In 1927 the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) commissioned Sir Nigel Gresley to design a steam locomotive for hauling passenger services on the Great Eastern Main Line. In a ten year period a total 73 of the Class B17 were built.

In July 1937 Locomotive 61672 was built and served the railway lines between London and Cambridge, Ipswich and Norwich for 13 years. By September 1950 most of the surviving member classes were rebuilt with boilers that had increased pressure and were designated class B17/6, 25 such locomotives were also named after football clubs including West Ham United.

By March 1960 none of the class had survived into preservation, a few football clubs were presented with the name plates after the locomotives were scrapped. The locomotive name plate used to reside on the wall outside the old West Stand and was on display up until 2001 when the ground was redeveloped, at which time it was relocated to the Directors boardroom. The iconic plate was subsequently sold at auctionin a bid to raise funds for the youth academy before the club vacated the Boleyn Ground for their new venue the London Stadium.