Saturday, February 20 – 1932
Match: Football League, First Division, at Upton Park, kick-off: 15:15.
West Ham United – Liverpool 1-0 (0-0).
Attendance: 15,721.
West Ham United (2-3-5): Bob Dixon, Reg Goodacre, Alf Chalkley, Jimmy Collins, Jim Barrett, Albert Cadwell, Tommy Yews, Stan Earle, Vic Watson, Wilf Phillips, Jimmy Ruffell.
Liverpool (2-3-5): Elisha Scott, Willie Steel, Tommy Lucas, Tom Morrison, Tom Bradshaw, Jimmy McDougall, Harold Barton, Gordon Hodgson, Dave Wright, Les Bruton, Gordon Gunson.
The goals: 1-0 Ruffell (66 min.).
Liverpool suffered defeat at Upton Park. The only goal of the match accounted for their overthrow by West Ham United, and this score, which came after 20 minutes after change of ends, was due to an error by Scott, who punched the ball through his own goal. Apart from this, the veteran Irish international did nothing wrong in the Liverpool goal. He brought off good saves from Phillips, Watson, Ruffell, and Earle, all of whom did well in the West Ham front line.
For their victory the home team were largely indebted to their half-backs, Barrett. In the centre, and Collins showing to equal advantage with the left winger. Dixon, in the West Ham goal, had a light afternoon, as the Liverpool forwards seldom did anything more dangerous than drop the ball in from long range. On tremendous shot from Gunson hit the post, but if unlucky on that occasion, Liverpool could not complain at suffering defeat.
Lucas and Steel had a useful set of halves in front of them, Morrison and McDougall, the wing men, playing soundly . . . but the forwards, led for the first time by Bruton – formerly of Blackburn Rovers – seldom kept a lively ball sufficiently under control to look like overcoming a defence that never wavered. Goodacre and Chalkley tackled quickly and placed the ball with reasonable accuracy on an afternoon when sure kicking was by no means easy.
Altogether, the football fell below the standard associated with the First Division of the League, and the 18,000 spectators had small cause for enthusiasm.
(The Scotsman, 22-02-1932)
Vic Watson, West Ham United F.C.
XX
"Play Up, Liverpool" 