West Ham United F.C. West Ham United F.C. West Ham United Football Club is a professional football club based in Stratford, East London, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club re-located to the London Stadium in 2016. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. They moved to the Boleyn Ground in 1904, which remained their home ground for more than a century. The team initially competed in the Southern League and Western League before joining the Football League in 1919. They were promoted to the top
Thames Ironworks F.C. Ironworks F.C. originally played at Hermit Road in Canning Town. They had taken over the tenancy from the defunct Old Castle Swifts. Hermit Road had been described as a 'cinder' heap' and 'barren waste'. It was surrounded by a moat and had canvas sheeting for fencing. On 12 October, Thames' had to play their first ever competitive game at the ground of Chatham Town in a preliminary qualifying round of the FA Cup as the opposing team had rated Hermit Road as "unsuitable". In October 1897, Thames Ironworks were handed an eviction notice from the Hermit Road ground. The club