John Travolta

John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954)[1][2] is an American actor, singer and dancer. Travolta rose to fame during the 1970s, appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Grease (1978). His acting career declined through the 1980s, but enjoyed a resurgence in the 1990s with his role in Pulp Fiction (1994), and he has since starred in films such as Get Shorty (1995), Broken Arrow (1996), Face/Off (1997), Swordfish (2001), Be Cool (2005), Wild Hogs (2007), Hairspray (2007), Bolt (2008), and The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009).

Travolta was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for performances in Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction. He won his first and only Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for his performance in Get Shorty and has received a total of six nominations, the most recent being in 2011. In 2010, he received the IIFA Award for Outstanding Achievement in International Cinema.[3] In 2016, Travolta received his first Primetime Emmy Award, as a producer of the first season of the anthology series American Crime Story, subtitled The People v. O. J. Simpson. He also received an additional Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of lawyer Robert Shapiro in the series.
Early life
Travolta is the youngest of six children,[4] and was born[1] and raised in Englewood, New Jersey, an inner-ring suburb of Bergen County, New Jersey. His father, Salvatore Travolta (November 1912–May 1995),[5] was a semiprofessional American football player[citation needed] turned tire salesman and partner in a tire company.[1] His mother, Helen Cecilia (née Burke; January 18, 1912–December 1978),[5] was an actress and singer who had appeared in The Sunshine Sisters, a radio vocal group, and acted and directed before becoming a high school drama and English teacher.[6] His siblings Joey, Ellen, Ann, Margaret, and Sam Travolta were all inspired by their mother's love of theatre and drama and acted.[6] His father was a second-generation Italian American with roots in Godrano, Sicily, and his mother was Irish American.[7][8] He grew up in an Irish-American neighborhood and said that his household was predominantly Irish in culture.[9][10] He was raised Roman Catholic, but converted to Scientology in 1975.[8][11] Travolta attended Dwight Morrow High School, but dropped out as a junior at age 17 in 1971.[12]

Career
Early career
After attending Dwight Morrow High School,[13] Travolta moved across the Hudson River to New York City and landed a role in the touring company of the musical Grease and on Broadway in Over Here!, singing the Sherman Brothers' song "Dream Drummin'."[14][15] He then moved to Los Angeles for professional reasons.

Travolta's first screen role in California was as a fall victim in Emergency! (S2E2), in September 1972,[16] but his first significant movie role was as Billy Nolan, a bully who was goaded into playing a prank on Sissy Spacek's character in the horror film Carrie (1976).[17] Around the same time, he landed his star-making role as Vinnie Barbarino in the TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter (1975–79), in which his sister, Ellen, also occasionally appeared (as Arnold Horshack's mother).[18] The show aired on ABC.

1970s stardom
Travolta had a hit single titled "Let Her In," peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in July 1976.[19][20][21] In the next few years, he starred in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble and two of his most noted screen roles: Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Danny Zuko in Grease (1978).[6] The films were among the most commercially successful pictures of the decade and catapulted Travolta to international stardom.[22] Saturday Night Fever earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor,[23] making him, at age 24, one of the youngest performers ever nominated for the Best Actor Oscar.[24] His mother and his sister Ann appeared very briefly in Saturday Night Fever and his sister Ellen played a waitress in Grease. Travolta performed several of the songs on the Grease soundtrack album.[25] In 1980, Travolta inspired a nationwide country music craze that followed on the heels of his hit film Urban Cowboy, in which he starred with Debra Winger.[26]

Downturn
After Urban Cowboy, Travolta starred in a series of commercial and critical failures that sidelined his acting career. These included Two of a Kind (1983), a romantic comedy reteaming him with Olivia Newton-John, and Perfect (1985), co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis. He also starred in Staying Alive, the 1983 sequel to Saturday Night Fever, for which he trained rigorously and lost 20 pounds;[27] the film was a financial success, grossing over $65 million, though it, too, was scorned by critics.

During that time, Travolta was offered, but declined, lead roles in what would become box-office hits, including American Gigolo[28] and An Officer and a Gentleman, both of which went to Richard Gere.[29]

Resurgence
In 1989, Travolta starred with Kirstie Alley in Look Who's Talking, which grossed $297 million, making it his most successful film since Grease. Next came Look Who's Talking Too (1990) and Look Who's Talking Now (1993), but it was not until he played Vincent Vega in Quentin Tarantino's hit Pulp Fiction (1994), for which he received an Academy Award nomination, that his career revived.[6][30][31] The movie shifted him back onto the A-list and he was inundated with offers. Notable roles following Pulp Fiction include a movie-buff loan shark in Get Shorty (1995), a corrupt U.S. Air Force pilot in Broken Arrow, an FBI agent and terrorist in Face/Off (1997), a desperate attorney in A Civil Action (1998), a Bill Clinton–esque presidential candidate in Primary Colors (1998),[6] and a military investigator in The General's Daughter (1999).

2000–present
In 2000, Travolta starred in and co-produced the science fiction film Battlefield Earth, based on the novel of the same name by L. Ron Hubbard, in which he played the leader of a group of aliens that enslaves humanity on a bleak future Earth. The film had been a dream project for Travolta since the book's release in 1982, when Hubbard had personally written him to try to help make a film adaptation.[32] The film received almost universally negative reviews and did very poorly at the box office.[33] Travolta's performance in Battlefield Earth also earned him two Razzie Awards.

Throughout the 2000s, Travolta remained busy as an actor, starring in many films, including Swordfish (2001); Ladder 49 (2004); Be Cool (2005); Lonely Hearts (2006); Wild Hogs (2007); the animated film Bolt (2008), in which Travolta voiced the title character; The Taking of Pelham 123; and Old Dogs (both 2009).

In 2007, Travolta played Edna Turnblad in the remake of Hairspray, his first musical since Grease.[34]

Since 2010, Travolta has starred mostly in action films and thrillers. In 2016, he returned to TV in the first season of the anthology series American Crime Story, titled The People v. O. J. Simpson, in which he played lawyer Robert Shapiro.[35]

Personal life
Travolta was in a relationship with actress Diana Hyland, whom he met while filming The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.

Travolta married actress Kelly Preston in 1991, and bought a house in Islesboro, Maine.[36] The couple had a son, Jett (who died in 2009). Their daughter, Ella Bleu, was born in 2000, and a third child, a son, was born in 2010 in Florida.[37] Travolta and Preston have regularly attended marriage counseling; Travolta has stated that therapy has helped the marriage
In May 1991, Time magazine published a cover story titled "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power." In the article, former Church of Scientology executive director William Franks alleged that Travolta was wary of leaving the faith because he feared the Church would publish detailed revelations of his private life, to include homosexual behavior.[39] These claims were reiterated by Franks and other Scientology defectors in Lawrence Wright's 2013 book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, and former Church official Marty Rathbun claimed that he worked with Travolta's attorneys several times to keep allegations about Travolta's homosexuality out of the press and resolve lawsuits against the star.[40][41]

Travolta endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the run-up for the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[42]

Son's death
On January 2, 2009, Travolta's son Jett died at age 16 while on a Christmas vacation in the Bahamas.[43][44] A Bahamian death certificate was issued, attributing the cause of death to a seizure.[45] Jett, who had a history of seizures, reportedly suffered from Kawasaki disease since the age of two.[46][47] Travolta confirmed speculation that his son had autism and suffered regular seizures and immediately made his public statements while giving testimony after a multimillion-dollar extortion plot against him in connection to his son's death.[48] After a mistrial, Travolta dropped the charges and has credited his immediate family and Scientology with helping him survive the death of his son and in moving forward with his film career.[49][50][51] In memory of his son, Travolta created the Jett Travolta Foundation, a nonprofit organization to help children with special needs.[52] It has contributed to organizations such as the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy, The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.[53]

Religion
Travolta has been a practitioner of Scientology since 1975, when he was given the book Dianetics while filming the movie The Devil's Rain in Durango, Mexico.[54] After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, joining other celebrities in helping with the relief efforts, Travolta reportedly flew his Boeing 707 full of supplies, doctors, and Scientologist Volunteer Ministers into the disaster area.[55]

Pilot
Travolta is a private pilot[56][57] and owns four aircraft. This excludes the ex-Qantas Boeing 707-138B (Ex-VH-EBM) that he owned. In 2017, the plane was donated to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) near Wollongong, Australia, and is expected to be flown to Australia in November 2019.[58] Travolta plans to be on board when the aircraft is flown to Illawarra Regional Airport, where HARS is based, however will not be allowed to fly it, because it will be registered as an Australian aircraft.[58] The 707 aircraft bears an old livery of Qantas, and Travolta acted as an official goodwill ambassador for the airline wherever he flew.[59] Travolta named his 707 "Jett Clipper Ella," in honor of his children. The "Clipper" in the name represents that Pan Am used that word in the names of their aircraft.[60]

His estate in Ocala, Florida, is situated on Greystone Airport with its own runway and taxiway right to his house, with two outbuildings for covered access to planes.[56][61]

On November 24, 1992, Travolta was piloting his Gulfstream N728T at night above a solid undercast when he experienced a total electrical system failure while flying under instrument flight rules into Washington National Airport. During the emergency landing, he almost had a mid-air collision with a USAir Boeing 727, an event attributed to a risky decision by an air traffic controller.[62]

Travolta was inducted into the Living Legends of Aviation in 2007 and acts as the award show's official ambassador.[63]

On September 13, 2010, during the first episode of the final season of her talk show, Oprah Winfrey announced that she would be taking her entire studio audience on an eight-day, all-expenses-paid trip to Australia, with Travolta serving as pilot for the trip. He had helped Winfrey plan the trip for more than a year.[64]

He is the author of the book Propeller One-Way Night Coach, the story of a young boy's first flight.[65]

Sexual assault allegations
In May 2012, an anonymous masseur filed a lawsuit against Travolta, citing claims of sexual assault and battery. A lawyer for Travolta said that the allegations were "complete fiction and fabrication". Travolta's counsel also stated that his client would be able to prove that he was not in California on the day in question and asserted that Travolta would "sue the attorney and Plaintiff for malicious prosecution" after getting the case thrown out.[66] A second masseur later joined the lawsuit making similar claims.[67][68] Both lawsuits were subsequently dropped by the complainants and dismissed without prejudice.[69]

On September 27, 2012, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Malcolm Mackey dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Travolta and his attorney Marty Singer by writer Robert Randolph because he found that a letter, written by Singer in response to allegations in a book by Randolph, was protected by free speech.[70]

In September 2014, Travolta denied claims made in January 2014 by his former pilot, Douglas Gotterba, that the two had shared a sexual relationship during the six-year period in which Gotterba worked for Travolta's aircraft company, Alto

شيفيلد يونايتد

نادي شيفيلد يونايتد (بالإنجليزية: Sheffield United FC) هو نادي كرة قدم إنجليزي محترف يقع في مدينة شيفيلد بجنوب يوركشير. يلعب الفريق حالياً في دوري البطولة الإنجليزية، وقد استطاع التأهل ليشارك في منافسات الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز في موسم 2019–20. تم تشكيل نادي كرة القدم في عام 1889 باعتباره فرعًا لنادي شيفيلد يونايتد للكريكيت ، يلقب الفريق بـ "النِصال" (بالإنجليزية: The Blades) و ذلك لإشتهار مدينة شيفيلد عالمياً بصناعة الحديد والصلب. يلعب الفريق مبارياته التي يستضيفها على ملعب برامول لين، والذي تم بناءه مع تأسيس النادي، وتبلغ سعته الإجمالية ما يقارب 32,702 متفرج.

فاز شيفيلد يونايتد بدوري الدرجة الأولى والذي يعرف حاليا باسم الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز في موسم 1897–98. كذلك فاز بلقب كأس الاتحاد الإنجليزي أربعة مرات في أعوام 1899 و 1902 و 1915 و 1925. بينما تعرضوا لهزيمة في نهائي كأس الاتحاد الإنجليزي في عامي 1901 و 1936. وقد استطاع الفريق الوصل إلى الدور نصف النهائي في أعوام 1961 و 1993 و 1998 و 2003 و 2014. بينما وصلوا إلى الدور نصف النهائي منكأس رابطة الأندية الإنجليزية المحترفة في عامي 2003 و 2015.

خلال معظم تاريخ النادي ، لعب الفريق بالقمصان مخططة باللونين الأحمر والأبيض مع الشورت الأسود. أقرب وأشرس منافسيهم هم نادي شيفيلد وينزداي، في ديربي يعرف بعدة أسماء، ديربي ستيل سيتي (بالإنجليزية: Steel City derby) أو ديربي شيفيلد (بالإنجليزية: derby Sheffield).
تاريخ النادي
تأسس نادي شيفيلد يونايتد لكرة القدم في 22 مارس 1889، في فندق أديلفي بمدينة شيفيلد (يوجد مكانه الآن مسرح كرسبل) على يد جون تشارلز كليق، رئيس نادي الكريكيت الذي كان يتخذ من البرامول لين ملعباً له. و قد جاءت هذة الخطوة لإيجاد دخل بديل لمستأجري البرامول لين بعد أن قرر نادي شيفيلد وينزداي الانتقال إلى ملعبة الخاص و ترك ملعب البرامول لين. كما تجدر الإشارةإلى أن شيفيلد يونايتد هو أول نادي في التاريخ يطلق عليه مسمى يونايتد.

و بلا شك، فأن أفضل فترات النادي كانت الثلاثون عاماً بين 1895 و 1925، عندما كان الفريق بطل إنجلترا عام 1897/98، و وصيف البطل عام 1896/97 و 1899/1900، و بطل كأس الاتحاد أعوام 1899، 1902، 1915 و 1925. و وصيف نفس البطولة عامي 1901 و 1936. و لكنه لم يحقق أي إنجاز بعد إنجاز عام 1925 بخلاف نجاحاته في الصعود من درجة لأخرى أعلى منها. يضاف إلى ذلك وصول الفريق إلى نصف نهائي كأس الدوري عام 2002/03 و خسارته من ليفربول بمجموع المبارتين 2-3.

تعد الفترة بين 1897 و 1902 أكثر الفترات نجاحاً بالنسبه لـ شيفيلد يونايتد، حيث حقق النادي بطولة الدوري عام 1898 و بطولة كأس الاتحاد في 1899 و 1902. ثم تلى هذه الإنجازات تحقيق النادي لبطولة الاتحاد مرة ثالثة في عام 1915 و رابعة في عام 1925. كما وصل النادي مباراة النهائي في بطولة كأس الاتحاد عام 1901 و عام 1936، و وصل دور نصف النهائي في ذات البطولة عام 1961، 1993، 1998، و 2003. في حين أن أفضل مستويات النادي في بطولة كأس الدوري كانت في عام 2003 عندما وصل النادي نصف النهائي.

و قد شهدت الآونة الأخيرة أخر صعود لـ شيفيلد يونايتد للدوري الممتاز، حيث كان ذلك في عام 2006، لكن هذا لم يدم أكثر من موسم واحد! و على الرغم من وصول النادي لمرحلة خروج المغلوب في دوري الدرجة الأولى عام 2009، إلا أن النادي تقهقر أكثر فيما بعد حتى هُبط النادي إلى دوري الدرجة الثانية لأول مرة من 23 سنة. تلى تلك الفترة فترة من تذبذب بالنتائج حيث هبط الفريق ليشارك في دوري البطولة الإنجليزية في موسم 2006–07 . ثم هبط ليشارك في الدوري الإنجليزي الدرجة الأولى في موسم 2011–12، قبل إن يفوز بالمركز الأول في موسم 2017–18، ويتأهل ليلعب في دوري البطولة الإنجليزية في موسم 2018–19 ويحصل ثانياً في الترتيب مما أهله للاعب في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز 2019–20.

Sheffield United

Sheffield United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. The football club was formed in 1889 as an offshoot of Sheffield United Cricket Club, and are nicknamed The Blades due to Sheffield's history of steel production.[1] The club have played their home games at Bramall Lane since their formation in 1889. Bramall Lane is an all-seater ground with a current capacity of 32,125.

Sheffield United won the original Football League in 1898 and the FA Cup in 1899, 1902, 1915 and 1925. They were beaten finalists in the FA Cup in 1901 and 1936, and reached the semi-finals in 1961, 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2014. They reached the semi-finals of the League Cup in 2003 and 2015.

For most of the club's history they have played in red and white striped shirts with black shorts. Their closest rivals are Sheffield Wednesday, with whom they contest the Steel City derby.
The club was formed by members of the Sheffield United Cricket Club, formed in 1854 and the first English sports club to use 'United' in its name. Sheffield United's predominant nickname is "The Blades", a reference to Sheffield's status as the major producer of cutlery in the United Kingdom. United's original nickname was in fact "The Cutlers" from 1889–1912. City rivals Wednesday held the nickname "The Blades" in their early years, however in 1907 Wednesday officially became "The Owls", in reference to their new ground in Owlerton, and United would later claim "The Blades" nickname for themselves.[2]

Sheffield United officially formed on 22 March 1889 at the Adelphi Hotel, Sheffield (now the site of the Crucible Theatre) by the President of the Cricket Club Sir Charles Clegg. The Wednesday had moved from Bramall Lane to their own ground at Olive Grove after a dispute over gate receipts and the tenants of Bramall Lane needed to create a new team to generate income. Sir Charles Clegg was incidentally also the president of The Wednesday.[3]

Undoubtedly United's heyday was the 30-year period from 1895–1925, when they were champions of England in 1897–98 and runners-up in 1896–97 and 1899–1900, and FA Cup winners in 1899, 1902, 1915 and 1925. United have not won a trophy since 1925, bar those associated with promotion from lower leagues, their best performances in the cup competitions being several semi-final appearances in the FA Cup and League Cup.[4]
Fall from grace and brief revival (1975–1994)
Their darkest days came between 1975 and 1981. After finishing sixth in the First Division at the end of the 1974–75 season, they were relegated to the Second Division the following season, and three years after that setback they fell into the Third Division. They reached an absolute low in 1981 when they were relegated to the Fourth Division, but were champions in their first season in the league's basement division and two years afterwards they won promotion to the Second Division.

They fell back into the Third Division in 1988, but new manager Dave Bassett masterminded a quick revival which launched the Blades towards one of the most successful eras in their history. Successive promotions in the aftermath of the 1988 relegation saw them return to the First Division in 1990 after a 14-year exile. They survived at this level for four seasons (being founder members of the new Premier League in 1992 after peaking with a ninth-place finish in the last season of the old First Division) and reached an FA Cup semi-final in the 1992–93 before being relegated in 1994.

Financial trouble and fall to League One (1994–2013)
They remained outside the top flight for the next 12 years, although they qualified for the play-offs under Bassett's successor Howard Kendall in 1997 and caretaker manager Steve Thompson in 1998. They were struggling at the wrong end of Division One when Neil Warnock was appointed manager in December 1999, and a financial crisis was preventing the club from being able to boost their squad, but in 2002–03 they enjoyed their most successful season for a decade, reaching the semi-finals of both domestic cups and also reaching the Division One play-off final, where they were beaten 3–0 by Wolverhampton Wanderers. Three years later, however, Warnock delivered a Premier League return as the Blades finished runners-up in the re-branded Championship. They lasted just one season back amongst the elite, before being relegated from the Premier League amidst the controversy surrounding Carlos Tevez, the player who was controversially signed by West Ham United and whose performances played a big part in their remarkable escape from relegation. Neil Warnock resigned as manager after the Blades went down. The team also purchased Chinese club Chengdu Wuniu in 2006, and redesigned the club crest in the style of the Sheffield United badge and renamed the team "Chengdu Blades".[5] The team were dissolved in 2015.

The club struggled to come to terms with life back in the Championship, with a spiralling wage bill not being matched by the quality of the players brought in, and a succession of managers within a short period of time. The Blades reached the Championship playoff final in 2009 under Kevin Blackwell, but a period of decline then set in. The 2010–11 season proved disastrous, with the club employing three different managers in the span of a season, which ultimately ended in relegation to League One under Micky Adams, meaning they would play in the third tier of English football for the first time since 1989, only five years after gaining promotion to the Premiership. In the 2011–12 season, the club finished third in League One, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion to rivals Sheffield Wednesday, and entered the playoffs. With victory over Stevenage in the semi-final, United missed out on an immediate return to the Championship after suffering a penalty shootout defeat to Huddersfield Town. The Blades again made it to the League One playoffs in 2012–13 after a fifth-place finish, but were knocked out by eventual promotion winners Yeovil Town on an 85th-minute goal in the second leg of the semi-finals.

Saudi Takeover and return to the top flight (2013–2019)
On 3 September 2013 it was confirmed that Saudi Prince Abdullah bin Musa'ed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the royal House of Saud had bought a 50% stake in United's parent company 'Blades Leisure Ltd' for the fee of £1 with the promise of providing "substantial new capital" with the aim of returning the Blades to the Premier League as "quickly as possible".[6][7] In 2014, the Blades began to be described by areas of the media as "giant-killers", having reached the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley, losing 5–3 to Hull City.[8] In 2014–15 the team reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and semi-finals of the Football League Cup, and despite being eliminated they remained in contention for promotion to the Championship.[9]

United secured promotion back to the second tier of English football in the 2016–17 season under the management of lifelong fan and former Blades player Chris Wilder, winning the League One title with 100 points.[10] The Blades finished 10th in their first season back in the Championship, having spent much of the season in and around the play-off positions.

In the 2018–19 season, the team enjoyed a highly successful campaign in achieving automatic promotion to the Premier League, with United having spent almost all of the season in the top six of the Championship, fighting for automatic promotion until clinching second place over Leeds United with a game to spare, by beating already relegated Ipswich Town 2–0 at Bramall Lane on 27 April 2019. Leeds' 1–1 home draw with Aston Villa the next day ensured top flight football for The Blades for the first time in 12 years.[11]

Kits, colours and crest
Sheffield United have played in red and white stripes for most of their history, but began playing in white shirts and blue shorts. They briefly played in narrow red stripes for the 1890–91 season, before returning to all-white the following year. The stripes returned in the 1892–93 season, with black shorts replacing the blue in 1904. The shirts remained largely unchanged until collars were first removed in 1955, replaced by V-necks until the 1966–67 season (when white socks were also used), and from here on the neck style varied.

The traditional red and white stripes remained until the 1974–75 season, when elements of black were added, until the 1979–81 and 82 season kit. This was white with a red breast, and with thin stripes down either side, and was created to accommodate the logo of the club's principal sponsor, Cantor's, a local furniture shop. This was to be replaced by a striped kit, with the sponsor Bentley's (1981–82) and Renault (1982–83) written vertically down a white stripe over the left-hand side. Their kits continued to feature striped shirts, albeit with various aids to accommodate their sponsors, including a yellow square for Laver from 1988–92 (the 1990–92 shirt also featured narrow black stripes through each white stripe) and a black hoop, also for Laver in the 1994–95 season. Then came the diamond kit, which was so badly received that the club reverted to stripes the following season.[12] Since then, red and white stripes and black socks with varying trim have been the order of the day, with black shorts for all but the 2002–05 seasons, when white and then red were tried.[13] The club also every few seasons opt to put thin black stripes between the red and white stripes. Sheffield United's home colours were the inspiration for the kit of Irish club, Derry City. In 1934, Derry City adopted the stripes, while Billy Gillespie was manager of the club, in recognition of Gillespie's achievements at Sheffield United.[14]
The first time a crest appeared on the shirt was in the 1891–92 season, when a red crest appeared on the white shirt, but this disappeared the following season. United used the city of Sheffield's coat of arms from 1965–77, when a new crest was used, introduced by former manager Jimmy Sirrel, but designed apparently over 20 years previously by former player Jimmy Hagan.[15] This consisted of two white crossed swords, or blades, the club's nickname, with a Yorkshire Rose above, on a black background. This is surrounded by a red ring with "Sheffield United F.C." written around the top and "1889", the year the club was founded, underneath. This has been altered very slightly a few times, with a simple black embroidered crest appearing on shirts from 1987–90, and an all-white crest on a red-edged black shield for the 1992–99 seasons, but reverted to its original form in 2000

UFC 245

UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 14, 2019 at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area
Background
A UFC Welterweight Championship bout between the current champion Kamaru Usman (also The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians winner) and former interim champion Colby Covington has been slated to serve as the event headliner.[3]

A UFC Featherweight Championship bout between the current champion Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski is expected to take place at the co-main event.[4]

A UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship bout between the current champion Amanda Nunes (also the current UFC Women's Featherweight Champion) and the inaugural featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie is expected to take place at the event.[5] The pairing previously met in November 2013 at UFC: Fight for the Troops 3, with Nunes winning the encounter via TKO in the first round.[6]

Santiago Ponzinibbio was expected to face former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler at the event. However, Ponzinibbio pulled out of the fight on October 12 citing a staph infection. Despite having over two months before the event, promotion officials elected to remove Lawler from the card entirely instead of having him face a replacement.[7]

Sergio Pettis was briefly linked to a bout with Kai Kara-France at the event.[8] However, Pettis revealed in early October that he was entertaining offers from other promotions after the completion of his previous contract and did not currently have a fight lined up with the promotion.[9] Kara-France is now expected to face Brandon Moreno.[10]

At the weigh-ins, Jessica Eye failed to make weight, coming in at 131 pounds, five pounds over the Flyweight limit of 126 pounds. She was fined 30% of her fight purse to Viviane Araújo

وست هام يونايتد

وست هام يونايتد (West Ham United) هو نادي كرة قدم إنجليزي. يشارك في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز. تأسس في عام 1895 باسم "التايمز للأدوات الحديدية". يقع ملعبه في منطقة أبتون بارك بشرق لندن. يلقب النادي أيضاً بـ "المطارق" و"الحدائد" لأنه نشأ بالقرب من مصنع للحديد في لندن. المدرب الحالي للنادي هو مانويل بلغريني.

في عام 1899 انضم النادي لدوري الدرجة الثانية الجنوبي. في عام 1900 أصبحت شركة التايمز للأدوات الحديدية شركة محدودة لذا استبدل اسم النادي بمسماه الحالي "وست هام يونايتد". في عام 1897 انتقل النادي إلى ملعب "ذا مموريال غراوند" في منطقة بلايستو، ثم انتقلوا إلى ملعبهم الحالي في أبتون بارك الذي كان يسمى "القلعة" في عام 1905. انضم الفريق في عام 1919 إلى دوري كرة القدم، وصعد للدرجة الأعلى في عام 1923. لم يحقق الفريق إنجازات كثيرة نسبياً، ولعل أبرز ما يحسب للنادي فوزه بكأس إنجلترا ثلاث مرات. يسع ملعب النادي في أبتون بارك لأكثر من 35000 متفرج.

من أبرز اللاعبين الذين مرو بالنادي: الأسترالي لوكاس نيل، والإسكتلندي كريستيان دايلي، والإنجليزي تيدي شيرنغهام، والبرتغالي لويس بوا مورتي، والغاني جون بنتسيل، والأرجنتيني كارلوس تيفيز. خافيير ماسكيرانو ، الإيطالي باولو دي كانيو
ملعب بولين غراوند ويعرف أيضا بملعب ابتون بارك نظرا لموقعه في منطقة ابتون بارك شرق مدينة لندن، وهو ملعب كرة قدم يعود لنادي وست هام يونايتد الذي يلعب في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز "البريمرليغ". ويتسع الملعب لنحو ( 35,016 ) متفرج.

يقع الملعب في شارع غرين ستريت، حيث قام النادي بأيجار أرض ومنزل تقع ضمن بلدية بورو في ايست هام من الكنيسة الرومانية الكاثوليكية عام 1912. وجائت تسمية "بولين غراوند" نسبة إلى منزل كان يقع بجوار الأرض سابقاً ويعرف بـ( قلعة بولين ) نسبة إلى الملكة البريطانية "آن بولين" ، وحالياً يعرف الملعب باسم "ابتون بارك" وهي التسمية الشائعة بين الناس نسبة إلى المكان الذي يقع فيه الملعب.

تأسس نادي وست هام يونايتد عام 1895، وفي عام 1897 انتقل النادي إلى ملعب "ذا مموريال غراوند" في منطقة بلايستو للعب مبارياته، ولكن بعد خلاف حول الإيجار اضطر النادي للبحث عن مكان جديد لأقامة مبارياته. إلى أن عثر النادي على أرض خاوية تعود للمدرسة الكاثوليكية الرومانية، وتم التوصل فيما بعد إلى اتفاق مع السلطات الكاثوليكية لاستخدامها لتكون ملعبا جديداً للنادي اللندني. لعب وست هام مباراته الأولى في بولين غراوند في 1 سبتمبر 1904. وفاز فيها على فريق ميلوول بنتيجة 3-0، وبحضور أكثر من 10،000 متفرج .

في يناير 2014 وافق مجلس إدارة نادي وست هام يونايتد على بيع الملعب الحالي للفريق "آبتون بارك - بولين جراوند" لمجموعة (شركات جاليارد العقارية) بمبلغ 71 مليون جنيه إسترليني، حيث تنوي تحويل الملعب لمجمع سكني، وهو ذات السيناريو الذي قام به آرسنال قبل ثمانية أعوام عندما باع ملعبه التاريخي الـ(هايبوري) قبل التحول إلى الملعب الحالي (ملعب الإمارات).

فبعد أن نجح في منتصف العام 2013 بالفوز بحق استئجار الملعب الأولمبي بالعاصمة لندن بدءاً من موسم 2017/2016 بعد خوضه لمنافسة شرسة مع أندية ( توتنهام هوتسبير، كوينز بارك رينجرز ولايتون آورينت ) للانتفاع بالملعب لمدة 99 عاماً. ومن المقرر أن توفر الصفقة التي عقدتها أدارة النادي مع شركة جاليارد حوالي 700 منزلاً على أرض ملعب آبتون بارك وهي أكبر صفقة تطوير في تاريخ الملاعب الإنجليزية..

الملعب الأولمبي

West Ham

West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stratford, East London. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club play at the London Stadium, having moved from their former home the Boleyn Ground 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 flight in 1923, when they were also losing finalists in the first FA Cup Final held at Wembley. In 1940, the club won the inaugural Football League War Cup.

West Ham have been winners of the FA Cup three times, in 1964, 1975, and 1980, and have also been runners-up twice, in 1923, and 2006. The club have reached two major European finals, winning the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965 and finishing runners-up in the same competition in 1976. West Ham also won the Intertoto Cup in 1999. They are one of eight clubs never to have fallen below the second tier of English football, spending 61 of 93 league seasons in the top flight, up to and including the 2018–19 season. The club's highest league position to date came in 1985–86, when they achieved third place in the then First Division.

Three West Ham players were members of the 1966 World Cup final-winning England team: captain Bobby Moore and goalscorers Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters.
The earliest generally accepted incarnation of West Ham United was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks F.C., the works team of the largest and last surviving shipbuilder on the Thames, Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, by foreman and local league referee Dave Taylor and owner Arnold Hills[4] and was announced in the Thames Ironworks Gazette of June 1895. Thames Ironworks was based in Leamouth Wharf in Blackwall and Canning Town on both banks of the River Lea, where the Lea meets the Thames. Thames Ironworks built many ships and other structures, the most famous being HMS Warrior. The last ship built there was the dreadnought HMS Thunderer in 1912 and the yard shut soon after.

The repair yard of the Castle Shipping Line was a very near neighbour and their work team, initially known as the Castle Swifts, would informally merge with the Thames Ironworks own team.

The team played on a strictly amateur basis for 1895 at least, with a team featuring a number of works employees. Thomas Freeman was a ships fireman and Walter Parks, a clerk. Johnny Stewart, Walter Tranter and James Lindsay were all boilermakers. Other employees included William Chapman, George Sage and Fred Chamberlain, as well as apprentice riveter Charlie Dove, who was to have a great influence on the club's future at a later date
Thames Ironworks won the West Ham Charity Cup, contested by clubs in the West Ham locality, in 1895, then won the London League in 1897. They turned professional in 1898 upon entering the Southern League Second Division, and were promoted to the First Division at the first attempt.[7] The following year they came second from bottom, but had established themselves as a fully fledged competitive team. They comfortably fended off the challenge of local rivals Fulham in a relegation play-off, 5–1 in late April 1900 and retained their First Division status.[7]

The team initially played in full dark blue kits, as inspired by Mr. Hills, who had been an Oxford University "Blue," but changed the following season by adopting the sky blue shirts and white shorts combination worn through 1897 to 1899.

Following growing disputes over the running and financing of the club, in June 1900 Thames Ironworks F.C. was disbanded, then almost immediately relaunched on 5 July 1900 as West Ham United F.C. with Syd King as their manager and future manager Charlie Paynter as his assistant. Because of the original "works team" roots and links (still represented upon the club badge), they are still known as "the Irons" or "the Hammers" amongst fans and the media.[8][9]

Birth of West Ham United (1901–1961)
West Ham Utd joined the Western League for the 1901 season[10] while also continuing to play in the Southern Division 1. In 1907, West Ham were crowned the Western League Division 1B Champions, and then defeated 1A champions Fulham 1–0 to become the Western League Overall Champions.[10] The reborn club continued to play their games at the Memorial Grounds in Plaistow (funded by Arnold Hills) but moved to a pitch in the Upton Park area in the guise of the Boleyn Ground stadium in 1904. West Ham's first game in their new home was against fierce rivals Millwall (themselves an Ironworks team, albeit for a rival company) drawing a crowd of 10,000 and with West Ham running out 3–0 winners,[11] and as the Daily Mirror wrote on 2 September 1904, "Favoured by the weather turning fine after heavy rains of the morning, West Ham United began their season most auspiciously yesterday evening; when they beat Millwall by 3 goals to 0 on their new enclosure at Upton Park."
In 1919, still under King's leadership, West Ham gained entrance to the Football League Second Division, their first game being a 1–1 draw with Lincoln City, and were promoted to Division One in 1923, also making it to the first ever FA Cup Final to be held at the old Wembley stadium. Their opponents were Bolton Wanderers. This was also known as the White Horse Final, so named because an estimated 200,000 people came to see the match; spilling out on to the pitch, which had to be cleared prior to kick-off, by "Billie," a giant white horse (actually grey) being ridden by PC George Scorey. The Cup Final match itself ended 2–0 to Bolton. The team enjoyed mixed success in Division 1 but retained their status for ten years and reached the FA Cup semi-final in 1933.[12]

In 1932, the club was relegated to Division Two[13] and long term custodian Syd King was sacked after serving the club in the role of manager for 32 years, and as a player from 1899 to 1903. Following relegation, King had mental health problems. He appeared drunk at a board meeting and soon after committed suicide.[14] He was replaced with his assistant manager Charlie Paynter, who himself had been with West Ham in a number of roles since 1897 and who went on to serve the team in this role until 1950 for a total of 480 games. The club spent most of the next 30 years in this division, first under Paynter and then later under the leadership of former player Ted Fenton.

Fenton succeeded in getting the club once again promoted to the top level of English football in 1958. With the considerable input of player Malcolm Allison, Fenton helped develop both the initial batch of future West Ham stars and West Ham's approach to the game.[15][16][17][18]

Glory years (1961–1978)
Ron Greenwood was appointed as Fenton's successor in 1961 and soon led the club to two major trophies, winning the FA Cup in 1964. The team was led by the young Bobby Moore.[19] They also won the European Cup Winners' Cup.[20][21] During the 1966 FIFA World Cup, key members of the tournament winners England were West Ham players, including the captain, Bobby Moore; Martin Peters (who scored in the final); and Geoff Hurst, who scored the first, and only, hat-trick in a men's World Cup final.[21][22] All three players had come through the youth team at West Ham
There is a "Champions" statue in Barking Road, opposite The Boleyn Tavern, commemorating West Ham's "three sons" who helped win the 1966 World Cup: Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters. Also included on the statue is Everton's Ray Wilson.[24]
They also won the FA Cup in 1975 by defeating Fulham 2–0. The Fulham team had former England captains Alan Mullery and West Ham legend Bobby Moore.[25]

After a difficult start to the 1974–75 season, Greenwood moved himself "upstairs" to become general manager and, without informing the board, appointed his assistant John Lyall as team manager.[26] The result was instant success – the team scored 20 goals in their first four games combined and won the FA Cup, becoming the last team to win the FA Cup with an all-English side when they beat Fulham 2–0 in the 1975 final.[27] Lyall then guided West Ham to another European Cup Winners' Cup final in 1976, though the team lost the match 4–2 to Belgian side Anderlecht.[28] Greenwood's tenure as general manager lasted less than three years, as he was appointed to manage England in the wake of Don Revie's resignation in 1977.[29]

Ups and downs (1978–2005)
In 1978, West Ham were again relegated to Division Two, but Lyall was retained as manager and led the team to an FA Cup Final win against Arsenal in 1980, their last major honour. They reached the final by defeating Everton in the semi-final.[30] The Hammers won 1–0, with a goal scored from a header by Trevor Brooking in the 13th minute.[31] This is notable as no team outside the top division has won the trophy since. West Ham were promoted to Division One in 1981, and finished in the top ten of the first division for the next three seasons before achieving their highest-ever league finish of third in 1985–86; a group of players which came to be known as The Boys of 86. However, they suffered relegation again in 1989, which resulted in Lyall's sacking.[32] He was awarded an ex gratia payment of £100,000 but left the club in what Lyall described as "upsetting" circumstances, meriting only 73 words in a terse acknowledgement of his service in the club programme. Lyall left West Ham after 34 years service
After Lyall, Lou Macari briefly led the team, though he resigned after less than a single season in order to clear his name of allegations of illegal betting while manager of Swindon Town.[34] He was replaced by former player Billy Bonds.[35] In Bonds' first full season, 1990–91, West Ham again secured promotion to Division One. Now back in the top flight, Bonds saw West Ham through one of their most controversial seasons. With the club planning to introduce a bond scheme, there was crowd unrest. West Ham finished last and were relegated back to Division Two after only one season.[36][37][38][39] However, they rebounded strongly in 1992–93. With Trevor Morley and Clive Allen scoring 40 goals, they guaranteed themselves second place on the last day of the season with a 2–0 home win against Cambridge United, and with it promotion to the Premier League
With the team in the Premier League, there was a need to rebuild the team. Oxford United player Joey Beauchamp was recruited for a fee of £1.2 million. Shortly after arriving at the club, however, he became unhappy, citing homesickness from his native Oxford as the reason. Bonds in particular found this attitude hard to understand compared to his own committed, never-say-die approach; providing for Bonds' further evidence of the decay in the modern game and modern player.[42] Fifty-eight days later, Beauchamp was signed by Swindon Town for a club-record combined fee of £800,000 which included defender Adrian Whitbread going in the opposite direction. Whitbread was valued at £750,000 in the deal.[43]

Assistant manager Harry Redknapp was also now taking a bigger role in the transfer of players, with the club's approval. With rumours of his old club AFC Bournemouth being prepared to offer him a position,[44] the West Ham board and their managing director, Peter Storrie, made a controversial move. The board were anxious not to lose Redknapp's services and offered Bonds a place away from the day-to-day affairs of the club—on the West Ham board. This would have allowed them to appoint Redknapp as manager. Bonds refused the post offered and walked away from the club.[45] His accusations of deceit and manipulation by the board and by Redknapp have continued to cause ill-feeling.[45] Peter Storrie claimed they that they had handled the situation correctly, saying, "If Harry had gone to Bournemouth, there was a good chance Bill would have resigned anyway, so we were in a no-win situation. We're sad that Bill is going, and it's a big blow but it's time to move on and we have appointed a great manager."[46] Redknapp became manager on 10 August 1994.[47]

Redknapp's time at West Ham was notable for the turnover of players during his tenure and for the level of attractive football and success which had not been seen since the managership of John Lyall. Over 134 players passed through the club while he was manager, producing a net transfer fee deficit of £16 million, despite the £18 million sale of Rio Ferdinand to Leeds United.[48] Some were notably successful, such as the signings of Stuart Pearce,[49] Trevor Sinclair,[49] Paolo Di Canio,[49] John Hartson,[49] Eyal Berkovic[49] and Ian Wright.[50] Meanwhile, some were expensive, international players who failed at West Ham, such as Florin Raducioiu;[49] Davor Šuker, who earned as much in wages as the revenue gained from one entire stand and yet made only eight appearances;[48] Christian Bassila, who cost £720,000 and played only 86 minutes of football;[48] Titi Camara; Gary Charles, whose wages amounted to £4.4 million but made only three starts for the club;[48] Rigobert Song; Paulo Futre;[49] and Marco Boogers,[49] a player often quoted as one of the biggest failures in the Premier League.[51] His first season in charge saw West Ham fighting the threat of relegation until the last few weeks,[52] while his third season would also see another relegation battle. Always willing to enter the transfer market, Redknapp bought in the winter transfer window John Hartson and Paul Kitson who added the impetus needed at the season's end.[53]

In 1999, West Ham finished fifth, their highest position in the top flight since 1986.[49] They also won the Intertoto Cup beating French club Metz to qualify for the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup.[49][54] Things began to falter for Redknapp with the sale for £18 million to Leeds of Rio Ferdinand in November 2000. Redknapp used the transfer money poorly with purchases such as Ragnvald Soma, who cost £800,000 and played only seven league games, Camera and Song. Redknapp felt he needed more funds with which to deal in the transfer market.[55] Chairman Brown lost patience with Redknapp due to his demands for further transfer funds. In June 2001, called to a meeting with Brown expecting to discuss contracts, he was fired.[55] His assistant Frank Lampard left too, making the sale of his son Frank Lampard, Jr., inevitable;[55] in the summer of 2001, he joined Chelsea for £11 million.[56]

With several names, such as former player Alan Curbishley, now linked with the job, Chairman Brown recruited from within the club,[55] appointing reserve team coach Glenn Roeder as manager on 9 May 2001.[47] He had already failed in management with Gillingham, where he lost 22 of the 35 games he managed, and Watford.[57] His first big signings were the return of Don Hutchison for £5 million[58] and Czech centre back Tomáš Řepka.[59] Finishing seventh in his first season[60] Roeder, in his office at Upton Park, suffered a blocked blood vessel in his brain.[57][61] As Roeder needed medical help and recuperation, former stalwart Trevor Brooking stood in as caretaker manager.[61] Despite not losing another game, the Hammers were relegated on the last day of the season at Birmingham City with a record for a relegated club of 42 points. Ten seasons of top tier football were over.[62] Many top players including Joe Cole, Di Canio and Kanoute all left the club.

The next season, now in the second tier, Roeder resumed his stint as manager. Results were still poor, however, and after an away defeat to Rotherham United, he was sacked on 24 August 2003.[57] Brooking again took over as caretaker.[63] He lost only one game, a 2–0 away defeat to Gillingham[64] and is known as "the best manager West Ham never had."[65] Former Crystal Palace player and manager of Reading Alan Pardew was lined up to be the next bench boss. Reading and their chairman, John Madejski, however, were reluctant to let him leave.[66] After serving a period of notice and gardening leave, and with West Ham paying Reading £380,000 in compensation, he was appointed manager on 18 October 2003, their tenth manager.[67][deprecated source] Pardew set out to rebuild the side bringing in Nigel Reo-Coker,[68] Marlon Harewood[69] and Brian Deane.[70] In his first season in charge, they made the playoff final only to lose to Crystal Palace.[71] His signings of Bobby Zamora, Matthew Etherington and veterans Chris Powell and Teddy Sheringham saw West Ham finishing sixth and subsequently beat Preston North End 1–0 thanks to a Zamora goal in the 2005 playoff final, securing a return to the Premier League.[72] After ensuring promotion, Pardew said, "It's a team effort. We defended well and we're back where we belong."[73]

Final years at the Boleyn (2005–2016)
On their return to the top division, West Ham finished in ninth place,[74] The highlight of the 2005–06 season, however, was reaching the FA Cup final and taking favourites Liverpool to a penalty shootout after a 3–3 draw. West Ham lost the shootout, but nonetheless gained entry to the following season's UEFA Cup as Liverpool had already qualified for the Champions League. In August 2006, West Ham completed a major coup on the last day of the transfer window after completing the signings of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.[75] The club was eventually bought by an Icelandic consortium, led by Eggert Magnússon, in November 2006.[76] Manager Alan Pardew was sacked after poor form during the season[77] and was replaced by former Charlton Athletic manager Alan Curbishley.[78]

The signings of Mascherano and Tevez were investigated by the Premier League, who were concerned that details of the transfers had been omitted from official records. The club was found guilty and fined £5.5 million in April 2007.[79] However, West Ham avoided a points deduction which ultimately became critical in their avoidance of relegation at the end of the 2006–07 season. Following on from this event, Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan, supported by other sides facing possible relegation, including Fulham and Sheffield United, threatened legal action.[80] West Ham escaped relegation by winning seven of their last nine games, including a 1–0 win over Arsenal, and on the last day of the season defeated newly crowned League Champions Manchester United 1–0 with a goal by Tevez to finish 15th.[81]

In the 2007–08 season, West Ham remained reasonably consistently in the top half of the league table, with Freddie Ljungberg in the team, despite a slew of injuries; new signing Craig Bellamy missed most of the campaign, while Kieron Dyer was out from August 2007.[82][83] The last game of the season, at the Boleyn Ground, saw West Ham draw 2–2 against Aston Villa, ensuring a tenth-place finish three points ahead of rivals Tottenham Hotspur. It was a five-place improvement on the previous season, and most importantly West Ham were never under any realistic threat of relegation.

After a row with the board over the sale of defenders Anton Ferdinand and George McCartney to Sunderland, manager Alan Curbishley resigned on 3 September 2008.[84] His successor was former Chelsea striker Gianfranco Zola, who took over on 11 September 2008 to become the club's first non-British manager.[85] In the 2008–09 season, West Ham finished ninth, a single place improvement.
In the 2009–10 season, West Ham started strongly with a 2–0 win over newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers with goals from Mark Noble and newly appointed captain Matthew Upson.[86] A League Cup match against old rivals Millwall brought about violent riots outside the ground as well as pitch invasions and crowd trouble inside Upton Park.[87] In August 2009, the financial concerns of Icelandic owners parent companies left the current owners unable to provide any funds until a new owner was found. The club's shirt sponsor SBOBET provided the club with help to purchase a much needed striker, the Italian Alessandro Diamanti.[88]

West Ham had a poor season which involved a prolonged battle against relegation.[89] They finally secured their survival with two games remaining by defeating Wigan 3–2.[90] The club managed to take 35 points from 38 games, seven fewer than the total they had when relegated seven years prior.[89] On 11 May 2010, two days after the end of the 2009–10 season, West Ham announced the termination of Zola's contract with immediate effect.[91] On 3 June 2010, Avram Grant signed a four-year deal to become the next manager of West Ham subject to a work permit.[92] West Ham's form continued to be poor with the team seldom outside the relegation zone,[93] placing Grant's future as manager under serious doubt.[94] A 4–0 Football League Cup quarter-final win over Manchester United was an otherwise bright spot in a disappointing season.[95] West Ham's form in the Premier League did not affect their form in the two domestic cups. The Hammers reached the semi-final of the League Cup before being eliminated by eventual winners Birmingham City as well as the quarter final of the FA cup before a 2–1 defeat at Stoke City.[96][97]

On 15 May 2011, West Ham's relegation to the Championship was confirmed after a comeback from Wigan at the DW Stadium. With West Ham leading 0–2 at half-time through two Demba Ba goals, Wigan battled back to win 3–2 thanks to an added-time strike from Charles N'Zogbia. Following the loss, West Ham announced the sacking of manager Avram Grant just one season into his tenure.[98] On 1 June 2011, Sam Allardyce was appointed as manager as Grant's replacement.[99]

The club finished third in the 2011–12 Football League Championship with 86 points and took part in the play-offs. They beat Cardiff City in the play-off semi-final 5–0 on aggregate to reach the final against Blackpool at Wembley on 19 May 2012. Carlton Cole opened the scoring, and although Blackpool equalised early in the second half, Ricardo Vaz Tê scored the winner for West Ham in the 87th minute.[100]

West Ham, on their return to the Premier League, signed former players James Colllins and George McCartney on permanent deals, as well as record signing Matt Jarvis and Andy Carroll on loan.[101][102][103][104] They won their first game of the season, on 18 August 2012, 1–0 against Aston Villa thanks to a Kevin Nolan goal.[105] The highlight of the first half of the season was a 3–1 home win against reigning European champions Chelsea on 1 December 2012 which saw them in eighth position[106] and 12th at the end of the year.[107] On 22 March 2013, West Ham secured a 99-year lease deal on the Olympic Stadium, with it planned to be used as their home ground from the 2016–17 season.[108] Tenth place was secured at the end of the season with nine home wins and only three away from home. Only 11 away goals were scored, the lowest of the entire league.[109]

In 2013–14, West Ham finished 13th in the Premier League.[110] They also reached the semi-finals of the League Cup before losing 9–0 on aggregate to eventual cup-winners Manchester City.[111] A feature of the season were the criticisms of manager Sam Allardyce by supporters relating to his perceived negative playing tactics.[112][113][114] West Ham finished 12th in the 2014–15 Premier League, one place higher than the previous season. Minutes after the last game of the season, on 24 May 2015, the club announced that Allardyce's contract would not be renewed and that they were seeking a new manager.[115] By winning the Premier League Fair Play table for 2014–15, West Ham qualified for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, entering at the first qualifying round.[116]

On 9 June 2015, former West Ham player Slaven Bilić was appointed as manager on a three-year contract.[117] In Bilić's fourth game in charge, the team won at Anfield for the first time in 52 years, beating Liverpool 0–3, with goals from Manuel Lanzini, Mark Noble and Diafra Sakho.[118] At the end of the season, West Ham finished 7th in the Premier League. The team broke several records for the club in the Premier League era, including the highest number of points (62), the highest number of goals in a season (65), the least number of games lost in a season (8) and the lowest number of away defeats (5).[119] The season also marked the last season where the team played at the Boleyn Ground, with them moving to the London Stadium from next season - ending their 112 year stay at the stadium.

Move to London Stadium and recent years (2016–)
Following Manchester United's win in the 2016 FA Cup Final, West Ham took their Europa League place and qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2016–17 edition.[120] At the end of the tough first season at the London Stadium, the team finished 11th, along with having to deal with the departure of star man Dimitri Payet.[121] However, the team suffered a poor start to the following season, taking only two wins in their opening 11 games. Following a 4–1 defeat to Liverpool at home and with the team threatened by relegation, Bilić was sacked on 6 November 2017. He was replaced by former Sunderland boss David Moyes on a contract till the end of the season. The team battled inconsistent form for the rest of the season but managed to avoid relegation and finish 13th. Moyes was not offered a new contract and left the club on the expiration of it on 16 May 2018. [122]

On 22 May 2018, the club appointed former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini as the new manager on a three-year deal contract.[123] In his first season in charge, the Hammers finished 10th, once again suffering from inconsistent form.

Crest

رود ستيوارت

السير رودريك دافيد رود ستيوارت (بالإنجليزية: Sir Roderick David "Rod" Stewart) هو مغني روك وكاتب أغاني بريطاني ولد في يوم 10 يناير 1945 في مدينة لندن نشأ وتربى في لندن وهو من أصل إنكليزي وأسكتلندي مشترك، رود يعتبر واحدا من أفضل المغنيين في تاريخ الموسيقى الإنجليزية، حيث حققت تسجيلاته مبيعات بحوالي قيمة 100 مليون دولار.