Richard Bennett

The Lawro Challenge – Week 23

Back to league action and resumption of our prediction challenge with BBC pundit, Lawro.

Lawro Crystal Ball Twenty-two rounds of games in the Premier League have now been completed. That means we have now predicted the outcomes of 220 matches in total.

In Week 22, Rich scored 7 points, Geoff 6 points, and Lawro 11 points. Lawro has worryingly narrowed the lead at the top to just two points.

In this challenge we award one point for a correct result, and a further two points (making three in total) if the score prediction is spot on.

We now proceed to week 23.

	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Total after 21 weeks	173	134	167
Score in week 22	7	6	11
Total after 22 weeks	180	140	178

Predictions – Week 23
	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Tuesday
Arsenal v Watford	3-0	2-0	3-0
Bournemouth v Palace	2-1	2-2	1-1
Burnley v Leicester	1-1	1-0	1-2
Middlesbrough v West Brom	0-0	1-0	1-2
Sunderland v Tottenham	0-2	1-2	1-0
Swansea v Southampton	2-1	0-0	2-0
Liverpool v Chelsea	2-2	2-1	1-1
Wednesday
West Ham v Man City	2-2	3-2	0-2
Man Utd v Hull	3-0	4-1	2-0
Stoke v Everton	2-1	1-2	1-1

Manchester City Preview

Can we continue our fine recent league form against an inconsistent City team?

Embed from Getty Images

Manchester City began the season as the bookmakers’ favourites to land the Premier League title. The arrival of Pep Guardiola, who many saw as the best manager in world football, was considered to be a master stroke, and many felt it would ensure that the title returned to the Etihad Stadium. But, despite six wins on the trot in their first six games of the season, which shortened their odds of finishing at the top, they have since been inconsistent for a team destined to win the league. On paper, those first six games did not appear to be the toughest, apart from perhaps a visit to their Manchester neighbours. But they won them all relatively comfortably, scoring eighteen goals in the process and conceding just five.

But in their next sixteen games they have suffered five defeats at the hands of Tottenham, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool and Everton. More worryingly perhaps, for a team who had high hopes, they have had four draws at home against Everton, Southampton, Middlesbrough and Tottenham. Had they won those four they would be sitting comfortably in second place, just four points behind the leaders, Chelsea.

But as it is, with just sixteen games of the season to go, they find themselves two points outside of the top four places, and with a fight on their hands to qualify for a Champions League place next season. Their cup performances have been more consistent, and despite being eliminated from the League Cup by their neighbours, they have progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup where they have an away tie at Huddersfield, and to the last sixteen of the Champions League where they will face Monaco.

Of course they have already beaten us twice this season, 3-1 in the league at the end of August, and then the 5-0 thrashing in the FA Cup third round on our ground. In the league game, despite City scoring twice in the opening twenty minutes, we fought back with a goal from Antonio in the second half, and it took a goal in added-on time to finally seal the three points.

Guardiola has been criticised for his choice of goalkeeper to replace Joe Hart, and has been very touchy when interviewed on this subject by the media. Some statistics (on shot stopping) put Bravo, their keeper, near the bottom of the league of Premier League custodians, but of course the figures cannot take into account the quality of the shots that he has faced. Nevertheless the general consensus is that his performances have not been of the quality needed for a team hoping to win the title, although some blame must also be attached to their ageing defence, who have missed their captain, Kompany, for almost the whole of the season. This is one area that I hope we can exploit in the game. They have conceded 28 goals in their 22 league games, a figure that exceeds the four teams above them in the league, as well as four teams below them, including Middlesbrough who sit in sixteenth place!

Their attacking play, when it is on song, as it unfortunately was in the cup game here, is entertaining to watch, and their 43 goals scored (more away from the Etihad than at home!) is only bettered by the current top four. But their seven wins, four draws, and five defeats in their last sixteen league matches emphasises their inconsistency, and we shouldn’t go into the game fearing a repeat of the cup drubbing a few weeks ago. In fact our current league form, with five wins in our last seven league games, is far superior to their four wins in their last nine league games. On that basis, the bookmaker odds on offer, where we are quoted as around 5/1 to win the game, and City at around 2/1 on, would appear to be wide of the mark, but of course the two games where we have faced each other this season tell another story.

Nonetheless it is to be hoped that the apparent improved spirit following the removal of a certain Frenchman from the team (and now his subsequent departure), will mean that we can at least get something out of the game. With my trusty optimistic hat on I am hoping for a narrow win, perhaps 2-1, although a 2-2 draw may be a more realistic bet.

It will be interesting to see the team that our manager selects. Randolph will be in goal, and I expect a back four of Byram, Reid, Fonte and Cresswell. Kouyate has returned from the African Nations Cup, but whether he returns directly into the team is open to debate. For me, Obiang, Lanzini, Carroll and Antonio are certain starters, and he will almost certainly pick Noble. Of course new signing Snodgrass will be pushing for a place in the starting line-up as will Feghouli. Unfortunately Diafra Sakho is unlikely to be available until March, and it remains to be seen if we sign a striker on deadline day (I am writing this the day before). Bilic appears to have cooled on the prospect of signing Hogan from Brentford (I wonder if he really fancied him in the first place, perhaps hoping that Sunderland would part with Defoe?).

Now that Payet has gone for a reputed £25 million, we have money to spend, but I am uncertain as to the wisdom of doing so; perhaps we should wait until the summer now that we are virtually safe from getting involved in the scrap at the bottom end of the table? However many of our fans on social media are still desperate for a striker and a right-back. Calleri’s deflected goal will probably keep him in the squad, but he hasn’t convinced many yet (apart from the manager perhaps?), and Fletcher is perpetually on the fringe (surprisingly seemingly behind Calleri in the pecking order?).

And I’m not sure our manager could pick a right back based on his history (Antonio and Nordtveit don’t do it for me in this position). It was good to see that Martinez scored within minutes of coming on for his debut at Oxford. It was a well-taken goal, and he certainly looks a fine prospect. But then so does Reece Oxford, but he hasn’t been given a chance yet either! And I haven’t mentioned Fernandes who is another that I like.

I wonder if we will bring anyone in on deadline day tomorrow? Perhaps the long-awaited marquee signing? I won’t hold my breath.

My Favourite Games: Number 3 – West Ham 3 Manchester United 2; 10 May 2016.

A series of occasional articles recalling my favourite West Ham games, and songs that topped the charts when these games were played . Today the last game at the Boleyn.

There have been so many great games in the last 58 years and I’ve covered many of them throughout my book, Goodbye Upton Park, Hello Stratford. So many of them are remembered because of the importance of the game, the goals scored, and the spine-tingling atmosphere generated by our fans. Hopefully my memories of these great games will evoke fond memories of fans, (especially older ones like me!), and the music in the charts at the time.

Favourite Game 3

No series on favourite matches could exclude this one. The final game at the Boleyn Ground, Upton Park was a memorable one for so many reasons. I’ll gloss over the shenanigans that delayed the kick off, and instead write about the marvellous entertainment served up by the players on this emotional night. We dominated the first half and came out of the blocks faster than in many games in the final season. Sakho’s well taken goal took a slight deflection in the tenth minute and another was disallowed for the ball going out of play. Both Carroll and Payet should have added first half goals when clean through but fluffed the chances. At the break we should have been three or four up and then the second half could have been a party. Would we come to rue those missed chances? This is West Ham. Of course we would.

Manchester United looked rattled throughout the first half and I couldn’t remember Randolph facing a shot. But half time seemed to have calmed them and two goals from Martial meant that we were behind with around 20 minutes left. How could this be? We had murdered them and yet here we were facing defeat in this final game. Surely they weren’t going to ruin the party? Hadn’t they read the script?

Within ten minutes we were back in front. A header from Antonio levelled the scores and Winston Reid, of all people headed the winner. Both goals were created by crosses from Payet, who else? Every one of us lucky to be there on that special night will remember the game for ever. We were so dominant that we had 20 shots on goal to the visitors 3. It would have been a travesty if we had not won the game. Fifty years before in 1966 we won our last home game at the end of the season, which happened to be against Manchester United, by three goals to two. An amazing co-incidence.

In the aftermath of the game, and much later than expected because of the delayed start, we were treated to additional entertainment in the form of a kind of closing ceremony, hosted by Ben Shephard and Bianca Westwood of Sky Sports who are both also supporters. Apart from the game itself the two additional highlights of the evening for me were the roll call of our players and managers who are no longer with us displayed on the screens as a backdrop to the band playing Abide With Me amid rapturous applause from the fans, and the ending with the lights being turned off on the big screen by the player in the number 6 West Ham shirt.

I have to admit that my musical tastes, despite being quite varied, are buried mainly in the 1960s and 1970s, and as time moves towards the present day, I know less and less about the charts, and my research for 10 May 2016 revealed that I knew none of the songs in the top ten that week. Number one was One Dance, by Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla, which apparently held the top spot for 15 weeks, making it the second longest to hold the number one spot in chart history (which goes back to the 1950s). Other notable entries in that week’s chart, which younger readers will no doubt recall, include This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna, Cheap Thrills by SIA, I Took A Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner, and Work From Home by Fifth Harmony featuring Ty Dolla Sign. I’m none the wiser.

My Favourite Games: Number 2 – West Ham 3:3 Glasgow Celtic; 16 November 1970.

A series of occasional articles recalling my favourite West Ham games, and songs that topped the charts when these games were played. Today the Bobby Moore testimonial.

Bobby Moore Testimonial

West Ham 3 Glasgow Celtic 3, played on 16 November 1970 is an unusual choice perhaps as it was just a testimonial game, the one for Bobby Moore. Celtic were arguably the most attractive team in Europe at the time and they brought their first team to play in an exciting game. The football was full on attacking from both sides, and the noise was enhanced by the thousands of Scots who had travelled down to London for the game. It was a fitting tribute to a legend.

So on a freezing cold Monday night, I stood on the North Bank with school friends to watch an exhilarating game of football. Ticket prices were raised for the game from 6 shillings to 10 shillings – that’s 30p to 50p. I paid 3 shillings for my programme (15p). Celtic won the European Cup in 1967 with a superb display of attacking football beating a typically defensive and uncompromising Italian team, Inter Milan. I remember watching that game in black and white (very grainy pictures) in the early evening after coming home from school that day. They were a goal down and took the game to the Italians who were just content to hold onto their one goal lead. Eventually they managed to break through twice near the end of the game to deservedly become European Champions.

They remained a major force in Europe for a while, and in the season preceding the visit to play against us in Bobby Moore’s testimonial, they again reached the European Cup Final, losing 2-1 after extra time to Feyenoord of Holland. All credit to Jock Stein, their manager, who fielded the same team that had taken part in the European Cup final the previous May.

I remember the game going from end to end and it was a joy to watch. In truth Celtic were probably the better team, but in many ways we matched them which made for an exciting spectacle. It was one of those Upton Park nights where the atmosphere was electric, and the volume was increased by the multitude of Glaswegians who took their place on the South Bank. Their support was phenomenal.

Three times Celtic took the lead and three times we pegged them back. Celtic missed a number of good chances including one that I particularly remember from Jimmy Johnstone, who gave one of the greatest displays I have ever seen from an opposing player at Upton Park. His skill was phenomenal and many times he tore our defence to shreds. But with the game poised at 3-3 in the final minutes he contrived to put the ball over the crossbar when he was almost on the goal line. Perhaps it was a magnanimous gesture to ensure the game ended in a draw? Whatever. It was just a great game.

Our goals were scored by Geoff Hurst (from a cross by Moore), Johnny Ayris, a young tricky winger we had at the time who looked a great prospect as a youngster but only probably played a couple of dozen times for us in six or seven years, and the final equalizing header from Clyde Best.

The game was actually sponsored by Esso, and according to newspaper reports I read at the time and kept in a scrapbook, the 24,000 crowd meant that after deduction of all the expenses, Bobby Moore collected around £12,000. Gate and programme receipts came to around £21,000 but I suppose Esso took a cut and Celtic had to be paid expenses to appear. It doesn’t seem a lot now when you consider that he was a legend of the game, but I guess to put it into perspective the average wage at the time must have been (and I’m guessing here) somewhere around £30+ a week. The England players who won the World Cup in 1966 each picked up a bonus of £1000! It doesn’t really stand comparison with the vast sums of money earned by footballers today.

The number one song in the charts at the time was Woodstock, by Matthews Southern Comfort. Woodstock was a famous music festival held in the US in the summer of 1969. The festival, which attracted over 400,000 people, was widely regarded as a pivotal moment in popular music history. The event was captured in an award winning documentary in 1970, the movie Woodstock, a soundtrack album, and Joni Mitchell’s song which commemorated the event, and became a major hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, as well as the chart-topper for Matthews Southern Comfort. Other songs in the charts that week included Black Night, by Deep Purple; Band of Gold by Freda Payne, which had previously been a number one; War, by Edwin Starr (what is it good for, absolutely nothing); Paranoid, by Black Sabbath (with Ozzy Osbourne on vocals); Voodoo Chile, by Jimi Hendrix, about to become the number one in the following week; Whole Lotta Love, by CCS (the theme tune to a TV institution for so many years, Top of the Pops), Ride A White Swan, by T Rex; and Cracklin’ Rosie by Neil Diamond.

Middlesbrough 1 West Ham 3

Our eighth win of the season sees us move into the top half of the table. Can we push on to match last season’s seventh placed finish?

Embed from Getty Images

Andy Carroll celebrated his 28^th birthday earlier this month. A lad from Gateshead on the outskirts of Newcastle, he made his senior debut for the Geordies shortly before his eighteenth birthday, and his Premier League debut for them in February 2007, almost ten years ago. He made a total of seven senior appearances for them in his first season, four of which were in the Premier League, but didn’t score any goals. The following season he made six senior appearances for them, again without scoring, and went on loan to Preston in the Championship where he scored one goal in twelve appearances.

In 2008-09 he returned to the North-East and made a total of 16 senior appearances, scoring three goals, in a season where Newcastle were relegated to the Championship. They won promotion back to the top flight straight away, and in that season he became a regular in the team, appearing 42 times and scoring 19 goals. When they returned to the Premier League he scored 11 goals in 19 games, and on the last day of the transfer window in January 2011, halfway through the season, he was bought by Liverpool for around £35 million to replace the departing Fernando Torres. He had an injury and was unable to make his debut until near the end of that term, appearing just seven times and scoring twice.

He then spent a full season with Liverpool, making more appearances than ever before (or since), turning out for them 47 times in League and Cup, scoring 9 goals. Brendan Rogers didn’t fancy him, so after just two games in 2012-13 he came on loan to us, probably largely due to his close connection with Kevin Nolan, his friend and former captain of the Geordies, who was of course closely connected himself to our manager at the time, Big Sam.

At the time of coming here he had played around 85 games in the Premier League and had scored around 20 goals. It’s a bit of a myth that he has been injury-prone throughout his career, as before he joined us he had certainly played fairly regularly. He has been described as an old-fashioned centre-forward, and many call for him to be in the England squad because he provides “something different”. At times he is reckoned to be unplayable, though those times have been restricted over the years. He does have nine England caps (he was first capped in 2010) and has scored twice for his country.

So we are now mid-way through his fifth season with us. At the end of the loan period he became our record signing at the time at around £15 million. He became an instant favourite with many fans when he joined us, mainly because of his all-action commitment. But some felt that, in view of his ability in the air, and the way Big Sam liked to play, he restricted the way in which the team played, often lumping long high balls to him and hoping for knock-downs.

So before he came here he was never a prolific goalscorer, and in his time with us he has never reached double figures in goals in any one season. Of course one of the reasons for this is that in his West Ham career he has been injury-prone, and has just gone past 100 senior appearances, with the Middlesbrough game being his 90^th Premier league appearance for us in four and a half seasons. In that time he has scored 28 Premier League goals at a rate of just under one in every three games. He has appeared in just over half of the Premier League games that have been played during his time here.

So, along came the “Payexit” controversy just over one week ago, and the fans needed a new “hero”. Up stepped Andy Carroll. A magnificent bicycle kick against Palace has been followed by two goals away at Middlesbrough. I think this is the first time he has scored two goals in an away game for us. A trademark bullet header was followed by a poachers goal, following up Antonio’s shot. He was then withdrawn midway through the second half as a precaution with a “tight groin”. We missed him for his defensive qualities, especially at corners, as much as his efforts in leading the line.

But two wins in a week, five wins in the last seven, and a place in the top half of the table, and suddenly all is well with the West Ham world again. Dimitri Who they say, and perhaps he will be on his way sooner rather than later, and soon forgotten. He was magnificent for a season, but will never be a legend because of the way it has all turned sour now. Let us hope that Andy Carroll can stay injury-free for a long period, and be one of the new heroes going forward. At his best he is a valuable asset.

I write “one” of the new heroes as I’d like to see an end to the “he’s our best player” constantly levelled in Payet’s direction. Let’s have a group of heroes / superstars. Reid, Lanzini, Antonio and Carroll perhaps, and even others. The best teams have always been like this; Moore, Hurst, Peters and Byrne; Bonds, Brooking and Devonshire; Best, Charlton and Law. Even the world’s best like Messi and Ronaldo have to share their superman status with others. Messi, Neymar, Suarez and Iniesta; Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema.

It has been a good week on the playing side. It will be interesting to see what happens in the last few days of the transfer window. With the news re Ogbonna, at least all those who took to social media expressing incredulity at the signing of Fonte, can now perhaps see why it happened.

Our eighth win of the season sees us move into tenth place. I wonder if we can build on this and push towards emulating last season’s seventh placed finish. With the start we had that may be a bit too much to ask, but let’s hope that we can continue upwards.

I Wouldn’t Bet On It 28

Expecting to win, but with the security of a draw .

Fancy A Bet

We were successful with the following bet last weekend:

20 points on a West Ham victory v Palace @6/5 (44)

We had four losing fun bets, although we were very close with a couple of them.
Our balance was 75 points, so winning 44 points takes our total to 119 points.

Despite being away from home, I am confident of a follow up victory at Middlesbrough on Saturday, although I will build in the safety net of a draw. Let us hope that last week’s second half performance wasn’t a false dawn.

With 8 draws already, Middlesbrough are the draw specialists of the Premier League this season. The game earlier in the season ended in a 1-1 draw, courtesy of a rather good goal by an un-named Frenchman who most fans hope will soon become a “Payexit”.

This weeks bets:

9 points on West Ham to beat Middlesbrough @2/1 (27)
5 points on a draw @11/5 (16)
1 point on Andy Carroll to score the first goal and West Ham to win 2-1 @50/1 (51)
1 point on West Ham to win 2-1 @19/1 (20)

Total stake 16 points. New balance 103 points. Potential returns if correct in brackets.

What are the chances?

Middlesbrough Preview

Can we continue where we left off in the second half against Palace?

Embed from Getty Images

After the euphoria of our magnificent second half performance against Palace last week, we head to the North-East to face what I believe to be one of the most uninteresting teams in the Premier League, Middlesbrough. They certainly do not seem to play in games where there are many goals, and they are the only team in the League where the average goals per game (for both sides playing) is less than 2. With just 39 goals scored by them and their opponents combined in 21 games, I guess (although I haven’t checked), that they usually feature later on Match of the Day than we do.

They have scored a paltry 17 goals in 21 games, the least in the league, with only one goal in their last four games. Southampton are the next lowest on 19. Defensively, though, they are one of the top teams in the division, having conceded only 22 goals, a figure bettered by only Tottenham, Chelsea, and Manchester United. So on past performance this season we shouldn’t expect a lot of goals in the game.

They currently sit in 16^th place in the table, just four points above the relegation zone, and will no doubt be hoping that their excellent defensive record will keep them out of the bottom three. They will certainly hope that they are clear of the drop zone as the season nears the end, as in four of their final six matches they face Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool.

In the season to date they are the draw specialists of the Premier League, having drawn eight of the 21 games (they have won four and lost nine). Their draws included a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture at the London Stadium at the beginning of October, when a wonderful individual effort from a French international player who doesn’t want to play for us anymore rescued a point. The four teams they have beaten are their North-East neighbours, Sunderland, plus Bournemouth, Hull and Swansea. Of course we have beaten the same four teams plus Burnley and Palace (twice).

One player we need to watch out for is Middlesbrough’s leading scorer, Negredo, who is on a season-long loan from Valencia, having previously been at Manchester City in recent times. Negredo has only scored (I believe) 14 goals in all the time he has spent in England, but five of them have come against West Ham! Another one of the opposition who we know well is Stewart Downing, although he appears to have fallen out of favour in recent times. They paid a lot of money to buy Jordan Rhodes from Blackburn on transfer deadline day a year ago (the fee was undisclosed, although Blackburn had previously rejected an offer of £10 million for him), but he barely gets a look in and hasn’t scored in his rare appearances this season. On 18 January they completed the transfer of Patrick Bamford from Chelsea for £6million. When he was on loan there previously in 2014-15 he scored 19 goals in 44 appearances, so he has been bought to improve their poor scoring record. I wonder if he will be in the team?

Changing the subject, I have another statistic for those people who are interested in the effect on our results of our move to the London Stadium. So far this season we have played 11 games at home in the league and have accrued 17 points. Last season we had one of our best ever seasons in recent years, and our highest points total ever achieved in the Premier League era. So how many points do you think that we picked up at “fortress” Upton Park in the first 11 games there in that last record breaking season? Yes, you are right – 17!

Our failing this season has really come away from home. Last season we collected 16 points in our first 10 away games of the season, whereas this time around we have only picked up 8 from the same number of games. The difference in points accrued for the season to date can be accounted for solely by our away form; our home form (in terms of points picked up, if not level of performance) is identical.

The transfer window continues to let in a draught, if not any players, at the time of writing. Are we waiting on Payet’s potential exit to free up money to buy players and pay salaries within the Financial Fair Play limits? I’m afraid that the Profitability and Sustainability rules within Financial Fair Play leave me cold, and I fail to understand how they work. At first glance they appear to be totally in favour of helping big clubs get bigger, and making it virtually impossible for other clubs to close the gap. But what do I know?

I keep reading about Hogan, Snodgrass, Defoe and others but I guess we’ll have to keep on waiting until the window is about to slam shut to see if anything happens. Our position in the table is looking more comfortable now, and I hope we don’t just throw good money after short-term fixes to appease the fans who are desperate to see new players. Of course we need a right back and a goalscorer, but let’s hope that any incoming players are ones that can actually improve the team as opposed to the squad. Geoff summed up the situation well in his article Sliding Through The Transfer Window on January 18, so I’ll add no more here.

Back to the game, I would guess that there won’t be too many goals, but I am hoping for us to continue where we left off against Palace and record our third away win of the season. I’ll go for 2-1.

As I write this at 9pm on the eve of the game I note that Fonte has finally put pen to paper. No news yet re Hogan, or any other signings, and conflicting reports regarding the exit of Payet. Fonte is a surprise signing in some respects, although having seen some Southampton games, I am convinced that he is a signing that will add to the quality of the actual team, as opposed to just the squad. He is obviously not a long term acquisition, but I guess fewer and fewer players are these days. Is it me, or are our transfer dealings more protracted than those of other clubs?

The Lawro Challenge – Week 22

What predictions are in store for the last weekend of the Year of the Monkey and before the Lawro challenge enters the Year of the Rooster?

Lawro Crystal Ball Twenty-one rounds of games in the Premier League have now been completed. That means we have now predicted the results of 210 matches. In Week 21, Rich scored 6 points, Geoff 9 points, and Lawro 6 points.

It is still relatively close at the top with Rich maintaining his six point advantage over Lawro, with Geoff 39 points off the lead. But if you break it down into small chunks, then if Geoff can win by three points each week (as he did with last week’s predictions), then with 17 weeks to go, and over 500 points that can be won, he can still finish on top. What are the chances?

It is interesting to note that Lawro makes his predictions on the BBC Sport website, and goes up against a guest personality each week. The guest personalities can be anyone from sportsmen / sportswomen, actors, comedians, musicians, politicians etc., but never anyone from the football world, either past or present. In the 21 weeks that have elapsed to date, he has been beaten seven times by his guests, some of whom profess to know little about football, or the Premier League. So one in three guests beat him, although he is no doubt paid to be an “expert pundit”. Obviously there is an element of luck in predicting the correct scores, but less so in predicting the correct results.

In this challenge we award one point for a correct result, and a further two points (making three in total) if the score prediction is spot on.

We now proceed to week 22.

	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Total after 20 weeks	167	125	161
Score in week 21	6	9	6
Total after 21 weeks	173	134	167

Predictions – Week 22
	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Saturday
Liverpool v Swansea	3-0	4-0	3-0
Bournemouth v Watford	3-1	2-0	2-1
Palace v Everton	1-1	2-2	1-1
Middlesbrough v West Ham	1-2	0-1	1-1
Stoke v Man Utd	1-2	1-1	1-1
West Brom v Sunderland	2-0	3-1	2-0
Man City v Tottenham	1-2	2-3	2-2
Sunday
Southampton v Leicester	2-1	0-1	1-1
Arsenal v Burnley	3-0	3-0	2-0
Chelsea v Hull	3-0	5-1	3-0

The Football Money League – Part 2

Digging deeper into those figures that show West Ham as 18th in world football money league.

Football Money Our earlier article summarised the league table of the top 20 football clubs in the world in respect of revenue generation. It showed West Ham in eighteenth place, and in seventh place of the eight Premier League teams. The English teams in the table were led by Manchester United, followed by Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham, West Ham, and Leicester. Emphasising the correlation between revenue generation and league positions, it is interesting to note that the top six English teams are the same in terms of both revenue and current league position, albeit in a different order. And their gap ahead of the rest is equally substantial in both revenue terms and points in the league.

Previously we showed the total revenue figures, followed by the percentages of that revenue produced as matchday income, TV income, and commercial income. The total revenue figures show the wide gulf between the other English clubs and ourselves, but if you analyse the actual figures in £M for each individual category, you can see just how far behind we are, and how it may be impossible to bridge the gap. When compared to previous years of the Deloitte table, the clubs at the top are getting exponentially richer, especially in terms of matchday revenue and commercial income in particular.

Looking at the matchday revenue figures, both Manchester United and Arsenal have figures of around four times of our own, Chelsea approaching three times, and we would need to double matchday income to be on a par with Liverpool and Manchester City, and raise it by 50% to match Tottenham. But that would be if their figures stood still, which they won’t. The move to the London Stadium was vital in revenue terms just to try to keep pace with the top clubs. It is unlikely to bring us any closer, especially in view of their own plans to increase capacities with larger stadiums.

	Matchday Revenue (£M)
1	Manchester United	103.1
2	Arsenal	101.6
3	Real Madrid	97.4
4	Barcelona	88.1
5	Bayern Munich	75.3
6	Chelsea	70.3
7	PSG	70.1
8	Liverpool	57.4
9	Manchester City	51.0
10	Borussia Dortmund	46.7
11	Tottenham	39.7
12	Schalke 04	38.6
13	Juventus	33.2
14	Atletico Madrid	27.4
15	West Ham United	27.3
16	AS Roma	21.2
17	AC Milan	19.3
18	Internazionale	18.8
19	Leicester City	11.6
20	FC Zenith	7.4

In view of the way TV income is allocated, in percentage terms we are a lot closer to the other English clubs in the table, although our income is only half that of Manchester City, and considerably less than the others.

	TV Revenue £M
1	Real Madrid	171.6
2	Manchester City	161.0
3	Barcelona	153.1
4	Juventus	145.4
5	Chelsea	143.9
6	Arsenal	143.7
7	Manchester United	139.1
8	Liverpool	126.8
9	AS Roma	115.9
10	Tottenham	110.9
11	Bayern Munich	110.7
12	Atletico Madrid	104.3
13	Leicester City	95.2
14	PSG	93.5
15	West Ham United	86.3
16	Internazionale	73.7
17	AC Milan	65.8
18	Borussia Dortmund	61.6
19	Schalke 04	55.4
20	FC Zenith	30.9

But it is the income generated commercially that is a real eye-opener. Tottenham’s figure is almost double of our own, Arsenal more than three times, Chelsea and Liverpool around four times, Manchester City six times, and Manchester United nine times! The figures show that, if the TV money were to dry up, or diminish to any great extent, the revenue differential between clubs would be even greater in percentage terms.

	Commercial Revenue £M
1	Manchester United	273.1
2	Bayern Munich	256.8
3	PSG	226.0
4	Barcelona	222.6
5	Real Madrid	194.8
6	Manchester City	180.6
7	Chelsea	120.5
8	Liverpool	117.8
9	FC Zenith	108.8
10	Arsenal	105.1
11	Borussia Dortmund	104.0
12	Juventus	76.5
13	AC Milan	75.4
14	Schalke 04	73.9
15	Tottenham	58.6
16	Internazionale	41.5
17	Atletico Madrid	39.3
18	West Ham United	30.2
19	AS Roma	26.1
20	Leicester City	21.9

Favourite Games No.1 -West Ham 3:1 Eintracht Frankfurt, April 14 1976

A series of occasional articles recalling my favourite West Ham games, and songs that topped the charts when these games were played

Favourite Games 1

My favourite West Ham game of all time, West Ham 3 Eintracht Frankfurt 1, April 14 1976, was the second leg of the European Cup Winners Cup semi-final where we overcame the 2-1 deficit from the first leg with goals from Keith Robson and two from Sir Trevor Brooking. The Robson goal was a 30 yard screamer following an excellent long pass from Brooking. Most people thought that the chance had gone when at first he appeared to lose control of the ball. But he regained his balance and the South Bank net bulged from a wonderful left-footed strike. Brooking’s goals were a header (yes, he did score goals with his head, especially important ones, contrary to popular myth), and another which showed off his wonderful control and balance in such atrocious conditions.

There was an electric atmosphere in front of around 40,000 rain-sodden fans inside Upton Park. On that night over forty years ago it had rained all day and continued to pour down throughout the game. The pitch was a quagmire and barely a blade of grass was visible in the mud. As I stood on the North Bank terrace (now the Sir Trevor Brooking stand) with friends, the only stand visible that remained in 2016, when the final game was played at the ground, was to our left, the East Stand which had been in use for about eight years. The old West Stand was to our right and the South Bank faced us at the other end of the ground. At least when we were inside we were dry as a roof covered most of us.

Although we had won the FA Cup the previous season we had finished in the bottom half of the table, and at the time of our meeting we sat in sixteenth place in Division One having been at the top of the table in November. Our decline in the league that season was as steep as it gets and we had won only one league game in the whole of 1976 (1-0 at home to QPR in January). From Christmas Day that season we played 21 league games, winning one, drawing six, and losing 14, and eventually finished 18^th. It was therefore even more remarkable, given our form and the conditions, that the game was such a magnificent spectacle. The Germans played their part and came close to scoring a second away goal which would have seen them in the final. But we held on, and overturned the deficit from the first away leg to win the tie 4-3 on aggregate, and progress to the final, where we lost 4-2 to Anderlecht in the infamous Heysel Stadium in Brussels.

The number one song in the charts at the time was Save Your Kisses For Me, by the Brotherhood of Man. The Eurovision Song Contest has been running for roughly the same amount of time that I have been following West Ham. The first UK entry was in 1957, the year before my first visit to Upton Park. For younger readers, and anyone who knows anything about the Eurovision Song Contest, the United Kingdom was once a leading player in this event. However in recent years, partly for political reasons, the changes in the make-up of Europe, and the fact that we don’t seem to bother about the contest to the same extent as other European nations, we have not been remotely a contender in the event.

This chart-topper won the 1976 contest, one of five UK winners ever. Can you name the others? Up until 1998, the UK had only finished outside the top ten on two occasions, and as well as the five wins (the last was in 1997), we were runners-up on 15 occasions. Other notable songs in the charts at the time of this famous game were: I Love To Love, by Tina Charles, which had previously been at number 1; Pinball Wizard, by Elton John, his rendition of the classic Who song; Yesterday, by the Beatles; and Fernando (sounds like a footballer!) by Abba.