Where Are They Now? West Ham 3-1 Chelsea 2012/13

Mohamed Diame


The Hammers enjoyed a successful return to the Premier League in 2012/13, finishing a highly creditable tenth just a year after promotion via the Play-Offs at Wembley.

One of the most memorable moments from the campaign was the 3-1 victory over defending champions Chelsea at the Boleyn Ground and we take a look at where the team that day are now plying their trade.

Goalkeeper: Jussi Jaaskelainen

Age: 42 
Current Club: Unattached

The evergreen Jussi Jaaskelainen was still featuring in the Championship for Wigan Athletic last term, making ten appearances even as he entered his 43rd year.

He was still with West Ham at 40, and played 61 games for the Club as they established themselves back in the Premier League.

Former Bolton man Jussi helped Wigan gain promotion from League 1 two years ago, but was released as the Latics were relegated 12 months on.

Guy Demel

Defender: Guy Demel

Age: 36 
Current Club: Red Star FC

Committed full-back Guy Demel was a popular member of Sam Allardyce’s team which first won its way out of the Championship and then transitioned to the Premier League.

The Frenchman spent four years in claret and blue, making the right-back spot his own for the first two years back at the top level before Carl Jenkinson dislodged him in 2014/15.

He moved on to Dundee United and is now plying his trade in the lower levels of French football, and has recently signed for third tier Paris side Red Star FC, having turned out for Marseille Consolat last term.

Defender: Joey O’Brien

Age: 31
 Current Club: Unattached

Joey O’Brien followed Sam Allardyce to the Boleyn Ground when Big Sam took over the reins in the summer of 2011.

The Irishman came up through the ranks at Bolton Wanderers under Allardyce’s management and recovered from a serious knee injury to sign for West Ham after his time at the Reebok Stadium came to an end.

He spent five years in east London, and made his 100th appearance for the Club in his final season there – as the Hammers defeated Lusitans in Andorra in the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round. The five-capped international has been without a Club since leaving West Ham last summer.

Defender: James Collins

Age: 33 
Current Club: West Ham United

Ginge returned to the Hammers for a second spell in 2012 after playing his part in the Great Escape during his first.

A 2009 move to Aston Villa brought him 91 Premier League appearances and five goals in their claret and blue, but the Hammers' return to the top flight in 2012 brought about a return to east London.

121 league games later, he is playing better than ever, and has starred during the Hammers' run of three consecutive clean sheets at the back end of last season.

Winston Reid

Defender: Winston Reid

Age: 28
 Current Club: West Ham United

Almost five years on from that famous victory over Chelsea, Reid remains the bedrock of the Hammers defence and has now played over 200 times in claret and blue.

He arrived on these shores having starred for his native New Zealand at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and established himself in the team during the 2011/12 promotion-winning campaign.

Reid then took the step-up to the Premier League in his stride and still regularly lines up alongside Collins – just as he did against the Blues in December 2012.

Defender: James Tomkins

Age: 28 
Current Club: Crystal Palace

Academy product James was a key figure for the Hammers under Allardyce, playing more than 20 league games in each of the four Premier League seasons he was at the Boleyn Ground helm.

The Essex boy featured on 243 occasions for the Hammers, before leaving to link up with another former Hammers manager – Alan Pardew – at Crystal Palace last term.

Halfway through his first year with the Eagles, it was time to work under Big Sam again, and Tomkins played his part in successfully guiding Palace away from relegation danger.

Midfield: Mark Noble

Age: 30 
Current Club: West Ham United

Noble has enjoyed a remarkable Hammers career which recently saw him become just the 19th man to make 400 first team appearances in Claret and Blue.

With a Wembley promotion under his belt, Noble set about the Hammers’ return to the Premier League with gusto, before taking over captaincy duties under Slaven Bilic in 2015.

An entertaining Testimonial against a West Ham All-Stars XI later, he is far from finished and still has plenty of goals to achieve with his first - and only - club.

Kevin Nolan

Midfield: Kevin Nolan

Age: 35 Current Club: Notts County (manager)

Allardyce’s skipper, Kevin Nolan celebrates his 35th birthday on Saturday as manager of League 2 side Notts County – following in Big Sam’s footsteps at Meadow Lane.

Nolan was a successful on-pitch leader at West Ham, scoring an impressive 30 league goals in 141 games before his release in 2015.

A spell as player-manager at Leyton Orient later, he was back in the hotseat with the Magpies who he turned around last term to ward off the threat of relegation to the National League.

Midfield: Gary O’Neil

Age: 34 Current Club: Bristol City

Midfielder Gary became something of a Play-Off expert in his late career, appearing at Wembley as West Ham, Queens Park Rangers and Norwich City all won the Championship Play-Off final in the 2010s.

The diminutive schemer spent two years in claret and blue, moving on at the end of the 2012/13 campaign with 56 appearances to his names.

Following those promotion-winning spells in west London and Norfolk, he joined Bristol City last summer and is set to embark on a second Championship campaign with the Robins.

Midfield: Matt Jarvis

Age: 31
 Current Club: Norwich City

Jarvis was the Club’s record signing when he arrived from Wolverhampton Wanderers in August 2012.

This meeting with Chelsea was just his 13th game for the Hammers and he went on to spend three years in claret and blue before moving on to newly-promoted Norwich City in September 2015.

His time at Carrow Road to date has been ravaged by injury and he has played only 21 games in the last two seasons.

Carlton Cole

Striker: Carlton Cole

Age: 33 
Current Club: Persib Bandung

Carlton Cole got the comeback going against his former side Chelsea on that day in 2012, heading home after Jarvis’ cross had looped up off Gary Cahill to level the scores at 1-1.

He joined the Hammers from Chelsea in 2006 and became a cult hero at the Boleyn Ground over the following nine years.

Following his release in 2015, the former England striker had spells with Celtic and in the US with Sacramento Republic before heading around the globe to sign for Indonesian side Persib Bandung in March, where he plays alongside ex-Blues teammate Michael Essien.

Sub: Mohamed Diame

Age: 30 Current Club: Newcastle United

Mohamed Diame shone after stepping off the bench at half-time to help inspire the Hammers to victory over Chelsea in 2012. He drilled home the second goal to send the Boleyn Ground into rapture and fire the Hammers to their first win over the Blues in nine years.

This was Diame’s first year of three with the Hammers and since leaving east London he, like Gary O’Neil, has become an expert at winning promotion from the Championship, playing his part as Hull and Newcastle have moved up from the second tier in the last two campaigns.

Sub: Matt Taylor

Age: 35 Current Club: Northampton Town

Taylor was also introduced from the bench at the break against Chelsea, as West Ham turned around a 1-0 deficit to take all three points.

The left-sided player was a 2011 arrival in east London under Big Sam and he featured in close to 100 games as West Ham became a top flight force again.

Since leaving the Hammers he has played for Burnley and Northampton Town, only missing three League 1 games for the Cobblers last term.

Sub: Modibo Maiga

Age: 29 Current Club: Al-Ittihad Kalba

Mali striker Maiga may not have enjoyed the best of spells with the Hammers, but he did make his mark in this game, scoring the match-sealing third goal as West Ham got one over their London rivals.

Maiga was a 2012 arrival from French side Sochaux, and he was a Hammer for three years, spending time out on loan at QPR and Metz over that period.

He moved to the Middle East and Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr after leaving West Ham and now played in the UAE for Al-Ittihad Kalba.