Will we ever be more than a selling club?

In 2003, West Ham were relegated from the Premier League following a disastrous season despite having quality players in the starting line-up, including some of the finest talent produced in England over the past 15 years. The likes of Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Glen Johnson and Jermain Defoe were all pivotal players in the West Ham team alongside the likes of Paolo Di Canio, Freddie Kanoute and David James.

Although this was a team with good players, some of which would go on to represent England in World Cups and play in the Champions League, the Hammers struggled all season and were

relegated, despite beating Chelsea in both the home and away fixture.

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After this relegation, many of the future England stars departed. Joe Cole and Glen Johnson both went to Chelsea, where their footballing careers really took off. Cole made more than 150

appearances for the Blues and established himself as an England regular and Johnson played 41times for Chelsea between 2003 and 2007 before moving to Portsmouth and then to Liverpool. Johnson also made his first England appearance a few months after the move across London.

Despite relegation, West Ham managed to keep hold of both Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe. However, they both had different ambitions about the following season, with Defoe handing in a transfer request 24 hours after relegation was confirmed. West Ham rejected his request and Defoe ending up playing the first half of the 03-04 season in the Championship with the Hammers, before being sold to arch rivals Tottenham in the January transfer window. Carrick was openly critical of many of the West Ham players who left after relegation and he stayed on to play for West Ham in the Championship, where they reached the playoff final, only to lose to Crystal Palace. After one season in the then First Division, Carrick expressed his desire to play in the Premier League and was signed by Tottenham for £3.5m. Both these players have had successful international careers with Carrick winning the Premier League on 4 occasions with Manchester United and also winning the Champions League in 2008 after a penalty shootout victory over Chelsea.

 

The selling status which clouds over West Ham United is evident when you look back at the players which were sold after relegation in 2003. But even before that, England Legends Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard were both sold by West Ham. Although the ‘Lampard saga’ is different to that of Rio’s, they were both extremely talent young players, who had come through the West Ham academy and looked as if they could have long lasting careers at Upton Park. It wasn’t to be.

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The problem lies with the belief that West Ham is a ‘feeder club’ for the big teams in the Premier League. Harry Redknapp, who was in charge of West Ham when Rio Ferdinand was sold, said “Why should we sell Rio Ferdinand? Are we a Premier League club or are we just a feeder club for bigger clubs? If we start selling players like Rio, where is the club going to go?” Well Harry, this club, that has seen players such as Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, Trevor Brooking, Paolo Di Canio and many England players who have been an integral part of the national team over the past few years, has been yo-yoing between the Premier League and the Championship, seeing many top quality players leave, managers sacked and owners change. All this makes me very sad.

For me, my West Ham heroes are the players that I grew up with. I grew up idolising the likes of Joe Cole and Michael Carrick. I had every poster, calendar and annual imaginable with the pictures of Cole and Carrick cut out and stuck onto my bedroom wall. I used to watch the game when West Ham beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford over and over again, watching Defoe head home a

winner, delighting thousands of the East End faithful who had made the long trip up to Manchester. I used to watch Cole weave through defences, copying his style around my living room furniture before blasting the rolled up socks passed the helpless coffee table through to kitchen door before running around celebrating. As a kid, I loved these players and seeing them leave broke my heart. However it’s not just relegation that sees top West Ham players being sold.

Alan Curbishley resigned as West Ham manager after both Anton Ferdinand and George McCartney were sold without Curbishley knowing any deal was being agreed for the pair. Supposedly it was the same story with Bobby Zamora. Due to the global economic crisis and an extravagant wage bill the Icelandic owners were forced to sell players, which further reinforced the notion that West Ham is a selling club.

It seems that a significant reason for the sale of many top players is due to financial instability either due to relegation or global financial meltdown coupled with very poor management of player wages.

However, the sale of Ferdinand and Lampard was when West Ham were not in serious financial trouble and were not threatened with relegation. Lampard left when Redknapp and his father were

sacked in 2001 and Ferdinand left in 2000 after both Redknapp and the owner at the time Terry Brown categorically stated that Ferdinand was not for sale. However, on the 21st of November

2000, Redknapp confirmed that the club had accepted a bid from Leeds worth a record £18m. The difference between the two is that Lampard wanted to leave, whereas there was no real intent

from Ferdinand to leave the club. All he was concerned with was playing for the club and regaining a place in the England team for the World Cup which was coming up in just less than two years.

But the extravagant bid from Leeds was enough to tempt Brown into selling the defender, who Redknapp said had more ‘ability’ than Bobby Moore, who has gone onto captain England and make

81 appearances for the national side.

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Where the selling culture began for the Hammers is unclear, though it is likely that it stemmed from the Ferdinand transfer. Whatever the cause of this cloud which seems to hover over the club famed for nurturing such wonderful talent, it has caused a club which could have been so successful, led by the likes of Ferdinand, Carrick and Cole, to fall into the Championship and never fully regain the Premier League status that it deserves. If this selling culture is not stopped, we could see the likes of

Noble, Tomkins and Collison, all good players who have come through the ranks at Upton Park and have become fan favourites, being sold to the top clubs and this vicious cycle will continue.