West Ham United Ladies Football Club is an English women's football club affiliated with West Ham United. They were formed in 1991 and play home games at London Community Track, Stratford.
History
UNDER 21 FOOTBALL TRIAL WEST HAM UNITED - UNDER 21, FOOTBALL, TRIAL, WEST HAM UNITED.
Whilst the 1970s saw a short lived incarnation of West Ham United Ladies, it was early in 1991 when Roger Morgan, the Football in the Community officer at West Ham United, mooted the idea of forming the present ladies section of the club. Following a number of initial coaching sessions to bring in local players and the capture of John Greenacre, who had then recently relinquished his managerial posts at Romford Ladies, to help organise the club, the first friendly match was set for 29 March 1992 resulting in a defeat to Barnet Ladies. Undeterred, two teams were entered into the Greater London Regional Women’s Football League for the following season; one in Division 3 and the other in Division 4 and the Hammers opened their first competitive season with a 5â€"1 victory against Hackney “B†on 27 September 1992 going on to finish the campaign in a respectable fourth place although the second team found life harder and were relegated to the 5th Division.
A third-place finish the following season with was sufficient to earn promotion to Division Two and the next season there was a promotion into Division One following another third-place finish.
1995â€"96 saw a season of consolidation after the two consecutive promotions in two years with a mid table placing, but the season saw the club enter the FA Women's Cup for the first time, having been encouraged by a goalless draw with Arsenal Ladies the previous year in the London FA Women's Cup. The club also embarked on its first overseas tour taking in trips to Germany and Holland. International recognition was furthered as Claire Lacey, the Hammers goalkeeper, was awarded an England cap in an away fixture against Portugal to become the club’s first international representative.
Two more season of consolidation as a mid table Division One side in the Greater London League followed as the club went through a difficult period off the pitch, with personnel changes in the backroom staff and ground problems seeing Brampton Manor School, Barking and Little Heath all used as home grounds.
The 1998â€"99 season saw the Hammers fortunes take an upturn reaching their first cup final in the Russell Cup and more importantly gaining the runners up spot in the league and with it promotion into the Greater London League Premier Division. The momentum continued as the Hammers immediately made an impact in the Premier Division coming second behind the semi professional set up at Fulham, before clinching the title the year after, coupled with a run to the 4th round of the FA Women's Cup.
2000â€"01 saw the introduction of the now highly successful junior section playing in the Essex County Girls League laying the foundations for another period of growth for the club as a second successful Greater London League Premier League campaign this time saw the Hammers winning the promotion play off and allowed the club to start the 2002â€"03 season in the South East Combination League, where a fourth-place finish showed the Hammers ability to hold their own at this level. The promise of being able to step up further emerged when the runners up spot was claimed the year after. Hopes were high the club could go one further for the 2004â€"05 campaign and in a nail-biting finish the Hammers emerged victorious from a winner takes all final league game with Northampton to win the title, only just missing out on the double following a league cup final defeat to the same opponents.
Just 13 seasons after starting out West Ham United Ladies had now reached the FA Women’s Premier League and achieved a sixth-place finish in their opening season at this level despite a shaky start as they got accustomed to the higher standard. There were no such problems for the reserve team though, who were only just pipped to the runners up spot in the Premier League (Reserves) Division Two South. The following season was a disappointment as the team started to slide and the club ended up in a situation where they would be relegated if the teams below were to win their games in hand although by the end of the season results had gone in the Hammers favour. The Reserve team finished rock bottom in their division but amongst the junior sections the club continued to flourish and from the junior ranks both management staff and playing personnel were elevated to get the club back on track.
2007â€"08 saw Tony Marshall take over as first team manager helped by Alex Bonner as coach. The club switched to play home games at Harlow Town and with a massive rebuilding job to be done the Hammers turned to youth with a side featuring many previous junior players from the club, who were more than able to hold their own with a sixth-place finish.
The next season saw the improvement continue, from a new base at Thurrock, with a highest ever third-place finish in the league coupled with the first team lifting their first major silverware following victory in the Essex FA County Cup and the success spread across the whole club with the reserve team ending the season top of the Premier (Reserves) Division Two South and amongst the junior side’s haul of silverware were the London FA Girls Youth Cup and the Southern Region Under 16 FA Tesco Cup.
The Hammers were again amongst the leading sides in the 2009â€"10 campaign although too many draws saw them slip to 5th position with the reserve team consolidating following their promotion. Again there was success for the junior sides with the Under 16 team winning the UK Home International Tesco Cup at the Reebok Stadium. 2010â€"11 saw the side lead the table for much of the winter but were pipped to the promotion spots in the run in eventually finishing in third place. However the Essex FA County Cup was regained and best ever runs in the FA Women's Cup and FA Women's Premier League Cup saw both quarter finals reached.
2011â€"12 followed a similar pattern with good cup runs taking the club to the Essex FA County Cup final and the FA Women's Premier League Cup quarter final. Again a third-place finish was achieved in the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division.
In Summer 2014, ex-professional footballer Julian Dicks took charge of the Ladies. His first competitive game was against Spurs Ladies. He helped to improve the team from their 10th-place finish the season and then to a sixth-placed finish in the 2014â€"15 season, along with a London FA Capital Women's Cup Final date against Charlton Athletic Ladies.
In March 2015, John Hunt and his son Stephen Hunt were appointed Joint Chairman.
On 5 June 2015 the club announced the creation of the West Ham Ladies Learning Academy.
In July 2015, Marc Nurse became manager replacing ex-professional footballer Julian Dicks, who was promoted to work with the men's first team. Under Nurse, West Ham go on to finish 10th for the 2015/16 season. The season began in controversial circumstances when club captain Stacey Little led a small walkout of players and went to the press. Little had criticised the main club in the press the previous year over a lack of funding. The highlight of the season by far was the Ladies' first and last full league match at Upton Park in the club's last season there before moving to Stratford. The Ladies secured a record crowd of 1,741 as a penalty by captain Katie Bottom sealed a 1-0 win. The game became widely known for an off-the-ball incident when the video of a Spurs defender stamping on the head of West Ham striker Whitney Locke went viral.
During the summer the team tours the Netherlands and play two top sides (MSV Duisberg and FC Twente) and are beaten in both games. The Chairmen then took the decision to replace Nurse as manager and replace him with James Marrs who had recently led Brighton Ladies to promotion but was then sacked in controversial circumstances. Marrs appealed the circumstances of his sacking and in October 2016 an FA hearing held that the finding of the Sussex FA were such that "no reasonable body would have reached" and his record was cleared. The following day West Ham United nevertheless released Marrs as the Hunts were replaced as Chairmen and the Ladies absorbed into the main club. The events leading to the takeover of the Ladies were triggered by unfavourable press coverage of the main club's treatment of the Ladies team.
For the rest of the 2016â€"17 season the Ladies were managed by the West Ham Foundation coaches finishing 9th.
The summer of 2017 saw West Ham Ladies undergo significant changes as the club looked to reach the top Women's Southern League within five years. Jack Sullivan, son of West Ham chairman David Sullivan was named the team's managing director, while Karen Ray took up the role of ladies' general manager. Greg de Carnys also moved over from the Academy to look after the ladies' first team and academy. In the first half of the season, the results were poor with 12 losses from 17 games, and on 9 December 2017, it was announced that de Carnys had parted company with the club and that Ray would take charge of the team on an interim basis. Following this, the results improved, with 11 wins and only 1 loss from the next 14 games, including victories to win the both the Isthmian League Women’s Cup and FA WPL Plate.
On 28 May 2018 it was announced that West Ham Ladies had successfully applied to join the WSL, the top league in England.
Honours
Senior
- FA Women's Premier League Plate: 2017â€"18
- Isthmian League Women’s Cup: 2017â€"18
- Essex FA County Cup Winners: 2008â€"09, 2010â€"11
- South East Combination League: 2004â€"05
- Greater London Regional Premier League: 2000â€"01, 2001â€"02
- Greater London Regional League Play Off Winners: 2001â€"02
Reserve
- FA Women’s Premier (Reserve) League Division Two South: 2008â€"09
Youth
- London FA Junior cup Winners: 2010â€"11
- UK Home International Under 16 Tesco Cup: 2009â€"10
- English National Under 16 Tesco Cup: 2009â€"10
- Southern Region Under 16 Tesco Cup: 2008â€"09, 2009â€"10
- London FA Girls Under 16 Youth Cup: 2008â€"09
- Essex FA Under 10 County Futsal Cup: 2013â€"14
- Essex FA Under 16 County Cup: 2009â€"10, 2011â€"12
- Essex FA Under 14 County Cup: 2011â€"12
- Essex County Girls Football Under 16 League: 2006â€"07, 2007â€"08, 2008â€"09, 2009â€"10, 2011â€"12
- Essex County Girls Football Under 16 League Cup: 2006â€"07, 2007â€"08, 2008â€"09, 2009â€"10, 2011â€"12
- Essex County Girls Football Under 15 League: 2004â€"05, 2014â€"15
- Essex County Girls Football Under 15 League Cup: 2001â€"02, 2004â€"05
- Essex County Girls Football Under 14 League: 2003â€"04, 2005â€"06, 2006â€"07, 2008â€"09, 2010â€"11, 2011â€"12
- Essex County Girls Football Under 14 League Cup: 2005â€"06, 2006â€"07, 2008â€"09, 2010â€"11, 2011â€"12
- Essex County Girls Football Under 13 League: 2004â€"05
- Essex County Girls Football Under 13 League Cup: 2004â€"05, 2013â€"14
- Essex County Girls Football Under 12 League: 2005â€"06, 2006â€"07, 2010â€"11
- Essex County Girls Football Under 12 League Cup: 2009â€"10, 2011â€"12
- Essex County Girls Football Under 11 League South: 2005â€"06, 2012â€"13, 2013â€"14, 2014â€"15
- Essex County Girls Football Under 11 League West: 2008â€"09
- Essex County Girls Football Under 11 League London & Central: 2011â€"12
- Essex County Girls Football Under 11 League Cup: 2008â€"09, 2011â€"12, 2012â€"13, 2014â€"15
- Essex County Girls Football Under 10 League London: 2009â€"10, 2010â€"11
- Essex County Girls Football Under 10 League Cup: 2009â€"10, 2010â€"11
Current squad
- As of 8 July 2018.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
References
External links
- Official Site
- Page at West Ham United
