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Five years ago today we did this at Wembley

West Ham United celebrate promotion to the Premier League, after the final whistle

West Ham United celebrate promotion to the Premier League, after the final whistle

Five years ago today Ricardo Vaz Te struck a late winner as West Ham defeated Blackpool in an absorbing Championship play-off final to seal their return to the Premier League at the first attempt.

West Ham led at the break through a Carlton Cole strike but after Thomas Ince – son of former Hammers midfielder Paul – levelled shortly after the restart, the match became increasingly stretched and ragged.

Both teams wasted good opportunities to score but it was the Hammers who proved to be the decisive third when the unmarked Vaz Te, a January signing from Barnsley, drilled the ball into the net from 12 yards.

It was a goal that meant West Ham won on their first appearance at Wembley in 31 years, in doing so becoming the first team since Leicester in 1996 to bounce straight back to the Premier League through the play-offs.

Team: Green, Reid, Tomkins, Demel (Faubert – 57′ ), Nolan, Collison, Taylor, Noble, O’Neil (McCartney – 53′ ), Cole, Vaz Te. Unused Substitutes Henderson, Lansbury, Maynard Attendance: 78,523

 

About Sean Whetstone

I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball, I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh. Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons! Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

7 comments on “Five years ago today we did this at Wembley

  1. We were very lucky in that game weren’t we, Blackpool outplayed us for the entire match, pretty much battered us but we scored the only goal and the rest is history COYI !!!

    On a side note Sean, are you aware when those on the waiting list will be informed if they are to be offered a season ticket next season ? I haven’t found any news regarding it anywhere…

  2. Great day. Great day. I thought we had really secured our future that afternoon & yes 32 it hadn’t seemed likely when we were struggling to get in the ruddy play offs, let alone at times during the match. I did not imagine that five years on we would flirting with the drop again. Still, after a couple of close shaves we are still in the PL. Maybe we will finally stake a claim in the top …..(fill in your chosen number!) next season. Maybe…

    • yes H64 I couldn’t believe Allardyce’s negative tactics we had thrashed Blackpool twice that season playing a passing game, then for the final he invited them onto us, it just goes to show better to be lucky than good because on that day the team that deserved it didn’t win and it was more a relief than a celebration, fair play to him though Allardyce did amazingly well to get us up at the first time of asking considering how pathetic we looked the season before.

  3. Yes indeed. That relegation season nearly drove me mad. Avram’s stupid grinning face as he checked his bank balance & mumbled stuff about how the players were good so it was up to them to sort out defending at corners! What was it – two points from the last ten games as we sank like a stone, without even a fight.

    Sorry about that rant. You brought it all back! Even looked pretty bad at times in the promotion season. Just that late run & then bingo on the last day. We had looked good against Cardiff, but the final was not for the weak hearted for sure.

  4. Happy memories from that match and a few others but i thought we were shocking in large parts of that season,especially at home.
    There we some really good matches but they were far outweighed by some mediocre garbage.But having said that in the time we have been in the premiership many other clubs have been promoted and sunk straight back in to the championship so we should be happy for small mercies..

  5. Haven’t watched that back for a few years,strangely have some fond memories of that season in the Championship, still get goose bumps remembering that day at Wembley. COYI

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