Brimming with meaning and history, West Ham United’s famous crest appears not just on the uniforms for the team but also on countless other marketing and promotional assets. You may be familiar with the golden hammers and shields of the West Ham crest today, but how much do you know about its history?
The official West Ham badge, like many English Premier League club logos, has undergone several changes over the years. It’s little surprise when you consider West Ham’s team has been around for over 120 years.
The club was founded in 1895 as a company team and recreational outlet for local workers of the Thames Ironworks. The Thames Ironworks was a famous shipbuilding yard and the club had as a sponsor the head of the company, Mr Arnold Hills.
Mr Hills financed, at a cost of £2,000, the move to an enormous arena at the Memorial Recreation Ground which was equipped with a grandstand, complete with cycle and running tracks. The claimed capacity was 120,000, and even an FA Cup semi-final was scheduled for there in 1901.
With so much rich history linked with the London-based club, fans are often confused as to where the nickname ‘Hammers’ originated from.
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Why West Ham are called Hammers?
The ‘Irons’ name came about as the team started life in 1895 as a firm’s team called Thames Ironworks FC before changing their name to West Ham United in 1900.
The nickname the “Hammers” came from the club badge that proudly displayed two crossed rivet hammers and not as a derivation of West Ham United, as many people erroneously believe.
West Ham were elected to the Southern League in the early 1900’s and in a bold attempt found it necessary to sign professional players to keep up with the standard of the game. Very much to the dislike of Mr Arnold Hills though. He was horrified by this development and disowned the club he had formed. Rancour and acrimony abounded, and despite a small reprieve the Irons (as they were then known) had to leave the Memorial Ground and they became a Limited Liability Company under the name of West Ham United, membership of the Football League coming in 1919.
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Although the club officially ceased long ago to have anything to do with the old industry, the nicknames Hammers and Irons acquired as Thames Ironworks have stuck ever since and are still in popular use. To dispel a further…
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