West Ham United FC - 06/07 Season

When I was enjoying my foreign assignment in London, United Kingdom for the last two year, I got caught up in the wonderful world of European football (known as soccer to the North American folks). My colleague took me to a West Ham game (they played Ipswich Town) in East London. The game ended in a draw even though West Ham took the lead in the first half. After that game, it was an experience that I would never forget. West Ham United employs an entertaining, attacking football style ever since its founding in 1900. Regardless of their status at any given time, the club has never sacrificed its long-held football principles.

That year (2005), West Ham went on to get promotion to the top flight, the Barclays Premiership League, after a two-year absence. That's right, if your team does a poor job during the season, it gets relegated to the lower division. Imagine if we can do that with a few of the MLB and NBA teams. Anyways, after promotion, I went ahead and purchased a season-ticket for the 2005/06 season, much to the delight of my West Ham fan colleague.

It was the most fortunate decision I have ever made, much to the jealousy of my colleague and his West Ham die-hard fans. For the 2005/06 season, West Ham did well in its first season back amongst the elite clubs, placing 9th out of 20 teams. It even went on to reach the 125th FA Cup Final to play against Liverpool FC. Unfortunately, we lost in penalties after a 3-3 draw, but since Liverpool had qualified for the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Cup spot (which is usually given to the winner of the FA Cup) was handed over to us. This would be our first trip to European competition since 1999.

The start of the 2006/07 season (the first 3 games) has been pretty much identical. Our first game was Home v Charlton Athletic, a London club in the Southeast. The Hammers (their nickname) won 3-1, which was identical to the score against Blackburn Rovers the year before. In both games, a player from the opposing team was sent off. The second game was away v Watford, which got promoted from the Coca-Cola Championship (Tier 2) last year. The scored ended in a 1-1 draw, identical to last year's draw against Newcastle United. The third game ended in a loss. West Ham traveled to Liverpool for a replay of the FA Cup match final. Even though the Hammers took the lead in the beginning, Liverpool came back to win 2-1. This was identical to last year's home loss against Bolton Wanderers.

So after three games, West Ham United FC is currently 6th with 4 points. For its London rivals, Chelsea FC (Premiership League champions of last year) are in 4th with 6 points. Fulham FC is 10th with 4 points (goal difference). Tottenham FC is 15th with 3 points. Charlton Athletic is 16th with 3 points. Arsenal FC is 17th with 1 points. Watford FC is 18th with 1 points.

West Ham forward Bobby Zamora is currently the top scorer with 4 goals (2 against Charlton, 1 against Watford, and 1 against Liverpool).

The next game is the following Sunday, September 10 which is Home against Aston Villa. Last year, West Ham routed Aston Villa, 4-0, with a Marlon Harewood hat-trick.

Links

West Ham United FC

Barclays Premiership Football League

Sky Sports