WHUFC.com
Fans should take note of a new date for the start of the 2011/12 season for
West Ham United
20.06.2011
West Ham United's opening fixture of the 2011/12 npower Championship season
against Cardiff City has been moved back to Sunday 7 August. The Boleyn
Ground fixture will now kick off at 1pm. It will be the Hammers' first
meeting with the Welsh side since a 1-0 home win at Upton Park in a league
fixture on 6 February 2005.
For a full list of the club's fixtures, click here, although supporters
should note that all are subject to change. The Hammers will warm up for the
visit of Cardiff, which will be screened live on BBC, with a Saturday 30
July fixture against Spanish side Real Zaragoza - the club they beat in the
1964/65 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals en route to lifting the trophy. It
will be the first chance for fans to get a glimpse of the new faces in the
Hammers squad including Kevin Nolan.
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Hammers head to Denmark
WHUFC.com
West Ham United will travel to take on the Danish Superliga champions on
Wednesday 20 July
21.06.2011
West Ham United will travel to Denmark to face FC Copenhagen in a pre-season
friendly on Wednesday 20 July. The Hammers will take on the defending
Superliga champions and UEFA Champions League last-16 participants at the
Parken Stadium, with kick-off at 8pm. Sam Allardyce's squad will have to be
at their very best to defeat a Copenhagen squad that has won the Superliga
in each of the last three seasons and successfully negotiated a Champions
League group including FC Barcelona, Panathinaikos and Rubin Kazan before
being beaten 2-0 on aggregate by Chelsea. Founded in 1992 following the
merger of two clubs, Copenhagen have already secured nine Superliga titles,
four Danish Cups, three Danish Super Cups and one Danish League Cup. At
continental level, the Lions have also roared regularly, featuring in the
Champions League group stages on two occasions and reaching the last-32 of
the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League in both 2008/09 and 2009/10.
Last season, aside from their European achievements, Copenhagen lost just
two of their 33 Superliga fixtures, with Senegal striker Dame N'Doye netting
28 goals in all competitions. Copenhagen possess an experienced and able
squad managed by former Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry City and Sweden
full-back Roland Nilsson.
Aside from N'Doye, Nilsson's squad also includes Sweden left-back Pierre
Bengtsson, Iceland defender Solvi Ottesen and Norway midfielder Christian
Grindheim.
West Ham have faced Copenhagen's predecessors - 15-time league champions
Kjobenhavns Boldklub - four times previously. In 1927, the Hammers took on
their hosts three times during a tour of the Scandinavian country, running
out 5-1, 3-1 and 2-0 victors. Three years later, West Ham returned to the
Danish capital, only to be held to a 3-3 draw. West Ham's most-recent visit
to Denmark came in 1948, when Charlie Paynter's squad played five matches,
but did not face Copenhagen.
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Tombides on target
WHUFC.com
Dylan Tombides fired Australia to victory over Ivory Coast at the FIFA U17
World Cup in Mexico
21.06.2011
Dylan Tombides netted the winning goal as Australia kicked-off their FIFA
Under-17 World Cup challenge with a 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast. The Joeys
looked to be in trouble when Souleymane Coulibaly put the African nation
ahead after just 18 minutes of their Group F clash in the Mexican city of
Guadalajara. However, led by the West Ham United striker, the Australians
roared back after half-time, levelling matters through Jesse Makarounas six
minutes after the break. Tombides then took centre-stage, latching on to the
loose ball before beating one defender and slamming it low into the net past
goalkeeper Yored Konate.
Australia had surrendered more possession and territory to their opponents
and were out-shot 21 to 12, but thanks to the 17-year-old forward, they were
able to celebrate a success in their 40th U17 World Cup finals match. Joesy
coach Jan Versleijen admitted the Ivory Coast had been superior in many
departments, but was quick to praise the spirit shown by his players in
turning the match around - and Tombides in particular. "If you look at the
game, Ivory Coast were absolutely the better team. What I can say is that my
teams worked very hard and played as a unit. The few chances that we got, we
took full advantage of them. "Normally, if you play a game like we played
against a team like the Ivorians, you would lose. "You can see Dylan has
great skills, he is strong on the ball. He is technically good with his left
and right foot. He is a key promising player. "At half-time we spoke about
trying to use Dylan more, supply him a bit more and give him decent balls to
make the change."
The Joeys will need to up their game when they face Brazil in their second
group-stage fixture in Guadalajara on Thursday. The South Americans looked
in impressive form as they opened their tournament with a 3-0 victory over
Denmark. However, with a victory and three points of their own under their
belts, Tombides and his team-mates will go into the biggest match of their
lives full of confidence.
*Blair Turgott's England began their own FIFA U17 World Cup campaign with a
2-0 win over Rwanda on Sunday. The Young Lions return to Group C action on
Wednesday, when they face Canada in Pachuca. An exclusive interview with
Turgott will appear on whufc.com in the build-up to the game.
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Carr making pre-season plans
WHUFC.com
Academy Director Tony Carr is preparing for the 2011/12 FA Premier Academy
League campaign
21.06.2011
It may be the close-season, but Academy Director Tony Carr is already busy
making plans for the 2011/12 campaign. Carr, who is about to begin his 39th
season of coaching within the Academy of Football, will begin pre-season
training with fitness tests in a little more than two weeks' time. The
Under-18s will also contest a number of friendly matches before heading to
Estonia for a four-team tournament before the FA Premier Academy League
season commences in late August. For Carr, that has meant a summer full of
phone calls, emails and meetings - as well as a welcome week in the sun.
"Even when you're on holiday your phone is always receiving emails and texts
and you're never far away from thoughts about how pre-season is going to
go," he told West Ham TV. "You hope everyone is fit and well and players
will progress and you think about what we're going to do, where we're going
to go and who we're going to play. "It is what it is - an all-consuming job
- and even when you're away you can never relax 100 per cent."
Carr may have been conducting pre-season training every year for nearly four
decades, but he still has the appetite for the job as if he had arrived at
the club just this summer. Central to this year's schedule is a trip to
Estonia, where the Hammers will take on the likes of Dutch giants AFC Ajax
and an Estonian national junior side.
"We start training in the first week of July and we'll start with fitness
testing and seeing what levels the boys are at in terms of their fitness and
then we're going to Estonia for six days for a four-team tournament, which
is somewhere we've never been before. "It's an all-expenses-paid trip and
we're very much looking forward to it and it's a change of environment. You
have your six or seven weeks of pre-season training at Little Heath and this
will be a welcome distraction and will break up the pre-season with some
foreign opposition. "Estonia will host the UEFA European Under-19
Championship in 2012, so this tournament will help them to prepare for that
competition."
Two players who may be allowed to join pre-season training slightly later
than their colleagues are Blair Turgott and Dylan Tombides. The duo are
currently on duty at the FIFA U17 World Cup in Mexico, where they are
representing England and Australia respectively. "The World Cup is going on
over in Mexico, so it's going to be a bit difficult for us to see the games,
but I understand some are going to be televised. "I think they are both
doing quite well. They are in the preliminary stages of the tournament at
the moment and I know Dylan has been doing quite well, scoring goals, and
Blair has been playing quite well in England's matches. "Hopefully they
might even meet in the final, which would be great. Certainly it's a great
experience for them and we'll have to bear in mind that they've been working
all through the summer when they do come back."
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Spence to sign new deal
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 20th June 2011
By: Staff Writer
Ex-Academy defender Jordan Spence is set to sign a new contract with West
Ham. The 21-year right back, who can also operate at centre-half appeared to
be on his way out of the club having failed to agree terms on a new deal.
However unlike many of today's footballers, Spence's main sticking point was
a lack of first team action rather than a lack of cash. But having spoken
with new manager Sam Allardyce, Spence - having received certain assurances
- has agreed to put pen-to-paper on a new two-year deal. Announcing the news
on his Twitter feed today, the Woodford-born youngster said: "Delighted that
pretty much everything has been agreed, and look forward to next season."
Spence has been at West Ham since 2004 when he first signed for the club as
a 14-year-old. Two years later he was offered an Academy contract since when
he has represented England at every level from Under 16 to Under 21, making
his first team debut as a late substitute on the final day of the 2009/10
season. In other news, Zavon Hines is still hoping to reach an agreement
that would extend his stay at the club. Like fellow Academy product Spence,
the 22-year-old's existing contract expires this summer but contrary to
rumours from elsewhere, he remains hopeful of agreeing a new deal.
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Hammers set to go for Joe
Published: Today
The Sun
WEST HAM are poised to move for Joe Lewis, the Peterborough keeper.
Relegated Hammers are likely to lose No 1 Robert Green to a Premier League
club this summer. But Lewis, 23, is rated one of the best keepers outside
the top flight.
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West Ham line up bid for Peterborough keeper Lewis
By talkSPORT
Monday, June 20
West Ham are poised to make a move for Peterborough keeper Joe Lewis. Lewis,
23, is regarded as one of the best keepers outside the top-flight and played
a major role in helping his side gain promotion to the Championship last
season. The east London club are expected to lose first-choice keeper Robert
Green this summer with a number of Premier League clubs chasing his
signature. West Ham's new boss Sam Allardyce is keen to find a top quality
keeper and knows that Lewis would be an ideal replacement. Lewis made a
breakthrough into the England senior squad on the eve of the World Cup last
summer and would love the chance to showcase his talent at a big club. West
Ham are hoping a deal can be finalised in the near future and that Lewis can
join up with the squad when they return for the start of pre-season training
at the start of July. Allardyce has wasted no time stamping his authority on
the club, bringing in both Abdoulaye Faye and Kevin Nolan, and hopes Lewis
will become his third major signing.
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