1931-32 Football League : First Division

Manager: Syd King

West Ham United

1931-32

Two wins against Bolton Wanderers and Chelsea and a goal in each game from Vic Watson gave the Hammers’ faithful hope for the season. The bubble burst in September with a 6–0 defeat at Sheffield United followed by a 5–2 reverse at Aston Villa. To relieve the gloom there were narrow wins over Manchester City and Portsmouth but the defensive worries soon returned as both Derby County and West Bromwich Albion gained 5–1 victories. There was a mini-revival in December with a fine 4–2 win at Blackburn Rovers and a week later Jimmy Ruffell scored a hat-trick in a 4–2 home win over eventual champions Everton.

The FA Cup began with a 2–1 win at Charlton Athletic but ended in the next round as for the second year running the Hammers were knocked out by Chelsea, who won 3–1 at Stamford Bridge. Inside-forward Vivian Gibbins left to join Brentford and was later replaced after a ten-year absence by former favourite Syd Puddefoot. Despite a string of poor performances, by mid-March the team stood fifteenth in the table. Then came trouble as defeats at Sheffield Wednesday (6–1), bottom of the table Blackpool (7–2) and Everton (6–1) sent West Ham plummeting down the league. The final game of the season saw the Hammers travel to Chelsea, where they played badly and lost 3–2. They finished bottom of the league, having conceded 107 goals, and were relegated to the Second Division.

Rule Change:

Goalkeeper's Steps: In possession of the ball, a goalkeeper is permitted to take four instead of two steps.

BOLTON WANDERERS : Football League First Division

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Burnden Park

1 - 0 (Watson)

29 August 1931

Att: 15,740

Hufton

Earl

Chalkley

Norris

Barrett

Cadwell

Yews

Earle

Watson

Weldon

Ruffell

ALFRED CHALKLEY and ANTHONY WELDON both make their Hammers debut against BOLTON WANDERERS AT Burnden Park

CHELSEA : Football League First Division

Upton Park

3 - 1 (Norris, Watson, Weldon)

31 August 1931

Att: 28,338

Hufton

Earl

Chalkley

Norris

Barrett

Cadwell

Yews

Pollard

Watson

Weldon

Ruffell

MIDDLESBROUGH : Football League First Division

Upton Park

0 - 2

5 September 1931

Att: 23,129

Hufton

Earl

Chalkley

Norris

Barrett

Cadwell

Yews

Pollard

Watson

Weldon

Ruffell

SHEFFIELD UNITED : Football League First Division

Bramall Lane

0 - 6

7 September 1931

Att: 11,055

Hufton

Earl

Chalkley

Norris

Barrett

Cadwell

Yews

Earle

Watson

Weldon

Ruffell

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN : Football League First Division

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Leeds Road

1 - 3 (Watson)

12 September 1931

Att: 11,986

Hufton

Earl

Cox

Norris

Barrett

Collins

Yews

Pollard

Watson

Weldon

Ruffell

NEWCASTLE UNITED : Football League First Division

Upton Park

2 - 1 (Ruffell, Watson)

19 September 1931

Att: 21,558

Hufton

Earl

Cox

Norris

Barrett

Collins

Yews

Earle

Watson

Weldon

Ruffell

SHEFFIELD UNITED : Football League First Division

Upton Park

1 - 2 (Ruffell)

21 September 1931

Att: 12,075

Hufton

Earl

Cox

Norris

Barrett

Collins

Wood

Earle

Watson

Weldon

Ruffell

ASTON VILLA : Football League First Division

Villa Park

2 - 5 (Wood, Tate [og])

26 September 1931

Att: 39,619

Dixon

Earl

Cox

Norris

Barrett

Collins

Wood

Earle

Watson

Weldon

Ruffell

Image courtesy of Andrew Conway

LEICESTER CITY : Football League First Division

Upton Park

1 - 4 (Gibbins)

3 October 1931

Att: 20,196

Hufton

Earl

Cox

Norris

Barrett

Collins

Earle

Watson

Gibbins

Weldon

Ruffell

Ted Hufton punches clear

LIVERPOOL : Football League First Division

Anfield

2 - 2 (Gibbins, Weldon)

10 October 1931

Att: 23,819

Hufton

Earl

Wade

Norris

St Pier

Collins

Wood

James

Gibbins

Weldon

Ruffell

MANCHESTER CITY : Football League First Division

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Maine Road

1 - 0 (Ruffell)

17 October 1931

Att: 18,310

Hufton

Goodacre

Wade

Collins

St Pier

Norris

Wood

Earle

Gibbins

Weldon

Ruffell

PORTSMOUTH : Football League First Division

Upton Park

2 - 1 (Gibbins 2)

24 October 1931

Att: 18,092

Hufton

Goodacre

Wade

Collins

St Pier

Norris

Wood

Pollard

Gibbins

Weldon

Ruffell

DERBY COUNTY : Football League First Division

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Baseball Ground

1 - 5 (Watson)

31 October 1931

Att: 10,424

Hufton

Goodacre

Wade

Collins

St Pier

Norris

Wood

Earle

Watson

Weldon

Ruffell

3 November 1931

MIKE GRICE (1955-1961) Born this day Woking, Surrey

Member of the 1958 promotion - winning side, this blond-haired flying winger made a big contribution to that success. A maker, rather than a taker, of goals, he provided the perfect complement to his opposite flankman, Mal Musgrove. Signed from Colchester United for £8,500, he made his Hammers debut along with Roy Smith in a 0-3 defeat against Stoke City 2nd April 1956 at the Victoria Ground. He moved to Coventry City for the 1961-62 season and returned to Layer Road the following year to end his League days with the Essex club.

WEST BROMWICH ALBION : Football League First Division

Upton Park

1 - 5 (Ruffell)

7 November 1931

Att: 20,685

Hufton

Goodacre

Cox

Collins

St Pier

Barrett

Wood

Earle

Watson

Weldon

Ruffell

ARSENAL : Football League First Division

Highbury

1 - 4 (Watson)

14 November 1931

Att: 41,028

Hufton

Goodacre

Earl

Collins

St Pier

Barrett

Wood

Weldon

Watson

James

Ruffell

Image courtesy of Andrew Conway

BLACKPOOL : Football League First Division

Upton Park

1 - 1 (Ruffell)

21 November 1931

Att: 14,800

Dixon

Earl

Wade

Collins

Barrett

Cox

Wood

Earle

Gibbins

Weldon

Ruffell

BLACKBURN ROVERS : Football League First Division

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Ewood Park

4 - 2 (Barrett, Gibbins, Phillips, Watson)

28 November 1931

Att: 8,426

Dixon

Earl

Chalkley

Collins

Barrett

Cadwell

Wood

Phillips

Gibbins

Weldon

Ruffell

WILF PHILLIPS makes his Hammers debut against BLACKBURN ROVERS at Ewood Park

EVERTON : Football League First Division

Upton Park

4 - 2 (Ruffell 3, Wood)

5 December 1931

Att: 34,109

Dixon

Earl

Chalkley

Collins

Barrett

Cadwell

Wood

Phillips

Watson

Gibbins

Ruffell

Image courtesy of Stephen Holt

Everton:

Sagar, Williams,Cresswell,Clark, Gee, Thomson, Critchley, White, Dean, Johnson, Stein

Western Daily Press

WEST HAM’S GREAT DAY

So well did West Ham United play at Upton Park that they beat Everton by four goals to two, and so repeated their victory of a week before at Blackburn which came after more than a month of disappointing work. The League leaders came to London five points ahead of all rivals, having dropped only one point – at Huddersfield – out of a possible 18. Away from home the Everton team had not in recent games done any exceptional scoring of the kind marking their efforts at Goodison Park, but the 41,000 people at the Boleyn Castle ground must have been astonished. Everton really were outplayed for about half an hour during which they conceded three goals. Bad tactics in defence accounted for their overthrow. Cresswell usually played so far back that Watson was able to keep well up the field, and as Gee, the centre half, chosen for England next Wednesday, seemed quite out of form, the West Ham leader of attack repeatedly found openings to break away. Williams, the other Everton back was not fast enough to hold Ruffell, and Watson made clear chances for the left flank man, who enjoyed the distinction of scoring three times in succession. Three goals actually came in the course of twelve minutes. Dean , the Everton leader, scarcely received a good pass, and was too closely watched to be able to distinguish himself.

The Spanish international team were guests of the West Ham club at the match.

The Yorkshire Post : December 7, 1931

5 December 1931

WILF JAMES 2nd WALES cap

NORTHERN IRELAND Home Championship Windsoor Park, Belfast 0-4

BIRMINGHAM CITY : Football League First Division

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St Andrews

1 - 4 (Watson)

12 December 1931

Att: 19,725

Dixon

Earl

Chalkley

Collins

Barrett

Cadwell

Wood

Phillips

Watson

Gibbins

Ruffell

SUNDERLAND : Football League First Division

Upton Park

2 - 2 (Barrett [pen], Watson

19 December 1931

Att: 6,505

Dixon

Earl

Chalkley

Collins

Barrett

Cadwell

Wood

Phillips

Watson

Gibbins

Ruffell

GRIMSBY TOWN : Football League First Division

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Blundell Park

1 - 2 (Watson)

25 December 1931

Att: 15,132

Dixon

Earl

Chalkley

Collins

Barrett

Cadwell

Wood

Phillips

Watson

James

Ruffell

GRIMSBY TOWN : Football League First Division

Upton Park

3 - 1 (Ruffell 2, Watson)

26 December 1931

Att: 23,859

Dixon

Earl

Chalkley

Collins

Barrett

Cadwell

Yews

Phillips

Watson

James

Ruffell

SECOND-HALF