West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club, which has its headquarters in London and plays matches at the stadium named Boleyn Ground, also known as Upton Park. In 2016 the club will be moving to the Olympic Stadium. The most commonly used nicknames for the team are The Hammers, The Irons and The Academy of Football. Club colors are burgundy and blue. In the season 2014/15 West Ham plays in the Premier League. The biggest successes of the club are Cup Winners' Cup win in 1965 and the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1999. Current head coach is Sam Allardyce – he holds the position since 2011.

The club was founded in 1895 in London as a remnant of the bankrupt club Old Castle Swifts FC. His first name was Thames Ironworks Football Club. It was related to ironworks, which was located next to the River Thames. From this period date nicknames like The Hammers and The Irons. In 1896 the team joined the League of London and two years later entered the professional Southern League Second Division. In 1900 the club became a West Ham United FC as enacted laws prohibited unions of clubs with companies. At that time the group was playing their matches at the stadium Boleyn Ground. Initially they ended Southern League and Western League before joined the Football League in 1919.

The best years the club began in the sixties of the last century. That's when it won two major trophies, namely the FA Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup. During the World Cup in 1966, the players of West Ham United Football Club played a very important role in winning the cup for England – they were the captain Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst. Now monument in their honor stands in Barking Road. The last important victory was winning the FA Cup in 1980. Since then the club begins its worse times – wins and loses. Only in recent years it got to the top division, came to the FA Cup final and the UEFA Cup. Last success was the qualification for the UEFA Europa League 2015-2016.

Among the major successes of the club winning the Football League War Cup, three times winning the FA Cup, winning the European Cup Winners Cup, winning the Intertoto Cup. West Ham United Football Club belongs to a group of eight clubs that have never been lower than the second tier of English football. Its best position was the third in the First Division, which took place in the 1985-1986 season.

The original club crest is a crossed pair of hammers, to which a castle was added – it represents Green Street House, which is also known as the Boleyn Castle. In the latest season the club will be returning back to its original crest, the two hammers, which is associated with the moving of the club.

In the seventies and eighties club West Ham United Football Club was known in particular for its high level of hooliganism – both in relation to other clubs and the police. On the basis of those events a movie Green Street were filmed.