Match Preview: West Ham v Bournemouth

Blast from the past

13th October 1999 – Christina Aguilera was number one with ‘Genie in a Bottle’ and American Pie topped the UK box office. Three days earlier, the London Eye started to be lifted into position on the South Bank. A fortnight later, it was announced that Johnny ‘Budgie’ Byrne, formerly of West Ham and England, had died aged 60. Meanwhile, at the Boleyn Ground, Harry Redknapp’s West Ham United were sealing a 2-0 League Cup third round victory over third-tier Bournemouth in front of 22,067.

Mel Machin’s Cherries side were participating in the third round having defeated Barnet and Charlton in earlier rounds. The Hammers, meanwhile, were joining the League Cup at the third round stage for the first time having won the InterToto Cup and therefore qualified for the UEFA Cup.

Redknapp, a former Bournemouth player and manager himself, named Rio Ferdinand in his starting line-up – Ferdinand had enjoyed a two-month loan spell with the Cherries in the 1996/97 campaign. Meanwhile, Scott Mean was in the visitors’ midfield – Mean was in his second spell with Bournemouth and had made three substitute appearances for the Hammers in the spring of 1998.

The Irons went close in the first half when a delightful backheel from the precocious Joe Cole released Trevor Sinclair, but his shot flashed over goalkeeper Mark Ovendale’s crossbar. Ovendale sadly died of cancer in 2011, aged just 37.

The Hammers’ pressure eventually told and they took the lead after 61 minutes. Frank Lampard’s left-footed strike from Neil Ruddock’s header was blocked and collected outside the Bournemouth penalty area by 31-year-old French international winger Marc Keller (pictured above). Keller worked himself into sufficient space to crack a fierce shot past Ovendale and in off the post.

Bournemouth responded and Mean came closest to an equaliser against his former club, his free-kick from a wide left position deceiving Shaka Hislop, only to come back off the far post. The hosts secured their passage into the next round when Cole sent Paolo Di Canio free down the right flank with 13 minutes remaining. The Italian crossed for Paulo Wanchope, the Costa Rican nodded down to Lampard who turned and sent a neat finish into the corner of the net. The action from this match can be viewed in my video below.

Seven weeks later, the Hammers would beat Birmingham 3-2 at St Andrews in the fourth round before a controversial quarter-final tie with Aston Villa. The Irons would beat the Villans in a penalty shoot-out but the late appearance of Emmanuel Omoyinmi as a substitute meant the game would be replayed – Omoyinmi had already appeared in the competition whilst on loan at Gillingham and was consequently cup-tied. The Hammers would lose the replayed game against Villa 3-1 after extra time. Leicester went on to win the League Cup Final of 2000, beating Tranmere 2-1 in the Final at Wembley.

West Ham United: Shaka Hislop, Rio Ferdinand, Igor Stimac, Neil Ruddock, Trevor Sinclair, Frank Lampard Junior, Marc-Vivien Foe, Joe Cole, Marc Keller, Paolo Di Canio, Paulo Wanchope (Paul Kitson).

Bournemouth: Mark Ovendale, Neil Young, Karl Broadhurst, Eddie Howe, Ian Cox, Christer Warren (Willie Huck), Claus Jorgensen (John O’Neill), Scott Mean, Steve Robinson, Steve Fletcher, Mark Stein.

Club Connections

Danny Ings welcomes his former club. A decent number of players join him in having turned out for both West Ham United and Bournemouth. They include:

Goalkeepers: David James, Stephen Henderson and Marek Stech.

Defenders: Ryan Fredericks, Everald La Ronde, Bill Kitchener, Rio Ferdinand, Reg Parker, Keith Rowland, Elliott Ward, Phil Brignull and Horace Glover.

Midfielders: Keith Miller, Bobby Howe, Paul Mitchell, Carl Fletcher, Ian Bishop, Bobby Barnes, Tommy Southren, Jimmy Neighbour, Jack Wilshere, Emmanuel Omoyinmi, Tony Scott, Anthony Edgar, Scott Mean, Junior Stanislas, Matty Holmes, Dale Gordon, Jack Collison and Patsy Holland.

Strikers: Jermain Defoe, Nicky Morgan, Mark Watson, Zavon Hines, Steve Jones and Ted MacDougall.

Trevor Hartley and Harry Redknapp played for and managed both clubs. Former Hammers players John Bond, Gary O’Neil and Scott Parker went on to manage Bournemouth, while Jimmy Quinn played for both clubs and also managed the Cherries.

Today’s focus is on a versatile player who appeared for West Ham United before later representing Bournemouth. John Arnott was born on the 6th September 1932, in Sydenham. He began his career as an amateur for West Ham, making his first team debut at centre-forward in a 2-0 Second Division defeat at Bury on 10th April 1954. The 21-year-old Arnott would make three more appearances as an amateur, bagging a brace in a 2-2 draw with Plymouth at the Boleyn Ground on 16th April 1954.

Ted Fenton’s Hammers finished 13th in the Second Division of 1953/54 and Arnott opted to turn professional ahead of the following season. He only made two further first team appearances for the Irons though, with his final game being a 5-2 home defeat to Blackburn on 30th August 1954. Having scored two goals in six appearances for West Ham, Arnott moved on to Third Division South side Shrewsbury in 1955.

After a season at Shrewsbury, Arnott signed for Bournemouth – then known as Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic – in 1956. He spent six years on the South Coast and, by now, Arnott was finding himself in a new position at right-half. He scored 21 goals in 176 appearances for the Cherries; his first two seasons at the club were spent in the Third Division South but 1958/59 saw the end of the Third Division North and South divides, with a national Division Three and Division Four replacing them. Bournemouth began this new era in the Third Division and were mid-table for a couple of years before finishing only two points above the relegation places in 1960/61. The 1961/62 season was vastly improved though, with the club missing out on promotion to the Second Division by only one place and three points.

Now 29, Arnott dropped down to Division Four in August 1962 to sign for Gillingham. He spent seven years at Priestfield, helping them to the Fourth Division title in 1963/64. The Gills would remain in the third tier until relegation in 1971 but Arnott had left the club for Southern League Dover in 1969, where he would remain until 1976, by which time he was well into his forties.

After retiring from playing, Arnott spent 23 years teaching PE at Kingsgate Secondary School in Dulwich. A keen golfer, he lived in Rainham, Kent and was often invited on to the pitch as a guest at Gillingham, where his role in the 1964 Fourth Division title-winning side is fondly remembered. John Arnott died on 31st March 2017, aged 84.

Referee

Wednesday’s referee will be Peter Bankes, who will be taking charge of his 11th match involving West Ham United. His most recent match officiating the Irons was our 2-2 home draw with Newcastle in October 2023; he also refereed our 1-1 opening day draw at Bournemouth in August last season.

Prior to that, Bankes officiated in our 2-1 home defeat to Brentford in October 2021, in which he gave one of the most inept refereeing performances seen for many years. In a match full of odd decisions, Bankes failed to send off Bees defender Zanka for a number of poor challenges. He also refereed the Irons for our 2-1 home win over Aston Villa in November 2020, a game which saw him award Villa a penalty which was missed by Ollie Watkins before the same player saw a stoppage-time goal chalked off by VAR for offside. He has also refereed the Hammers previously in the League Cup, for our 2-1 third round defeat at Leicester in September 2015.

There is no VAR in the League Cup until the semi-final stage.

Possible line-ups

West Ham United boss Julen Lopetegui has no injury concerns and could look to rotate his squad.

Bournemouth are without the injured Tyler Adams, David Brooks and Enes Unal.

Possible West Ham United XI: Fabianski; Coufal, Todibo, Kilman, Cresswell; Alvarez, Soucek; Bowen, Paqueta, Summerville; Antonio.

Possible Bournemouth XI: Travers; Araujo, Huijsen, Senesi, Smith; Christie, Cook; Sinisterra, Scott, Ouattara; Jebbison.

Enjoy the game – Come On You Irons!