1989–90 West Ham United F.C. season

In only the second game of the season the West Ham fans are chanting "We hate Paul Ince" after they discover through a national newspaper of the player's transfer to Manchester United. Ince had reportedly been a transfer target for Alex Ferguson since the end of the previous campaign, the transfer finally being completed on 14 September 1989, by which time Ince had actually played a Second Division game for the Hammers.^[1]

With the dismissal of long serving manager John Lyall on 5 June 1989, speculation mounted about who was going to succeed Lyall. AFC Bournemouth manager and former Hammers player Harry Redknapp was a name strongly linked to the vacancy, but Swindon Town's Lou Macari (who had taken the Wiltshire club to the verge of the First Division just three years after promotion from the Fourth Division) was unveiled as the club's new manager on 3 July 1989.

Macari lasted less than a year as West Ham manager. Amid allegations that he was involved in illegal payments at Swindon Town (a scandal which saw Swindon's promotion to the First Division being withdrawn at the end of the 1989–90 season) he resigned on 18 February 1990.^[2] Club legend Billy Bonds was appointed manager in his place, and saw the Hammers complete their impressive run to the Football League Cup semi finals for the second season in succession, but seventh place in the final league table was not quite enough for a playoff place. It could very well have been a different story had key striker Frank McAvennie not been absent for almost all of the campaign, breaking his leg on the opening day of the season against Stoke City and only managing four more league appearances that campaign when he made his comeback.^[3]

However, some of his signings including Ludek Miklosko, Trevor Morley and Ian Bishop went on to become West Ham legends.

Number		Player	Position	Lge Apps	Lge Gls	FAC Apps	FAC Gls	LC Apps	LC Gls	Date Signed	Previous Club
West Ham United 1989-90 First XI
1		Phil Parkes	GK	22		1		9		February 1979	Queens Park Rangers
2		Steve Potts	RB	30(2)		1		8		May 1984	Academy
3		Julian Dicks (Hammer of the Year)	LB	40	9	1		9	4	March 1988	Birmingham City
4		Tony Gale	CB	36	1	1		7		August 1983	Fulham
5		Alvin Martin (Captain)	CB	31		1		10	1	July 1976	Academy
6		Kevin Keen	M	43(1)	10	1		10	1	1986	Academy
7		Liam Brady	M	25(8)	2			8 (2)		March 1987	Ascoli
8		Stuart Slater	F	40	7			9 (1)	2	1987	Academy
9		Jimmy Quinn	CF	18(3)	13	1				December 1989	Bradford City
10		Martin Allen	M	39	9	1		6	2	August 1989	Queens Park Rangers
11		George Parris	M	35(3)	2	1		9		1985	Academy
Important Players
5		Colin Foster	CB	20(2)						1989	Nottingham Forest
11		Trevor Morley	CF	18(1)	10	1				December 1989	Manchester City
1		Ludek Miklosko	GK	18				1		February 1990	Banik Ostrava
7		Mark Ward	RM	17(2)	5			4		August 1985	Oldham Athletic
4		Gary Strodder	CB	16	1			5		March 1987	Lincoln
8		Ian Bishop	M	13(4)	2	1				December 1989	Manchester City
8		David Kelly	CF	8 (8)	1			5 (2)	1	1988	Walsall
Other Players
9		Eamonn Dolan	CF	8 (2)	3			4		1986	Academy
2		Stewart Robson	M	7	1			3		January 1987	Arsenal
1		Perry Suckling	GK	6						December 1989	Crystal Palace
3		Tommy McQueen	LB	5 (2)				1 (2)		March 1987	Aberdeen
9		Leroy Rosenior	CF	4 (1)	2	0 (1)		2		March 1988	Fulham
6		Alan Devonshire	LM	3 (4)				0 (3)		October 1976	Southall
11		Justin Fashanu	F	2				0 (1)		November 1989	Manchester City
12		Frank McAvennie	CF	1 (4)						March 1989	Celtic
11		Paul Ince	CM	1						1986	Academy
14		Paul Kelly	M	0 (1)						1989	Academy
12		Ralph Milne	M					0 (1)		January 1990	Manchester United

References

1. "Paul Ince | Football Stats | No Club | Age 44 | 1985-2007". Soccer Base. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
2. "Lou Macari | Latest Betting Odds". Soccer Base. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
3. "Football photographic encyclopedia, footballer, world cup, champions league, football championship, olympic games & hero images by". Sporting-heroes.net. Retrieved 2012-05-14.