Off the back of a seventh-place finish and packed with international stars in a way not often seen at the East London club, West Ham fans would have been dreaming of away days in Monaco and Bilbao rather than Walsall and Coventry as they headed into the 2002/03 season.
But they couldn’t have ended much further from the European places. West Ham were relegated on the final day of the season after future Hammers boss Sam Allardyce pulled off a last day victory to keep his Bolton in the league and condemn West Ham to a season in the First Division (soon to be renamed the Championship).
Academy Of Football
West Ham boasted a wealth of emerging England players such as David James, Glen Johnson, Michael Carrick and Jermaine Defoe, but their brightest young star was undoubtably Joe Cole.
The 21-year-old had been given the captain’s armband at the start of the season following some dazzling displays that drew Gascoigne comparisons and saw West Ham fans quickly forget about the recent departure of academy graduate Frank Lampard.
West Ham had seemed to make the transition from Harry Redknapp’s lengthy spell as manager rather seamlessly. East London born Glen Roeder guided West Ham to a seventh-place finish in his first campaign, spearheaded by a front two of a 20-year-old Jermaine Defoe and Freddie Kanoute.
Horror Start
But the momentum didn’t carry over and West Ham had to wait until a trip to Stamford Bridge on week seven to claim their first victory as Paulo Di Canio scored a late winner. Back-to-back wins shortly followed away to Sunderland and Fulham before West Ham embarked on a 14 games winless streak that saw them languishing in the relegation zone.
A series of January signings were made by Roeder to try and steady the sinking ship, this included bringing in Lee Bowyer for his first spell at the club and an aging Les Ferdinand. By the end of January West Ham broke their streak when Defoe scored a late winner against Blackburn.
They then went on to exhibit Champions League form with only a solitary loss in their last eleven games. After being unbeaten in six, West Ham came up against Allardyce’s Bolton in a game that would ultimately decide the relegation battle.
West Ham went into the tie three points behind Bolton, both teams who had looked relegation bound for much of the season and were enjoying recent upturns in form. A first half strike from Bolton’s star man Jay Jay Okocha proved decisive as they held on for a 1-0 victory leaving West Ham six points off safety.
After the defeat came yet another blow for the Hammers as it was announced that with four games remaining that Roeder would have to step down to undergo surgery on a brain tumour.
Brooking Steps In
Roeder would go on to make a full recovery, but in the meantime, club legend Trevor Brooking stepped in as caretaker manager. Along with this came Di Canio’s return to a team in much need of some of his magic. Three consecutive 1-0 victories followed for West Ham including completing a double over fourth place Chelsea.
This brings us to gameweek 38, the last day of the season. Victories under Brooking had meant that West Ham had caught Bolton and both teams had surpassed the ‘safety mark’ of 40 points. Due to Bolton’s superior goal difference, West Ham would have to better their result to survive.
After a dramatic second half, the Hammers managed to secure a draw on their visit to Birmingham. However, Bolton had won against Middlesbrough, and West Ham were relegated from the Premier League for the first time.
End Of An Era
Relegation ensured the true end of the Radknapp era as West Ham completely overhauled their squad and prepared for what would be their longest stint in the England’s second tier since the restructuring in 1992/93.
Johnson and Cole left for Chelsea, Kanoute and Defore for Tottenham and Man City singed both David James and Trevor Sinclair, combine this with Di Canio’s departure after being dropped and falling out with Roeder, then very little of what had made West Ham exciting remained.
They made singings some signings that would go on to be key players for them in their next era, the likes of Marlon Harewood and future captain Nigel Reo-Coker.
After losing in the playoff final in their first season in the second tier, they lost the piece of their young English core as Michael Carrick joined Defoe and Kanoute at Spurs. They would make it back up through the playoffs the next year and went on to spend their next six seasons in the top-flight.
West Ham, in what should have been their finest moment managed to single handily disprove the notion of being ‘too good to get relegated’.
Two decades on it remains unclear whether it was a question of complacency, mismanagement or the squad just not working, but West Ham as they look to be entering another golden age will be keen to avoid any repeats.
