Most of the clubs based in England typically have roots which extend back to over 100 years and West Ham is a club that is one of these. The club was founded originally in the year 1895 in East London and was at this time named the Thames Ironworks Football Club. The club started with the purpose of easing tension between workers and management at the Thames Ironworks Shipbuilding Co. The name changed to West Ham in 1900 but the 2 enduring nicknames that include The Hammers and The Irons are still around to this day.
A Historic Season
Five years back West Ham was relegated after they finished in the last position in the Premiership. However since then they have managed to find their way back to the top-flight in the year 2012 and have gone onto put together the best season they have ever had this year. To date they are in 6th place with a single game remaining that they need to play before the EPL heavyweights Chelsea and Liverpool and just behind Manchester United.
The Rising Star
One of the former players from the Croatian team which reached the spot of the semi-finals in the World Cup of 1998, Slaven Bilić is now one of the top premier coaches for the EPL. He appeared as one of the players for Everton and West Ham before making a managerial debut last year in England. Shortly after signing up with this team he was congratulated by the Chelsea boss and well as the European iconic manger Jose Mourinho. Mourinho stated that he likes Slaven Bilić a lot in the form of a coach.
Seattle Connections
West Ham has various connections with MLS and American soccer. Sebastian Lletget, John Harkes and John Spector have all either been developed or played there and the actual ties with Seattle date back as far as the 1970s. One of the well-known players Harry Redknapp played from 1977 to 1979 for the Sounders after making a name for himself with over 150 appearances for West Ham in the era of the 60s and the 70s. In addition, Bobby Moore a West ham legend captained this team for over 10 years before playing briefly for the Sounders in the year 1978. Tyrone Mears a current Sounders defender has also appeared in 6 matches for West Ham from 2006 and 2007.