West Ham United

West Ham United Football Club is a professional English football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London.

They play their home matches at The Boleyn Ground, referred to as Upton Park by most followers of football. They are nicknamed "The Hammers" "The Academy of Football" by the media, but are better known as "The Irons" by their own fans (due to the club's origins at the Thames Ironworks - see below). The club has a training facility at Chadwell Heath, adjacent to the railway line from which the team may occasionally be viewed at practice during the week. The club currently play in the FA Premier League.

A belief in entertaining football has been forged into the side created by workers from the shipbuilding company Thames Iron Works in 1895. The club was relaunched in 1900 as West Ham United and elected to the Football League in 1919. Success came in 1923 with promotion to the First Division and an appearance in the first Wembley FA Cup final. Later, under the auspices of captain Malcolm Allison and later coach Ron Greenwood, the Hammers plotted for the future by nurturing young talent and introducing innovative coaching techniques. It paid off with FA Cup victory in 1964, a European Cup Winners' Cup triumph in 1965 and the club rightfully took credit when three homegrown stars - captain Bobby Moore, striker Geoff Hurst and midfielder Martin Peters - helped England win the 1966 World Cup. Another FA Cup victory in 1975 was followed by relegation in 1978. There was a return to Wembley in 1980 and the Hammers, still in the Second Division, shocked Arsenal 1-0. After mixed success in the 1980s, West Ham sealed promotion to the F.A. Premier League in 1993. And while standing by their beliefs, the Hammers graced the Premiership for 10 years until their relegation in 2003. Secured a return to the top flight two seasons later via the play-offs, beating Preston 1-0 in Cardiff.
After the club first returned to the Premier League, they finished 9th and led the FA Cup Final match on May 13, 2006 first 2-0 in the first half and then 3-2 in the second half before being tied 3-3 and lost 3-1 on penalties after a nail biting match. They will be playing European football next season (2006-2007) in the UEFA Cup.

Also The Inter City Firm ('ICF') was a UK football firm affiliated to West Ham United, so called because they used the InterCity train network to get to away games. They were active in the 1970s and 1980s, but are now disbanded. Bill Gardner was generally recognised as the firm's leader or "top boy".

Another of the leading figures was Cass Pennant, who authored one of the very few books on the subject to be written by a genuine top flight member of a firm, Congratulations You Have Just Met the ICF. In this book, two factors made clear are that the ICF were not ostensibly a racist or right-wing firm, and that they were notably averse to join up with firms of other teams whilst supporting the England national team. What is also mentioned is the reluctance of other teams' firms to travel to Upton Park in any great numbers and, this being true, it is evidence of the ICF's supremacy at the time.

They were probably the most notorious of the hooligan firms that existed in the "golden age" of football hooliganism, although the Chelsea Headhunters, the Birmingham Zulus and Millwall Bushwhackers also had fearsome reputations.