West Ham were founded as a professional team in 1990. It took West Ham till 1923 to get promoted to the first division, spending nine seasons in the top division – where they finished in the top ten two times. In 1923, West Ham got into the first ever FA Cup to be held at the Wembley Stadium, where 126,047 people came to see Bolton v West Ham. West Ham lost 2-0, conceding goals from by David Jack and Jack Smith.
West Ham got their hands on the Football League War Cup, after a 1-0 win over Blackburn Rovers in 1940 – hosted at Wembley. The 1957-1958 season saw West Ham win the second division championship, which saw them come back to the first division.
West Ham won their first major trophy in 1964, beating Preston North End 3-2. West Ham won in the dying momnts of the game, after Ronnie Boyce scored a last minute goal to guide West Ham to glory. A season later, West Ham won the European Cup Winners Cup against 1860 Munich 2-0.
It was 1966. A year everybody knows in England. The World Cup final, England vs West Germany. Captained by Moore, he led the team to win 4-2 in extra time. Moore set up the opener, where hurst finished it off. Peters scored England’s second, West Germany scored an equaliser in the 89th minute to make it go to extra time. This is where Hurst shone, scoring two goals in extra time (101st minute and 120nd). A great day for the West Ham players. Hurst is the only player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.
Nine seasons later, West Ham saw themselves in a FA Cup final and beat Fulham 2-0 to secure their second FA Cup – Alan Taylor scored twice in four minutes. In 1978, West Ham were relegated, however this didn’t stop West Ham winning another FA Cup. Two years later, West Ham got hold of their third FA Cup, beating Arsenal 1-0 in Wembley. No team outside the top division has since achieved that.
A season later, West Ham won the second division – their second time in doing so. Their first season back saw them finish eighth, then ninth and in the 1985-1986 season – they finished 3rd. Their highest ever placing in the top division. West Ham got relegated a couple of times in the next few seasons, but got back up quickly. In 1999, West Ham got relegated, two points off the safe zone. Two seasons later they went back up, then the following season they got relegated again, then got back up straight after. Messy.
West ham most recent promotion saw them beat Blackpool in the Championship Play-off in 2012. It was a tense game, with Cole opening the scoring. However in the start of the second half, Ince scored the equaliser. It looked like it was going to extra time but in the 87th minute Vaz Te scored the winner – which saw them get back into the Premier League. Sam Allardyce is currently managing West Ham.