West Ham United begin their 2020/21 Carabao Cup challenge with the visit of Charlton Athletic to London Stadium on Tuesday evening.
The match will see former Hammers midfielder Lee Bowyer bring his Addicks across the River Thames for the first competitive meeting between the two clubs since the 2006/07 Premier League season.
The tie, which kicks-off at 7.30pm, will be streamed live by the EFL in the UK only. Match passes are available for £10 by clicking here. Prices are set by the EFL, who are managing the service.
Please note that due to Carabao Cup regulations, we will be unable to offer live audio commentary on whufc.com for this fixture.
You can order a copy of Tuesday's 116-page Official Programme for your collection here, while a digital edition will be available to read online from 7pm on Monday on whufc.com.
West Ham will be seeking to bounce back after losing their opening Premier League game of the season, 2-0 at home to Newcastle United on Saturday evening.
Charlton, meanwhile, have won their last two matches, winning 3-1 at Swindon Town in the Carabao Cup first round before starting their EFL League One campaign with a 2-0 victory at Crewe Alexandra on Saturday.
The tie must be settled on the night. If the scores are level after 90 minutes the winner of the tie will be decided by penalties immediately. There will be no extra-time played.
The Goal Decision System (HawkEye) will be in operation for this fixture, but there will be no VAR.
The winner of tonight’s tie will host Premier League new boys Leeds United or EFL League One newcomers Hull City in the third round, with that match to be played during the week commencing Monday 21 September.
Team news…
David Moyes said he would give 'opportunities' to players in Tuesday's tie, meaning the likes of goalkeeper Darren Randolph, defenders Fabian Balbuena, Ben Johnson and Arthur Masuaku and attacking midfielders Manuel Lanzini and Felipe Anderson could all be involved.
Robert Snodgrass, Jack Wilshere and former Charlton Athletic loanee Josh Cullen were absent from the matchday 18 on Saturday and will also hope for minutes.
For Charlton, Lee Bowyer has said he will make 'a couple of changes' to the team which won at Crewe on Saturday.
However, Player of the Year and goalkeeper Dillon Phillips has not been involved this season after failing to agree a new contract with the Red Robins.
The opposition – Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic have endured a 2020 like no other football club.
For starters, the south Londoners have had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated challenges.
When football was suspended in March, Charlton had dropped into the EFL Championship relegation zone with nine games of the season left to play.
On the resumption, three months later, the Addicks were without leading striker Lyle Taylor, who declined to extend his contract. Regardless, Lee Bowyer’s side won successive matches to climb out of the bottom three, only to fail to win any of their last seven, lose 4-0 at Leeds United on the final day, and go down.
But relegation to League One – just 12 months after the glory of winning the Play-Off final at Wembley – tells just part of the story.
For Charlton have repeatedly made headlines for the club’s uncertain ownership situation.
Belgian Roland Duchâtelet brought his tumultuous five-year reign to an end in January, when he reportedly sold the club to a consortium named East Street Investments (ESI).
However, the club’s new owners then fell out amid claims over insufficient funding, before ESI was sold in June, only for the EFL to then reject the new owners’ application to take over the football club.
This uncertainty has led to regular supporter protests, with fans claiming Charlton Athletic’s very existence is under threat.
Previous meetings…
The competition was introduced in 1960/61 by Football League Secretary Alan Hardaker to help its member clubs increase revenue and encourage supporters to attend matches, having seen overall spectator numbers drop by more than one million in 1959/60.
With many clubs having installed floodlights during the 1950s, the League Cup was played midweek, with Charlton visiting the Boleyn Ground on Monday 26 September 1960.
The First Division Hammers were too strong for their Second Division opponents from just across the River Thames, running out 3-1 winners with goals from Bobby Moore, Johnny Dick and Malcolm Musgrove in front of a crowd of 12,496 – more than 11,000 fewer than had attended the previous League game against Blackpool nine days before.
Since that Monday evening, the two clubs have met twice more in the League Cup, with West Ham winning in the third round at The Valley in both 1976 (1-0) and 1980 (2-1).
In all competitions, the near-neighbours have met 41 times, with West Ham winning 17, Charlton 14 and ten ending in draws.
By the numbers…
39 Charlton Athletic played 39 home matches at West Ham United’s Boleyn Ground between August 1991 and December 1992, winning 21 of them, before returning to The Valley. At the time, the Addicks were managed jointly by former Hammers midfielder and future manager Alan Curbishley and Steve Gritt, whose son James is a long-serving sports scientist at the Academy of Football, while the squad contained future Irons players Scott Minto, Simon Webster and Robert Lee, manager Alan Pardew and reserve-team manager Alex Dyer, as well as West Ham loanee Leroy Rosenior!
95 West Ham United’s all-time record appearance maker Billy Bonds began his career with tonight’s visitors, playing 95 times. Having been born in nearby Woolwich, the young Bonds joined the Red Robins after leaving school at the age of 15. A league debut arrived at 18 in February 1965, in a Second Division fixture with Northampton Town. Bonds would leave the Addicks for West Ham United for what turned out to be a bargain £50,000 fee in May 1967.
929,878 The total number of supporters who have attended the 41 Premier League, Football League and knockout matches played between the two clubs – an average attendance of 22,680.
10 The first-ever Football League fixture between West Ham United and Charlton Athletic produced no fewer than ten goals. The Hammers came out on top in a thrilling Second Division fixture played at the Boleyn Ground on 26 November 1932, winning 7-3. All-time record goalscorer Vic Watson and Arthur Wilson each scored twice, while Jim Barrett, Jackie Morton and Tommy Yews were also on target.
1 Paul Kitson scored West Ham United’s only away Premier League hat-trick in a dramatic 4-4 draw at The Valley on 19 November 2001. However, he is not the only Hammer to net a treble against the Addicks, as Malcolm Musgrove did so in a Southern Floodlight Cup first-round win at the Boleyn Ground in October 1958, and both Ted Fenton and Len Goulden managed the feat during the Second World War.
8 Alec George Foreman scored for the Hammers in no fewer than eight separate matches against the Addicks, but none of them count towards the official record books, as all of them were scored in games played during the Second World War.
38 The following 38 players have played first-team football for both West Ham United and Charlton Athletic: Billy Bonds, Mark Bowen, Lee Bowyer, Jack Burkett, Alan Curbishley, Carlton Cole, Christian Dailly, Paolo Di Canio, Alou Diarra, Hogan Ephraim, Benny Fenton, Derek Hales, Stephen Henderson, Matty Holmes, Sasa Ilic, Roger Johnson, Steve Jones, Paul Kitson, Paul Konchesky, Billy Lansdowne, Robert Lee, Ralph Milne, Shaun Newton, Frank Nouble, Scott Parker, Diego Poyet, Chris Powell, Darren Randolph, Kyel Reid, Bill Robinson, Mark Robson, Leroy Rosenior, Mike Small, Alex Song, Jonathan Spector, Svetoslav Todorov, Ricardo Vaz Te, Simon Webster and Derek Woodley.
Match officials…
Referee: Andre Marriner
Assistant Referees: Scott Ledger and Simon Long
Fourth Official: Graham Scott
Affiliated to the Birmingham County FA, Andre Marriner began refereeing at the age of 21 in 1992, progressing through the Birmingham Amateur Football League and the Southern Football League to become a Football League assistant referee in 2000.
Marriner was appointed to the Football League list of referees in 2003, before making his Premier League debut in November of the following year, officiating tonight’s visitors Charlton Athletic’s 4-0 win over Norwich City at The Valley.
Now 49, Marriner was added to the Select Group of professional referees in 2005, and FIFA’s list of international officials in 2009.
Marriner has refereed a host of high-profile fixtures, including the 2010 Championship Play-Off final, the 2013 FA Cup final and the 2020 Community Shield between Arsenal and Liverpool last month.
He has refereed West Ham United on 37 occasions previously, with the most-recent being a 1-1 draw with Everton here at London Stadium in January.
