Two West Ham Players in EL Team of the Season
Craig Dawson and Declan Rice have been nominated as two of the best eleven players of this term’s Europa League season. Very much deserved!
Two Austrian players, Konrad Laimer (RB Leipzig) and defender Martin Hinteregger (Eintracht Frankfurt) have also been included in the “UEFA Europa League Team of the Season” – the latter along with his teammates Trapp, Borré and “Player of the Season”, Filip Kostić.
▶️ www.uefa.com/news/0275-15302e8596b2-af02e3bfb7db-1000–europa-league-team-of-the-season/
West Ham verlor gegen Europa League-Sieger
Das erste der drei Europacup Finali ist geschlagen und der Sieger heißt Eintracht Frankfurt, jenes Team, das im Semifinale West Ham 2:1 und 1:0 besiegt hat (nachdem West Ham drei Stangen- bzw Lattenschüsse hatte und im Rückspiel einen frühen Ausschluss verkraften musste).
Der Europa League-Pokal geht also nach Frankfurt, nach einem dramatischen Spiel in Sevilla, das 1:1 n.V. endete und mit 4:5 im Elfmeterschießen gegen die Glasgow Rangers entschieden wurde. Nach 42 Jahren holten die “Adler” in ihrem dritten Finale (1960, UEFA Cup-Sieg 1980 und 2022) den zweiten Europacup-Titel. Glückwunsch an die beiden Österreicher, Trainer Oliver Glasner und den (im Finale allerdings verletzten) Abwehrchef Martin Hinteregger!
Die beiden weiteren Finalspiele finden kommende Woche statt: am 24. Mai in Tirana (AS Roma – Feyenoord mit Gernot Trauner) und am 28. Mai (Liverpool – Real Madrid mit David Alaba) in Paris.
Declan Rice to stay at WHU
Look at this man‘s pictures on Instagram, leading out the squad on Sunday against Manchester City, celebrating a strong performance and Mark Noble‘s final home game at London Stadium with friends and family, having secured European football for the second season running. He was playing on the pitch with kids who wear his shirt number, had fun and seemed very relaxed. Now he’s going to be West Ham United‘s Club captain, following in the footsteps of “Mr. West Ham“ and leading the Hammers on another European journey next season.
Well, I do not have the feeling that Declan Rice will leave West Ham this summer.
Winner of “Up the Writers!” Revealed
RapidHammer has been shortlisted for the West Ham Writers’ Award, and now the winner is known. Tim Crane, who founded the award last year, has informed that it was a close run thing and the judges made cases for three or four of the entries.
I have enjoyed writing an entry for this year’s competition very much and I was delighted to have made the shortlist of six ! I think I will try again next year to share some of my West Ham memories!
Over time a rich body of work relating to our Club’s history should be amassed through this competition – “the most worthwhile pursuit of all in my opinion,” says the founder of the award, Tim Crane.
Here is this year’s winner, “RECOLLECTIONS” by SIMON BENJAMIN. You can download it here:
Congratulations to the winner! Come on you Irons!
Mark Noble’s Last Kick
This was Mark Noble’s last free-kick on the London Stadium pitch. After 24 years at West Ham and almost 18 years after his first team debut, “Mr. West Ham” said good-bye to the “family of 60,000 I have here”.
Thank you, Mark Noble! Thank you, captain!
West Ham sensationally lead 2-0 against almost-champions Manchester City before the interval, courtesy to two goals from Jarrod Bowen. Then Jack Grealish pulled one back immediately after the break. But West Ham held firm and had some more chances of their own, so Man City needed an own-goal to get level, when Coufal unfortunately headed the ball into the own net.
When Noble came into the game in the 77th minute, the fans stood up and applauded as they had done in the 16th minute to honour a man of their own. Declan Rice handed the armband to him and the fans sang again: “Stand up if you love Mark Noble”.
But City were not standing on ceremony. We thought we had lost the game when a VAR check showed that Dawson had fouled a ManCity player in the box, but it was fabulous Fabianski who saved Mahrez’s penalty in the 86th minute and made sure that Mark Noble’s send-away ended without defeat. In the end it was a heroic 2-2 Premier League draw in Mark Noble’s final home game in which he kicked his last ball on home pitch in injury time which stretched to six minutes, before a deserved point came West Ham’s and Mark Noble’s way.
West Ham have held the champions-elect with the same result which Liverpool have made against Manchester City on 10 April at their ground; the last time Manchester City lost in the Premier League was by mid-February, three months ago. With this draw West Ham have made sure that they qualify again for Europe, and the title race between Man City and Liverpool will not be decided before the last day of the season!
It’s great how far West Ham have come this season!
West Ham 2 Man City 2 ▶️ goals
‘Leaders made to wait as Hammers spoil party’ ▶️ BBC match report
Mark Noble, A Kid from Canning Town, poem by James Sneddon ▶️ Green Street Hammers
Mark Noble ▶️ Wikipedia
RapidHammer on Shortlist of “Up the Writers”
I am delighted to announce that RapidHammer writer Wolfgang Berger has made the shortlist of the six finalists of the West Ham “Up the Writers” competition.
The winner will be chosen by three judges, former West Ham players Brian Dear, John Ayris and Alan Dickens.
The overall winner will be announced on Sunday and will be awarded the “Noel Cantwell Trophy”.
In my opinion the entries which are most likely to win are either MARTIN HALL’s “THE POWER TO OVERCOME”, telling the story of West Ham’s massive 2-0 Europa League win over Sevilla, or MICK MELBOURNE’s memories of the semi-final vs. Eintracht Frankfurt of 1976. But all of the articles picked for the shortlist are a joy to read!
Keeping fingers crossed!
Come on you Irons!
Hammers Player Awards ‘22
Live blog from Grosvenor House Hotel, London, Monday 9 May
▶️ www.whufc.com/news/live-blog-202122-player-awards-brought-you-betway-aid-academy
The “Players Project Award” goes to a person who has gone above and beyond to create life-changing opportunities for the people and communities of east London. It is going to Mark Noble. The Club captain has been involved in a vast number of Players’ Project activities and has embraced his role, not only as an inspiration to countless individuals and groups across our community and beyond but as someone who the rest of the squad and community often look to, to follow his example.
And who is going to follow TOMAS SOUČEK and will become Hammer of the Year 2022?
DECLAN RICE !!!
Rice, who is Hammer of the Year for the second time after winning the supporters’ vote in 2020, edged Jarrod Bowen and Craig Dawson into second and third-place respectively.
West Ham United’s outstanding midfielder has led by example again this season, making 48 appearances, scoring five goals and captaining the team on over 40 occasions.
The England international has played more minutes and made more tackles, interceptions and passes than any other Hammer, illustrating his consistency and commitment to the Claret and Blue cause.
Still just 23, the Academy of Football graduate has been available for all but two of West Ham’s 54 matches in all competitions and starred in the Irons’ unforgettable run to the UEFA Europa League semi-finals, scoring in the Group H wins over Dinamo Zagreb and Rapid Vienna and quarter-final second leg victory at Olympique Lyonnais.
EXTRA TIME 
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