We delve deep into The British Newspaper Archive to look at cuttings that shed light on West Ham United’s history...
West Ham United’s opening-day record down the years has been, like most clubs, up and down, with optimism-fuelling victories to kick-off some seasons, and confidence-draining defeats to start others.
The Hammers’ first-ever fixture as a top-flight club in August 1923 saw them make the same journey Graham Potter’s squad have made this weekend, to Sunderland, albeit the Londoners visited Roker Park rather than its replacement, The Stadium of Light, a mile or two down the road. The game was also the first-ever meeting between the two clubs.
West Ham had enjoyed an outstanding 1922/23 season, being promoted from the Second Division as runners-up to Notts County, and reaching the first FA Cup final played at the newly built Empire Stadium in Wembley, where they lost to Bolton Wanderers.
Hopes were high then, as manager Syd King and his players travelled to the North East, but opponents Sunderland were one of the best teams in the country, and had finished second only to champions Liverpool in the First Division table the previous campaign.
In Charlie Buchan (pictured, below), Sunderland had the First Division’s leading scorer with 30 goals. Signed from West Ham’s near-neighbours and Southern League rivals Leyton in 1911, Buchan had been the club’s leading scorer in six seasons and netted 27 times as the Black Cats won the First Division title and reached the FA Cup final in 1913. During the First World War, he was a hero off the pitch too as he served with the Grenadier Guards and then the Sherwood Foresters.
To combat Buchan and his talented teammates, King fielded ten of the players who had started the FA Cup final – goalkeeper Ted Hufton, full-back William Henderson, half-backs Syd Bishop, George Kay and Jack Tresadern, wingers Jimmy Ruffell and Dick Richards, inside-forwards Billy Brown and Billy Moore and centre-forward Vic Watson. The only change saw left-back Jack Young replaced by Thomas Hodgson.
The Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette reported that, prior to kick-off, ‘the Sunderland Tramways Band pleased the crowd with selections’.
Around 35,000 supporters were present, enjoying cooler than usual summer weather and ‘a keenness about the wind’ that was at Sunderland’s backs in the first half.
West Ham rallied, ‘were playing strong, clever football and frequently the Sunderland defence were hard put to hold them up’, then the home side did likewise, with both teams’ England strikers Watson and Buchan going close to opening the scoring, as Hufton denied both the latter and Arthur Hawes with saves.
When the final whistle went, West Ham had held their own and kept Buchan and company at bay to secure a creditable goalless draw and a share of the two points, albeit Watson suffered an injury that ruled him out the next month.
‘Play towards the end was very rough and several players on both sides were knocked out for a while,’ a reported in the Weekly Despatch confirmed, concluding: ‘The no score result represented the merits of the teams’.
The Daily Herald commented: ‘[West Ham] shaped anything but infants, and they gave the Wearsiders such a shaking up as they did not have all last season. The football was altogether too robust to suit Sunderland.’
Despite being held on the opening day, Sunderland went on to finish third, four points behind champions Huddersfield Town and runners-up Cardiff City, while King’s West Ham ended their first top-flight season in 13th.
