It is exactly 14 years since Matty Etherington scored the one and only hat-trick of his senior career, netting three goals in West Ham United’s 5-0 Division One victory over Wimbledon at the Boleyn Ground on 9 March 2004.
Etherington was in his first season in Claret and Blue, having joined the Hammers in August 2003 in a deal which sent striker Frederic Kanoute and £3.5m to Tottenham Hotspur, and had quickly established himself as a fans’ favourite.
Despite his eye-catching performances down the left wing, Etherington had scored just one goal in 33 appearances since his arrival – in a 3-0 win at Crewe Alexandra – when the Dons arrived in east London. What happened next were 90 minutes that the now 36-year-old Cornishman will never forget.
“My earliest standout memory was in my first season at West Ham, in 2003/04,” he recalled. “We played Wimbledon at Upton Park in March 2004 and won 5-0 and I got a hat-trick, the only one of my career. That was a night I’ll never forget and a really good performance from everyone.”
Etherington’s fine form continued as he netted in a home win over Gillingham later the same month, before scoring arguably his most-famous goal in a West Ham shirt in a Play-Off semi-final second leg victory over Ipswich Town at a raucous Boleyn Ground in May.
The Hammers may have been edged out by Crystal Palace in the Play-Off final and missed out on promotion, but the popular Etherington will remember his first season at the Club for the positives, rather than the negatives.
And of course, a year later, in May 2005, it was his cross which Bobby Zamora converted to secure victory over Preston North End at the Millennium Stadium and a return to the Premier League.
In all, Etherington totalled 195 appearances across six seasons, scoring 18 goals and setting up dozens more, and he remains a well-liked figure among West Ham supporters in his current role as a broadcaster.
That was a night I’ll never forget and a really good performance from everyone
Matty Etherington
“That first season culminated in me getting the Hammer of the Year, so I’ll always have fond memories of it,” he confirmed. “That was one of the biggest achievements in my career, seeing the list of players who won it before and have won it since. I’ll always hold it in high regard.
“I arrived at West Ham feeling I had something to prove. I didn’t feel I got a fair crack of the whip at Spurs, so I was hungry to prove people wrong and get the Club back in the Premier League, having been relegated the season before.
“We managed to do it, albeit a season later, and I still felt I had something more to prove in the Premier League and that’s when you get the best out of players, when they feel they have something to prove.”