West Ham sacked manager Alan Pardew on this day in 2006.
Pardew had joined the Hammers in September 2003, having resigned as Reading boss after the Royals rebuffed West Ham’s initial request to speak to him about their vacant position.
In his first season, Pardew guided West Ham to the Championship play-off final but fell at the final hurdle against his former club Crystal Palace.
Alan Pardew and West Ham celebrated promotion via the play-offs in 2005 (Nick Potts/PA)
They were back in the play-off final the following summer after a season in which they failed to sustain a strong push for automatic promotion, albeit going up anyway after beating Preston 1-0 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
The Hammers made an encouraging start to life in the top flight as Pardew guided them to ninth place and the FA Cup final, where they were beaten on penalties by Liverpool at the end of a match which finished 3-3 following extra-time.
Optimism was high at the start of the following season as Argentinian pair Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano arrived at the club, but with European football added to their commitments, West Ham took a backward step.
An eight-game losing streak matched a 74-year-old club record and included an exit from the UEFA Cup at the hands of Palermo and a humiliating League Cup defeat to League One Chesterfield.
When Eggert Magnusson’s consortium arrived as new owners in early November they initially backed Pardew, but patience ran out with a 4-0 defeat to Bolton and Pardew was shown the door two weeks before Christmas.
Former West Ham player Alan Curbishley was named as his replacement two days later, having recently ended a 15-year spell in charge of Charlton, and he steered them to safety.
