West Ham United F.C.

Origins

The earliest generally accepted incarnation of West Ham United was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks F.C., the works team of the largest and last surviving shipbuilder on the Thames, Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, by foreman and local league referee Dave Taylor and owner Arnold Hills and was announced in the Thames Ironworks Gazette of June 1895. Thames Ironworks was based in Leamouth Wharf in Blackwall and Canning Town on both banks of the River Lea, where the Lea meets the Thames. Thames Ironworks built many ships and other structures, the most famous being HMS Warrior. The last ship built there was the dreadnought HMS Thunderer in 1912 and the yard shut soon after. The repair yard of the Castle Shipping Line was a very near neighbour and their work team, initially known as the Castle Swifts, would informally merge with the Thames Ironworks own team. The team played on a strictly amateur basis for 1895 at least, with a team featuring a number of works employees. Thomas Freeman was a ships fireman and Walter Parks, a clerk. Johnny Stewart, Walter Tranter and James Lindsay were all boilermakers. Other employees included William Chapman, George Sage and Fred Chamberlain, as well as apprentice riveter Charlie Dove, who was to have a great influence on the club's future at a later date. Thames Ironworks won the West Ham Charity Cup, contested by clubs in the West Ham locality, in 1895, then won the London League in 1897. They turned professional…

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Domestic

League

Second Division / First Division / Championship (level 2) Champions: 1957–58, 1980–81 Runners-up: 1922–23, 1990–91, 1992–93 Play-off winners: 2005, 2012 Cups

FA Cup Winners: 1963–64, 1974–75, 1979–80 Runners-up: 1922–23, 2005–06 League Cup Runners-up: 1965–66, 1980–81 FA Charity Shield Winners: 1964 (shared) Runners-up: 1975, 1980 Football League War Cup Winners: 1940

European

European Cup Winners' Cup Winners: 1964–65 Runners-up: 1975–76 UEFA Conference League Winners: 2022–23 UEFA Intertoto Cup Winners: 1999 Anglo-Italian League Cup Runners-up: 1975

International

International Soccer League Winners: 1963 American Challenge Cup Runners-up: 1963

Minor titles

Southern League Division One: Highest placing: 3rd, 1912–13 Southern League Division Two: 1898–99 London champions: 1898–99 Western League: 1906–07 Section B champions: 1906–07 London League: 1897–98, 1901–02 London Challenge Cup Winners: (9): 1924–25, 1925–26, 1929–30, 1946–47, 1948–49, 1952–53, 1956–57, 1967–68, 1968–69 Runners-up (5): 1912–13, 1932–33, 1954–55, 1957–58, 1958–59 Southern Floodlit Cup: 1956 Essex Professional Cup: 1951, 1955 (shared), 1959 West Ham Charity Cup: 1896 London Combination: 1916–17, runners-up: 1915–16 (Supplementary Tournament), 1917–18 League South A runners-up: 1939–40 League South C: runners-up: 1939–40 Regional League South runners-up: 1940–41 League South runners-up: 1943–44, 1944–45

Other awards

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