Daily WHUFC News - 15th April 2018

FA WPL Plate Final: All you need to know
WHUFC.com

Having lifted one trophy last week, West Ham United Ladies return to action
in the FA WPL Plate final against Luton!

Where and When?
West Ham United Ladies will take on Luton Town Ladies at Keys Park in
Hednesford, on Sunday April 15.
The match is scheduled for a 3pm kick-off, and the postcode is: WS12 2DZ

Ticket information:
Tickets are available on the gate on the day of Sunday's final at Hednesford
Town FC, with admission at £5 for adults.
Concessions can attend Sunday's contest for just £2, while under-10s will be
just £1. Younger fans - under the age of three - can come to the WPL Plate
final for free!

How to follow:
West Ham are delighted to confirm that the WPL Plate final against Luton
Town Ladies will be live-streamed on the Club's Facebook page.
This stream will also be shared across the Ladies social media pages and
will go live approximately five minutes before kick-off on Sunday.
Live coverage will also be provided on Twitter, while there will be
extensive post-match coverage on the West Ham United website, including
reaction and full highlights.

Meet the opposition:
Luton Town Ladies currently sit in the FA Women's Premier League South East
Division One, and play home matches at Stockwood Park Athletics Centre.
Managed by Nikki Baker, Luton currently sit fifth in their division and
claimed an impressive 14-0 win in their last fixture over Haringey Women's
FC.

What they said:
Luton will be a tough challenge, a different challenge. We will have to find
a way to break through their lines. It's a new challenge that we have to
figure out. Winning would be the reward that everyone here deserves.
Karen Ray
Interim head coach & general manager

Last five matches:
The Hammers are unbeaten in their last 11 games, a run that stretches the
entirety of 2018 so far.
The last five matches have included some big wins, including the
Goodmove.co.uk Women's Cup final victory against Charlton Athletic Women,
and putting ten goals past QPR Ladies.
QPR Ladies 0-10 West Ham United Ladies - April 8 2018
Charlton Athletic Women 1-2 West Ham United Ladies - April 4 2018
Swindon Town 0-6 West Ham United Ladies - March 25 2018
West Ham United Ladies 2-0 Chichester City - March 11 2018
Hull City 0-3 West Ham United Ladies - March 4 2018

How to get there:

Follow the M1 before joining the M6 at Junction 19. Follow on to the M42 and
go through the M6 toll, before taking exit T6. Continue on A5195 to Keys
Park in Hednesford.

By Car

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Ray: It's time for Ladies to prove they deserve WPL Plate 'reward'
WHUFC.com

General manager and head coach Karen Ray has called on her Ladies side to
prove that a win in this weekend's FA WPL Plate final is the "reward that
everyone deserves", when they take on Luton Town on Sunday. West Ham United
Ladies will play their second cup final in just 11 days this weekend in
Cannock against Luton, having claimed the Goodmove.co.uk Women's Cup last
Wednesday in an exhilarating contest against Charlton Athletic Women. With
one trophy already in the bag for the Hammers, Ray wants the team to
continue their excellent recent run and show they are deserving of another
winners' medal this weekend. When asked what a victory would mean for her
team against Luton, Ray told whufc.com: "For me, I think it's the reward
that everyone deserves. I think that it is something that every single one
of them have worked extremely hard for. "The staff have completely earned
some recognition for everything they've done and hopefully as the person
that's steering it, I guess for me it is important for them to be recognized
for what they've done. Obviously, I would like to thank everyone that has
worked with us, working for us."

Luton currently sit fifth in the Women's Premier League South East Division
One – the division below West Ham – but Ray is expecting a tough test
against the Hatters, who seriously tested AFC Fylde in the semi-finals. The
head coach knows this Sunday's match will be a completely different test to
the one against Charlton, but is confident her side are up to the challenge
that Luton will pose. She continued: "They are in the league below us, but
I don't think that it takes away anything from them as a team. They put in a
great performance against Fylde, a team who are equal to us if you look at
the tables in the Northern Division. This says a lot about what Luton can
bring and we will respect that, just as we did with Charlton. "Ultimately,
Luton will be a tough challenge and a different challenge. They're going to
be a tough team, they're going to drop deep and we have got to find a way to
break their line which is different from people coming to press onto us.
It's a new challenge for everyone to figure out."

Ray reckons this weekend's game will come down to the mentality of each
side, with the general manager believing that desire and tenacity will be
the key attributes in the WPL Plate final. Ray recognises that her team are
probably feeling the pressure of their winning run, with the side unbeaten
in their last 11 competitive matches, including 46 scored goals, but feels
this can only be a good thing ahead of this Sunday's match. "It's about
getting the right mentality. It's about not being complacent and that's
something we talk about every pregame meeting. We can't let this drop. It's
crazy to say that it's tough to keep winning. I think in a cup final it
comes down to who wants it more on the day, the occasion itself calls for
you to either rise or to fall. "I think the girls are feeling the pressure
now but the girls are in a good place mentally. Physically, this is the most
fit that they have ever been and I think that showed at the Charlton game.
Now it's about making sure we put all of the ingredients in, and we go out
there and not only put on a good score-line but a good performance from
everyone."

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Gale: My 1991 FA Cup semi-final red card would have been overturned by VAR!
WHUFC.com

Tony Gale admits his FA Cup semi-final sending-off still rankles, exactly 27
years on! The West Ham United defender was given his marching orders during
the first half of the Hammers' last-four clash with Nottingham Forest at
Villa Park on 14 April 1991, with the game still goalless. However, the
decision by manager Keith Hackett to send Gale for an early bath for his
challenge on Forest midfielder Gary Crosby has become infamous, as it was
the first occurrence of a player being red carded for a so-called
'professional foul' for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. Now 58, the
Hammers favourite still believes the decision was the wrong one and that it
has overshadowed an otherwise fine career in Claret and Blue that included
368 appearances and a record-high third-place top-flight finish in 1985/86.
"I know it's boring, as everyone has asked me about it and I've spoken about
it a million times, but I'm going to talk about the 1991 FA Cup semi-final,
when I was sent-off against Nottingham Forest," he told whufc.com. "When I
look back, if you're talking about a fans' impact on a game, there could not
have been one in the history of football when the supporters made more noise
when their team was losing. "To be losing 4-0 and still be singing and all
you could hear was 'Billy Bonds' Claret and Blue Army' was incredible.
"As for my red card, it was not a sending-off. It was the only time I was
sent-off in my whole career and if it had happened today, it would have been
overturned by the VAR straight away. "The rules have changed since then, but
that 'professional foul' rule had only been implemented earlier that week to
change how it was to be interpreted by referees, who were to send-off
players deemed to be denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. "The game was
live on TV and it was ruined when I fouled Gary Crosby and Keith Hackett
sent me off. "Keith has admitted since that, if the incident had happened
the weekend before, he probably wouldn't even have booked me! "It does
rankle me as people remember this incident, rather than me having played 368
games, being part of our record-high league finish and the goals I scored…"

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Masuaku: Stoke match is a big opportunity to take a giant step towards
safety
WHUFC.com

Arthur Masuaku says West Ham United have a 'big opportunity' to take a
'great step' towards Premier League safety when they host Stoke City on
Monday evening.
The Hammers go into their London Stadium meeting with the Potters seven
points clear of Paul Lambert's side in the table, but the gap between
themselves and the bottom three could be down to three points if Southampton
defeat Chelsea. West Ham themselves defeated the Saints and held the Blues
in their last two fixtures, with Masuaku marking his own return from a
six-match suspension with two outstanding personal performances, and the
wing-back wants to make it three positive results in a row. "The draw at
Chelsea was good for the confidence after a great win against Southampton,"
said the No26. "The most important thing for us was not to lose and a point
was good for us, and we can look forward for the next game against Stoke
City. "I feel like we have the fans with us. Before the game against
Southampton, we were a bit in trouble and the way we played, I think the
fans were happy. We had a good game collectively, as a team, so they saw the
effort they want us to show and some quality. "It's a big opportunity
because they are behind us and we can put ten points between them and us. If
we take the game as we played against Southampton or Chelsea, I think we'll
win this game. "We just have to play like we have played, to be strong and
compact. We don't need to put any extra pressure on ourselves. "We don't
feel safe yet but if we beat Stoke City, we can make a great step, because
it will be nine points [if Southampton lose to Chelsea on Saturday]. Let's
win first, then we will see. We didn't set a target. We will take it one
game at a time."

Masuaku has impressed since his return, assisting a Marko Arnautovic
wondergoal against Southampton before helping the Hammers collect a
resilient point at Stamford Bridge. In the latter, West Ham owed a great
deal to goalkeeper Joe Hart, who produced a Man of the Match performance,
earning the glowing report from the wing-back. "For me, he is the No1
'keeper for England. He wasn't playing for a while, but now he's back and
he's doing great and showing what he can do. The draw against Chelsea was
because of him, so well done."
At the other end of the pitch, Masuaku also had warm words for Arnautovic,
who followed his two-goal show against the Saints with an assist for
Chicharito's equaliser at Chelsea. "This guy Marko is a beast. I think he
can be a top player if he keeps going like this. We all know what he is
capable of and, in his mind, he is enjoying the game. I think the team and
manager have given him confidence, so he's just playing like he can play."

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