West Ham United

West Ham United Football Club is an East London club based in Upton Park, London Borough of Newham, East London. The club have played home matches at the Boleyn Ground stadium since 1904. The club were founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. They initially competed in the Southern League and Western League before eventually joining the full Football League in 1919 and subsequently enjoyed promotion to the top flight for the 1923 season. 1923 also saw the club feature in the first FA Cup Final to be held at Wembley against Bolton Wanderers. West Ham currently compete in the Premier League, and finished in ninth position in the 2008–09 season. They have been members of the Premier League for all but three seasons since its creation in 1992, and their highest finish in the Premier League was fifth in the 1998–99 season. West Ham's current manager is Italian Gianfranco Zola, who replaced former player Alan Curbishley in September 2008 after his resignation was accepted.

In 1940 the team won the inaugural Football League War Cup. Subsequently the club have won the FA Cup three times: in 1964, 1975 and 1980 as well as being runners-up twice, in 1923 and 2006. In 1965, they won the European Cup Winners Cup, and in 1999 they won the Intertoto Cup. The club's best final league position is third place in the 1985–86 (old) First Division.

Three West Ham players were considered an important factor behind England's triumph in the 1966 World Cup, as England's captain at the time was West Ham's Bobby Moore, and both goalscorers in the final were Hammers players Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters.