West Ham

Coordinates: 51°32′05″N 0°00′28″E / 51.5347°N 0.00769°E / 51.5347; 0.00769

West Ham is in the London Borough of Newham in London, England. In the west it is a post-industrial neighbourhood abutting the site of the London Olympic Park and in the east it is mostly residential, consisting of Victorian terraced housing interspersed with higher density post-war social housing. The area has been one of the most deprived in the country and as part of the New Deal for Communities programme it forms, with neighbouring Plaistow, a regeneration area. The place lends its name to West Ham United F.C. and West Ham Church School.

History

Toponomy

A settlement in the area named Ham is first recorded as Hamme in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 958 and then in the 1086 Domesday Book as Hame. The earliest recorded use of West Ham, as distinct from East Ham, is in 1186 as Westhamma. It is formed from Old English 'hamm' and means 'a dry area of land between rivers or marshland', referring to the location of the settlement within boundaries formed by the rivers Lea, Thames and Roding and their marshes.

London

London ⁱ/ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. It was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1.12-square-mile (2.9 km²) medieval boundaries and in 2011 had a resident population of 7,375, making it the smallest city in England. Since at least the 19th century, the term London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms Greater London, a region of England governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The conurbation also covers two English counties: the small district of the City of London and the county of Greater London. The latter constitutes the vast majority of London, though historically it was split between Middlesex (a now abolished county), Essex, Surrey, Kent and Hertfordshire.

Hackney Wick Stadium

Hackney Wick Stadium was a sports stadium located at Waterden Road in the London Borough of Hackney

Site history

The stadium was opened in 1932 and was mainly used for greyhound racing and speedway. In 1994, a £12 million stand and restaurant was built and the stadium was renamed the London Stadium, Hackney. In December 1997 the company that owned the stadium, London Stadium Hackney Ltd., went out of business.

The Stadium was left derelict for several years until it was bought by the London Development Agency and demolished in 2003. The site is now the location of the London Olympics Media Centre, the main media and broadcasting centre for the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Paralympics. After the Games, the centre will be turned over for commercial use.

Speedway history

Hackney Wick Wolves speedway team raced there before the Second World War. The Hackney Hawks speedway team rode at the venue from 1963 to 1983. Hackney Kestrels speedway team rode here from 1984 until 1990. In 1996, a speedway team under the name of London Lions rode but it was found to be financially unviable.

Olympic Stadium

Olympic Stadium is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympics. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words Olympic Stadium as part of their names.

Olympic Stadium may also be named a multi-purpose stadium which hosts Olympic sports.

In the case of the Summer Olympics, athletics competitions are traditionally held in the Olympic Stadium. Exceptions to this have occurred though at both the 1900 and 2016 Summer Olympics as well as at the 2010 and 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games.

Early Winter Games often used figure skating venues as focal points. These were often designated as the Olympic Stadium, usually hosting the opening and closing ceremonies.

A number of stadiums have been used in more than one Olympics, in those cities that have held the Games more than once.

Lysgårdsbakkene was the main stadium of a Winter Olympics and a Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG). Bergiselschanze was the main stadium of two Winter Olympics and one Winter YOG. Olympiahalle jointly shared the Olympic Stadium role with Bergiselschanze during the two Winter Olympics, but not during the Winter YOG. Only one stadium, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, has been the main stadium of two Summer Olympics. In addition to the inaugural Summer Olympics, Panathinaiko Stadio was also the main stadium of the only Intercalated Games held. In 2022 Beijing National Stadium will join these in being the main stadium at two Olympics, but with a special distinction: it will become the only stadium to have been such at both a Summer and a Winter Olympics.

West Ham United F.C.

West Ham United Football Club, commonly known as West Ham, is a professional football club in Upton Park, East London, England, that competes in the Premier League, England's top tier of football. They have played home games at the Boleyn Ground since 1904.

The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. The club has traditionally played in a claret and blue home strip with white shorts. West Ham competed in the Southern League and Western League before joining the Football League in 1919; they were promoted to the top flight in 1923, when they also played in the first FA Cup Final at Wembley.

In 1940, the team won the inaugural Football League War Cup. The club has won the FA Cup three times, in 1964, 1975 and 1980, and been runners-up twice, in 1923 and 2006. In 1965, they won the European Cup Winners Cup, and in 1999 the Intertoto Cup. They are one of eight clubs never to have fallen below the second tier of English football, spending 58 of 90 league seasons in Division 1, or the Premier League. The club's best final league position was third place in the 1985–86 First Division.