West Ham United’s favourite 1990s expert Sid Lambert kicks-off a new feature going back 30 years to relive our first season in the FA Carling Premiership...
The summer of 1993 was party time in east London. Clive Allen’s last-gasp goal against Cambridge United on the final day of the 1992/93 season had sealed our return to the top tier of English football.
We were officially back in the big time. Rupert Murdoch’s millions had made the FA Carling Premiership the place to be. Roy Keane certainly agreed. The Irish midfielder had left relegated Nottingham Forest for champions Manchester United for a British record £3.75million fee.
With clubs paying out big bucks thanks to the Sky TV deal, we needed to spend – and spend wisely – if we were going to stay afloat.
Unfortunately, extravagant expenditure was hardly in the West Ham DNA. You wouldn’t be surprised if the club treasurer had suggested saving money by using both sides of the toilet paper. We’d tried to survive on a shoestring in 1991/92 and been comfortably the worst team in the league.
Assistant manager Harry Redknapp’s nous in the market was going to be crucial. He made a trademark move by going back to Bournemouth to recruit a familiar face in Keith Rowland, the Northern Irish left-back signing for £110,000 and offering some cover for Julian Dicks. Further defensive reinforcement came in the shape of Simon Webster, a highly-rated centre-half from Charlton who was the heir apparent to Alvin Martin.
Whilst both of the above seemed like decent deals, there were some shocks further forward. Kevin Keen and Mark Robson, two of the promotion season’s star performers, were both on their way out of Upton Park. Keen was headed to Wolves for what seemed like a cut-price £600,000 fee and Robson was being linked with Charlton for a rather paltry £125,000.
Their combined fees would raise the funds required for our biggest outlay: Dale Gordon, the Rangers winger whose soul glo hair and moustache combination looked like he walked straight off the set of Miami Vice. ‘Disco Dale’ had led us a merry dance during his years at Norwich and had done two solid years in Scotland. But the £750,000 transfer fee raised plenty of eyebrows amongst the fanbase.
Spending the bulk of our money on a winger seemed like a bizarre strategy. Especially when our striking options were looking a little sparse. Trevor Morley deserved another crack at this level, but Clive Allen’s long injury absence at the end of the previous campaign seemed to have taken its toll. In pre-season he looked like he’d lose a foot race with a fridge freezer. He’d been a superb servant to the game, but Old Father Time had left him numerous voicemails. The veteran striker couldn’t ignore them much longer. Banking on him for goals seemed like quite a gamble.
And it didn’t take long to realise that our luck was well and truly out. A run-of-the-mill 50/50 challenge in training between Dicks and Webster left our new signing with a broken leg. Julian was heartbroken. The word coming out of Chadwell Heath was that it was very serious indeed. The question was not just whether we’d see our new central defender in Claret and Blue this season, but whether we’d see him play ever again.
Things didn’t improve when the season proper started in August. The fixture computer decided that Wimbledon would be the opponents to welcome us back to the top-flight, which was a bit like being invited into Hannibal Lecter’s basement.
We were absolutely horrific. Wimbledon’s tactics were as expected – the ball spent more time in the air than a gazebo in a hurricane – yet every time the ball was launched into our box, it caused chaos. We conceded two appalling goals including one where John Fashanu – the 6’2 centre forward and host of ITV Saturday night telly sensation Gladiators – made himself invisible to our entire back four. As contenders, we did not look ready.
Things didn’t improve much in our second game, a trip to Elland Road. Despite a plucky performance, we were on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline. The loss to Leeds was at least memorable, if only for the unforgettable sight of big Colin Foster being deployed as an emergency striker to partner Morley up front. God bless Fozzie. He huffed and puffed up there but looked like his feet had been replaced by cinder blocks.
We finally got off the mark in terms of points at Highfield Road. We were by far the better team against Coventry City. A long-range larrup by Tim Breacker forced a sensational save, and then Trevor Morley hit the bar from a corner. On the stroke of half-time we got the lead our play deserved. Another Breacker hit was parried by the keeper and Disco Dale bundled the ball home from all of about two yards. Our new signing had scored our first-ever Premiership goal – and made himself a permanent pub quiz question in the process.
Roy Wegerle’s second-half equaliser took the shine off what had otherwise been a much-improved display. Nonetheless, there was a palpable sense of relief as the fans made their way back down the motorway. We had our first Premiership point.
But we were under no illusions about the road ahead. It was going to be a long, hard season.
Sid has a new book out: ‘Highs, Lows and Di Canios: The Fans’ Guide to West Ham United in the 90s’. Visit www.thewesthamway.com to relive the rollercoaster ride of one of the most turbulent decades in Claret & Blue history.
*The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views opinions of West Ham United.
