minute when Steve West made a run down the wing and centred for Mark Watson who forced the ball over the line.
Both defences regained command and with few opportunities being created at either end, a draw was a fair reflection of the match.
COLCHESTER UNITED
Victoria Road
2 - 0 (Hodges, Moors)
21 February 1996
Finn
Blaney
Brown
Whitbread
Martin
Goodwin
Sains
McFarlane (Hodges)
Moors
Boylan (Bartley)
Sweeting
After an absence of ten weeks, we returned to Capital League action when Colchester United were the visitors to the Victoria Ground, Dagenham on Wednesday 21st February.
Striker Chris Moors made a welcome return to the side for his first outing in three months following illness. Both Alvin Martin and Kenny Brown were also included in our starting line-up after absence through injury.
A disappointing first-half saw the two teams turn around goal-less. In the 70th minute the deadlock was broken when Chris Moors turned on the edge of the area and fired in a shot which went in via a post.
The goal was a just reward for our improved display in the second-half against the Essex side and settled the nervous tension that had previously been a feature of the game.
With ten minutes to go, half-time substitute Lee Hodges ran on to Steve Blaney's through ball and although his first strike hit the opposing goalkeeper's legs, he followed up to net the rebound for his first Capital League goal of the current campaign.
GILLINGHAM
Priestfield Stadium
3 - 6 (Allen C., Boylan, Goodwin)
28 February 1996
Finn
Moore
Keith
Blaney
Bowen (Hodges)
Sains (Lampard)
McFarlane
Goodwin
Boylan
Allen C.
Sweeting (Partridge)
A side comprising mainly youth players travelled to Gillingham and proved no match against a physically stronger, more robust and determined team.
Although the Hammers took the lead after three minutes through Clive Allen, the Gills hit back to score five goals before half-time. Three substitutions at the interval helped to arrest the situation. Although Gills added a sixth goal, we scored two in the 75th and 80th minutes through Lee Boylan and Lee Goodwin to finally end as 3-6 losers.
Once again this match demonstrated the varying contrasts between the teams taking part in the competition. For our own part, although our younger players are receiving valuable experience in the wider aspects of pre-reserve team football, it must always be remembered that much of the psychology of the game is based on confidence and character building as progress is made.
WELLING UNITED
Park View Road
2 - 2 (Sweeting, Watson)
13 March 1996
Burrows
Blaney
Moore (Coyne)
Bowen
Sains (Boylan)
Partridge
Purches
Goodwin
McFarlane
Watson (Sweeting)
Hodges
A goal after 15 minutes by Mark Watson when he headed home a cross from the wing, gave us a half-time lead at Welling United. For the Kent side a bitterly cold evening was warmed-up as they converted two penalties in the 49th and 57th minutes, given for hand-ball and a tackle from behind.
The Hammers side, which contained most members of our Youth team and a triallist goalkeeper, battled well against a physically stronger home side. Although we lacked some punch up front, West Ham continued to play good football and were finally rewarded for our efforts when substitute Danny Sweeting equalised in the last minute.
SUTTON UNITED
Gander Green Lane
0 - 2
18 March 1996
Burrows
Sains
Keith
Bowen
Partridge
Goodwin
McFarlane
Hodges (Omoyinmi)
Fernley (Coyne)
Henry
Sweeting
A Hammers side containing ten members of our youth squad and triallist goalkeeper Ben Burrows lacked penetration in front of goal against a strong Sutton United team. Despite conceding two goals in the opening half, our youngsters acquitted themselves with honour under the circumstances and had the further satisfaction of coming through without injury scares for the hectic run-in period to the conclusion of the current campaign.
WYCOMBE WANDERERS
Victoria Road
1 - 3 (Watson [pen])
3 April 1996
Mautone
Blaney (Fernley)
Partridge (Wells)
Bowen
Sains
Spittle
Livett
Goodwin
Purches (Etherington)
Watson
Bartley
Wycombe Wanderers were the visitors to the Victoria Ground, Dagenham.
They fielded a strong team against a Hammers' side of predominantly younger players that included one-time regular Simon Livett.
A goal before half-time was the first of three that Wanderers scored in what was an easy win for them. Our goal came from a penalty converted by Mark Watson after Lee Goodwin had been brought down.
CRAWLEY TOWN
Town Mead
3 - 3 (Goodwin, McPherson, Watson)
10 April 1996
Mautone
Blaney
Philson
Goodwin
Sains
Bowen
McPherson (Etherington)
Purches (Bartley)
Watson
Sweeting
Miller (Wells)
Although two goals down in the opening 20 minutes against Crawley Town on Wednesday 10th April, we fought back to draw level with goals in the 35th and 60th minutes from Mark Watson and Malcolm McPherson, A goal ten minutes later saw us take the lead when Lee Goodwin scored but the same player conceded a penalty in the 80th minute which led to Crawley equalising.
Crawley then conceded a penalty themselves with five minutes to go as Danny Sweeting was fouled but Watson drove the spot-kick wide.
PETERBOROUGH UNITED
Victoria Road
1 - 1 (Etherington)
17 April 1996
Mautone
Blaney
Sains
Goodwin
Bowen
Philson
Nieminem
Etherington (Fernley)
Moors
Watson
Sweeting
Another young squad entertained Peterborough United seven days later and after a goal-less first-half took the lead on the hour when Craig Etherington scored his first goal for the Hammers. The Posh drew level following a free-kick just outside our area.
CAMBRIDGE UNITED
Victoria Road
4 - 0 (Sweeting 3, Etherington)
24 April 1996
Mautone
Rufus
Mas
Wells
Walters
Livett
Fernley (Moors)
Etherington
Alexander
Bartley
Sweeting
The visit of Cambridge United on Wednesday 24th April proved to be a one-sided affair. Two goals before half-time from Danny Sweeting gave us a comfortable lead and the youngster earned the praise of those Hammers' fans watching when he completed his hat-trick ten minutes after the interval. A further goal from Craig Etherington in the 65th minute completed the scoring.
SOUTHEND UNITED
Roots Hall
1 - 1 (Moors)
29 April 1996
Mautone
Sins (Wells)
Moors
Bowen
Blaney
Philson
Purches
Etherington (Alexander)
Watson
Canham
Sweeting
We continued our recent undefeated sequence with a well-deserved draw at Squthend United. Once again our side contained several members of the the youth-squad who performed well as we shared the points.
NORTHAMPTON TOWN
Sixfields Stadium
0 - 4
6 May 1996
Finn
Wells (Keith)
Maher
Coyne (Moore)
Bowen
Whittle
Sweeting
Etherington
Purches (Etherington)
Alexander
Fernley (McFarlane)
REPORT:
WOKINGHAM TOWN
Town Ground
4 - 0 (Cranham, Lampard, Moors, Shipp)
9 May 1996
Mautone
Blaney
Moors
Maher
Whittle
Philson
Etherington (Purches)
Canham (Lampard)
Shipp
Watson (Alexander)
Sweeting
REPORT:
FULHAM
Victoria Road
Match Forfeit to Opposition
GILLINGHAM
Victoria Road
Match Forfeit to Opposition
NOT SURPRISINGLY THIS COMPETITION FOLDED
AT THE END OF THE SEASON
