Five-a-side

Five-a-side

 

whufc.com selects a five-a-side team from players who have represented both West Ham United and Saturday's visitors Everton...

 

1. George Kitchen

Derbyshire-born George Kitchen was an outstanding all-round sportsman, becoming a professional golfer as a teenager and coaching cricket at Dulwich College.

After playing for Lancashire League Stockport County, Kitchen spent seven seasons with Everton, helping the Toffees finish as runners-up in the First Division in 1901/02.

On moving to east London, he amazingly scored the winning penalty on his debut against Swindon Town in the Southern League on 2 September 1905.

Kitchen would score four times in his first season in Claret and Blue, including on his FA Cup bow at Woolwich Arsenal, and six times overall in 205 appearances.

 

2. Lucas Neill

Australia defender Lucas Neill spent 12 years with Millwall and Blackburn Rovers before joining West Ham United’s bid to make a Great Escape in January 2007.

The right-back was appointed captain two months later, leading the Hammers on a memorable run of seven wins in nine games and salvation at Old Trafford on the final day.

Neill remained with West Ham for two more seasons, totalling 88 appearances before departing for Everton in summer 2009. The experienced Socceroo spent just four months at Goodison Park before joining Turkish side Galatasaray.

 

3. Danny Williamson

Born in West Ham, Danny Williamson had cheered on the Hammers from the Boleyn Ground’s North Bank and played for Newham and Essex Schoolboys before joining his boyhood club.

Williamson spent four seasons as part of the first-team squad, making his debut at Arsenal on 30 April 1994. A first goal arrived in a 3-3 home draw with Southampton a week later, and he totalled 58 appearances and five goals.

A talented midfielder, Williamson’s career was affected by injuries both before and after his August 1997 move to Everton, where sadly he made just 17 appearances before officially retiring in 2000.

 

4. Mark Ward

A Liverpool-born winger, Mark Ward started his career as a schoolboy with Everton, before being released for reportedly being ‘too small’.

After dropping into non-league football, Ward enjoyed two fine seasons with Oldham Athletic before joining West Ham United for £250,000 in August 1985.

Ward’s first season in east London was sensational, as he was ever-present in the Hammers’ run to third place in the First Division. In all, he totalled 14 goals in 209 games.

After 18 months with Manchester City, Ward returned to Everton in 1991, following his former City manager Howard Kendall, and made 94 appearances over the next two-and-a-half seasons.

 

5. Tony Cottee

A hero in both east London and on the blue half of Merseyside, Tony Cottee scored goals galore for both West Ham United and Everton in the 1980s and 1990s.

A teenage prodigy at the Boleyn Ground, Cottee helped the Hammers to third in the old First Division in 1986 before departing for Everton two years later.

In six seasons at Goodison Park, Cottee netted 82 goals and appeared in the 1989 FA Cup final defeat by Liverpool, before returning for a second spell in east London, where he ended his time with 146 goals in 336 games.