Two former Hammer of the Year award winners make the West Ham All Premier League side as goalkeepers.
West Ham fans from around the world were asked to vote and determine the players to be in West Ham’s All Premier League side. Some players were shoe-ins to make the squad while the debate raged heavily for other positions within the team.
In order to have been eligible to make this team, a player must have played for West Ham for at least one season during the Premier League era. Therefore, legends such as Bobby Moore, Trevor Brooking, and Billy Bonds were ineligible to make this team.
With the help of our friends at American Hammers Network and COYIrons, along with 8,500 West Ham fans, a full squad was chosen. This week’s instalment will focus on the goalkeepers to make the squad:
All stats are provided by WhoScored and Transfermarkt.
The goalkeepers for the West Ham All Premier League team.
— Justin Wasik ⚒️ (@just_wasik) October 15, 2020
Starter: Fabianski
Bench: Miklosko pic.twitter.com/x41rA3qMey
Starting Goalkeeper: Łukasz Fabiański
Joined West Ham: July 2018
Fee: £7M from Swansea City
Hammer of the Year: Winner (2019)
67 appearances (through Leicester City match)
15 clean sheets
While Łukasz Fabiański may have won the starting job in this XI due to recency bias, he certainly has been a good servant to West Ham, especially during his first season with the club where he won the coveted Hammer of the Year award.
He singlehandedly kept West Ham in matches, making incredible saves and establishing a commanding presence behind the defensive line. He instantly became a fan favourite as well, leading the Premier League in saves during the whole 2018/19 season.
The 35-year-old hasn’t quite matched the heights of his first season at the London Stadium. While he did have a good start to his second season, a hip injury caused him to miss 13 matches, a spell which saw West Ham’s form freefall, sending them into a relegation battle.
Fabianski also has made a few mistakes over the last half-season or so, but he remains the best keeper in the squad and his 2018/19 season will always be memorable. Two clean sheets in the last match surely have boosted his confidence as well as the overall confidence in the squad.
Backup Goalkeeper: Ludek Miklosko
Joined West Ham: February 1990
Fee: £300,000 from Banik Ostrava (Czech Republic)
Hammer of the Year: Winner (1991)
374 appearances
125 clean sheets
Lou Macari discovered Ludek Miklosko and signed him in February 1990. Miklosko was placed in the starting lineup that same month, a 2-2 draw away to Swindon Town. Miklosko took the place of legendary keeper Phil Parkes for the second leg of West Ham’s League Cup tie against Oldham Athletic. From this point on until the 1997-98 season, Miklosko would not relinquish his spot as the first-team goalkeeper.
A brave shot-stopper with a powerful clearance, Miklosko instantly became a fan-favourite, resulting in one of the most iconic supporter songs. Similar to Fabianski, the Czech had an excellent first full season in net, winning the Hammer of the Year award in 1991. In this season, he only allowed an impeccable sixteen goals away from home all season long.
Miklosko may be best known for his man of the match performance against Manchester United at Upton Park during the 1994-95 season. This performance helped West Ham draw against the reigning champions, allowing Blackburn Rovers to win their first top-flight title in over 80 years.