Pompey West Ham Eleven

Pompey West Ham Eleven

Plenty of players have made the transformation from gloomy eastender to sunny seasider, here’s a whole team of them

Formation

Shaka Hislop

Hammers’ manager at the time Harry Redknapp originally bought Shaka from Newcastle after the Hackney-born keeper had lost his place to Shay Given. After 105 appearances for the East London club he was snapped up again by Redknapp, who was now in the Pompey hotseat. The Trinidad & Tobago international made 93 appearances for the Blues before shuffling off back to West Ham.

Adam Newton

Full-back Newton was lent to Pompey in 1999 and made three not-so memorable appearances, which is one more than he made for his parent club. Although he has represented England at under-21 level, Newton pulled out the grand parents’ card and played international football for Saint Kitts & Nevis. After leaving West Ham he carved out a 200+ games career for himself at Peterborough.

Hayden Foxe

The Sydney-born Foxe was another player who followed Harry Redknapp from the Boleyn Ground to Upton Park. His claim to infamy at West Ham was pissing on the bar instead of the urinal at a club Xmas party. Saying that, he was a consistent performer in the 2002/03 promotion side but couldn’t force his way back into the team after a serious foot injury. He was released by Alain Perrin and tried to resurrect his career at Leeds United.

Adrian Whitbread

Initially taken on loan during the 1995 season, the combative Whitbread was signed permanently the following season and made 145 league and cup appearances at the back. He was club captain at the end of Martin Gregory’s disastrous reign and showed fighting qualities both on and off the pitch.

Alan Stephenson

Old school stopper Stephenson signed for Pompey from the Hammers in 1972 by manager Ron Tindall in a deal worth £32,000.  By then he had played over 100 times for West Ham with many of them alongside Bobby Moore at the back. He made a good impression during his Fratton Park stay, even taking the captain’s armband, but injuries started to catch up with him and he was released on a free.

Sebastian Schemmel

French full-back Schemmel scored once for Pompey in a brief 12-game stay in the FA Cup in a 2-1 win over Blackpool in 2004. He was signed by the Hammers from Metz despite being branded ‘phenomenally unstable’ by the French club’s president. He returned to France and Le Havre after his brief sojourn this side of the channel.

Marc Keller

Pompey took French international midfielder Marc Keller on loan from West Ham during the 2002/2001 season. He played three games before returning to his parent club. He is now club president at Racing Club Strasbourg.

Martin Allen

Often the nickname Mad Dog is attributed ironically to somebody of a placid nature, this was not the case with Martin Allen who channelled the fervour of an insane canine throughout his midfield-playing career. He was signed from the Hammers for £500,000 in September 1995, but his time at Fratton Park was a bit of a stop-start affair where he was never really able to perform at his rabid best.

Hayden Mullins

A dependably solid pro and very much one of those unsung hero types of defensive midfield players, Mullins was signed from West Ham in 2009. He deservedly won Pompey Player of the Season for his consistency during the troubled 2010/11 season. Battled manfully in the FA Cup semi-final victory over Tottenham when played out of position.

Svetoslav Todorov

Toddy joined Pompey in March 2002 for £750,000, reuniting with then director of football, Harry Redknapp, who had also signed him for West Ham. While it didn’t work out for him at Upton Park he was a firm terrace favourite at Fratton, scoring goals for fun in the 2002/03 promotion season. He entered the Pompey Hall of Fame in 2016.

Nicky Morgan

East Ham boy Morgan signed for Pompey from his boyhood club in 1982. He was leading scorer in the Blues’ near-miss promotion season of 1985/86 and his more than decent return of 32 strikes from 95 games is testament to his talent in front of goal. In the days before the phrase ‘impact sub’ was coined he was often used off the bench to great effect.