1988–89 West Ham United F.C. season

West Ham United
1988–89 season
ChairmanLen Cearns
ManagerJohn Lyall
StadiumBoleyn Ground
First Division19th (relegated)
FA CupSixth round
League CupSemi-finals
Top goalscorerLeague: Leroy Rosenior (7)
All: Rosenior (11)
Highest home attendance30,188 (v Liverpool, 29 October 1988)
Lowest home attendance14,766 (v Southampton, 15 April 1989)
Average home league attendance20,743

For the 1988–89 West Ham United F.C. season in English football, West Ham United finished 19th in the league.

Season summary

The 1988–89 season saw new signings Allen McKnight[1] and David Kelly both begin their West Ham United careers, but neither supplied the club with the kind of form necessary to stay in the top flight.

On 22 March 1989, it looked as though Lyall had come up with the goods to save West Ham's top flight status when he recaptured Frank McAvennie from Glasgow Celtic for a club record fee of £1.1 million – just after the player had turned down the chance to sign for Arsenal, who went on to win the league. However, McAvennie failed to repeat the goalscoring heroics of his first spell at Upton Park as he didn't score a single goal in nine league appearances and the Hammers were relegated despite winning five of their final seven games.[2]

The club finished in 19th place in the First Division and were relegated to the second tier of the Football League.

John Lyall was sacked as manager after 15 years on 5 June 1989, by which time he was the longest serving manager at any League club. It also ended his 34-year service with the club, which had started in 1955 when he signed for them as an apprentice player from school.[3]

League table

Main article: 1988–89 Football League § First Division

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
16 Luton Town 38 10 11 17 42 52 −10 41
17 Aston Villa 38 9 13 16 45 56 −11 40
18 Middlesbrough (R) 38 9 12 17 44 61 −17 39 Relegation to the Second Division
19 West Ham United (R) 38 10 8 20 37 62 −25 38
20 Newcastle United (R) 38 7 10 21 32 63 −31 31
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(R) Relegated

Results

West Ham United's score comes first

Football League First Division

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
27 August 1988 Southampton A 0–4 18,407
3 September 1988 Charlton Athletic H 1–3 19,566 Keen (pen)
10 September 1988 Wimbledon A 1–0 7,730 Ward
17 September 1988 Aston Villa H 2–2 19,186 Mountfield (o.g.), Kelly
24 September 1988 Manchester United A 0–2 39,941
1 October 1988 Arsenal H 1–4 27,658 Dickens
8 October 1988 Middlesbrough A 0–1 19,608
15 October 1988 Queens Park Rangers A 1–2 14,566 Kelly
22 October 1988 Newcastle United H 2–0 17,765 Dickens, Stewart (pen)
29 October 1988 Liverpool H 0–2 30,188
5 November 1988 Coventry City A 1–1 14,651 Kelly
12 November 1988 Nottingham Forest H 3–3 21,583 Kelly (2), Rosenior
19 November 1988 Luton Town A 1–4 9,308 Martin
26 November 1988 Everton H 0–1 22,176
3 December 1988 Millwall A 1–0 20,105 Ince
10 December 1988 Sheffield Wednesday H 0–0 16,676
17 December 1988 Tottenham Hotspur H 0–2 28,365
27 December 1988 Norwich City A 1–2 17,491 Stewart (pen)
31 December 1988 Charlton Athletic A 0–0 11,084
2 January 1989 Wimbledon H 1–2 18,346 Rosenior
14 January 1989 Derby County A 2–1 16,796 Kelly, Brady
21 January 1989 Manchester United H 1–3 29,822 Brady (pen)
4 February 1989 Arsenal A 1–2 40,139 Dicks
25 February 1989 Queens Park Rangers H 0–0 17,371
11 March 1989 Coventry City H 1–1 15,205 Ince
25 March 1989 Aston Villa A 1–0 22,471 Ince
27 March 1989 Norwich City H 0–2 27,265
1 April 1989 Tottenham Hotspur A 0–3 28,376
8 April 1989 Derby County H 1–1 16,560 Rosenior
11 April 1989 Middlesbrough H 1–2 16,217 Keen
15 April 1989 Southampton H 1–2 14,766 Brady (pen)
22 April 1989 Millwall H 3–0 16,603 Dicks, Dickens, Parris
3 May 1989 Newcastle United A 2–1 14,202 Keen, Ward
6 May 1989 Luton Town H 1–0 18,606 Dickens
9 May 1989 Sheffield Wednesday A 2–0 19,905 Dickens, Rosenior
13 May 1989 Everton A 1–3 21,694 Slater
18 May 1989 Nottingham Forest A 2–1 20,943 Rosenior (2)
23 May 1989 Liverpool A 1–5 41,855 Rosenior

FA Cup

Main article: 1988–89 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R3 8 January 1989 Arsenal H 2–2 22,017 Dickens, Bould (o.g.)
R3R 11 January 1989 Arsenal A 1–0 44,124 Rosenior
R4 28 January 1989 Swindon Town A 0–0 18,627
R4R 1 February 1989 Swindon Town H 1–0 24,723 Rosenior
R5 18 February 1989 Charlton Athletic A 1–0 18,785 Slater
R6 18 March 1989 Norwich City H 0–0 29,119
R6R 22 March 1989 Norwich City A 1–3 25,785 Ince

League Cup

Main article: 1988–89 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R2 1st leg 27 September 1988 Sunderland A 3–0 13,691 Kelly (2), Rosenior
R2 2nd leg 12 October 1988 Sunderland H 2–1 (won 5–1 on agg) 10,558 Kelly, Dickens
R3 1 November 1988 Derby County H 5–0 14,226 Martin (2), Stewart (pen), Rosenior, Keen
R4 30 November 1988 Liverpool H 4–1 26,971 Ince (2), Staunton (o.g.), Gale
QF 18 January 1989 Aston Villa H 2–1 30,110 Ince, Kelly
SF1 12 February 1989 Luton Town H 0–3 24,602
SF2 1 March 1989 Luton Town A 0–2 (lost 0–5 on agg) 12,020

Squad

Number Player Position Lge Apps Lge Gls FAC Apps FAC Gls LC Apps LC Gls Date Signed Previous Club
West Ham United 1988–89 First XI
1 Northern Ireland Allen McKnight GK 23 4 6 1988 Celtic
2 England Steve Potts RB 23(5) 7 5 (1) May 1984 Academy
3 England Julian Dicks LB 34 2 6 7 March 1988 Birmingham City
4 England Tony Gale CB 31 5 6 1 August 1983 Fulham
5 England Alvin Martin (Captain) CB 27 1 5 5 2 July 1976 Academy
6 England Alan Dickens CM 34(3) 5 5 (2) 1 6 1 1982 Academy
7 England Mark Ward RM 30 2 3 5 (1) August 1985 Oldham Athletic
8 Republic of Ireland David Kelly CF 21 (4) 6 6 6 (1) 4 1988 Walsall
9 Sierra Leone Leroy Rosenior CF 26(2) 7 4 2 5 2 March 1988 Fulham
10 Republic of Ireland Liam Brady LM 21(1) 3 7 4 (1) March 1987 Ascoli
11 England Paul Ince
(Hammer of the Year) 		CM 32(1) 3 7 1 7 3 1986 Academy
Important Players
2 England George Parris FB 23(4) 1 1 3 1985 Academy
6 England Kevin Keen M 16(8) 3 0 (5) 1 (1) 1 1986 Academy
9 England Stuart Slater M/F 16(2) 1 3 1 1 1987 Academy
6 England Alan Devonshire LM 14(6) 7 4 October 1976 Southall
1 England Phil Parkes GK 13 3 1 February 1979 Queens Park Rangers
5 England Paul Hilton CB 9 (2) 0 (1) 2 1984 Bury
8 Scotland Frank McAvennie CF 8 (1) March 1989 Celtic
Other Players
11 England Stewart Robson M 6 1 January 1987 Arsenal
2 Scotland Ray Stewart RB 5 (1) 2 2 1 1 September 1979 Dundee United
5 England Gary Strodder CB 4 (3) 2 (2) 1 March 1987 Lincoln
1 Scotland Tom McAlister GK 2 1981 Bristol Rovers
12 Scotland Tommy McQueen LB 0 (2) March 1987 Aberdeen

Transfers

Transfers in

Date Position Name From Fee
F David Kelly Walsall
G Allen McKnight Celtic
March 1989 F Frank McAvennie Celtic £1,250,000

Transfers out

Date Position Name From Fee
F Tony Cottee Everton £2,200,000

See also

References

  1. ^ 1988–89 West Ham United F.C. season at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database
  2. ^ "Football photographic encyclopedia, footballer, world cup, champions league, football championship, olympic games & hero images by sporting-heroes.net". www.sporting-heroes.net.
  3. ^ "Manager History for West Ham United". soccerbase.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2004.