At the end of the 2015-2016 season, West Ham waved goodbye to the famous Boleyn Ground as they moved into the Olympic Stadium. The ‘Hammers’ are famous for their claret and sky blue shirts and are one of London’s most prestigious clubs.
Formed in 1895 as the works side of the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, the club officially became known as West Ham United in 1900 when they became a limited company. West Ham have produced a number of legendary players over the years with Frank Lampard, Paul Ince, Paolo di Canio, Rio Ferdinand, Martin Peters, Billy Bonds, Trevor Brooking and Sir Geoff Hurst among those who starred under the lights of Upton Park at some point in their careers.
The club have never won the Premier League, but have three FA Cup trophies to their name with victories in the 1965, 1975 and 1980 Cup Finals.
West Ham’s most famous player is the great Bobby Moore, who spent the majority of his career with the Hammers and captained England to glory in 1966.
The original Hammers kit, when the club were playing as Thames Ironworks, was dark blue as a result of chairman Arnold Hills being a former student of Oxford University.
The Hammers introduced the claret and blue home shirt in 1899 after right-half Charlie Dove was gifted an Aston Villa jersey from his father, William, who coached at the club and was also an athletics star. When challenged by four Villa players to a race at a local fair, Dove defeated them and as the players were unable to pay the bet, he was given a set of Villa shirts in lieu of payment.
As with the history of many other famous club kits, it was on such a random story that the West Ham home jersey was born. The club generally wear white shorts and claret socks to complete the kit.
The very first crest adopted by the club featured a crossed pair of rivet hammers – a set of tools which were common place in the iron and shipbuilding industry – and is the basis for the club’s nickname of the Hammers. In 1990, the badge was redesigned by a London design agency.
In July 2014, the club announced a new badge which was approved by supporters and would be introduced at the end of the 2015-2016 season to mark the club’s move to the Olympic Stadium. The new crest features the crossed hammers, inspired by the career of Bobby Moore and adds the word ‘London’ in an attempt to improve the club’s branding on the international arena.
With the influx of stars into the Premier League, the demand for official shirt printing has reached unprecedented levels in recent years. At UKSoccershop, we supply authentic name and numbers for all the West Ham stars past and present, including your own name and number.
