Jubilant Sam Allardyce admitted leading West Ham to promotion back to the Barclays Premier League was the biggest achievement of his career.
Carlton Cole put the Hammers ahead before the break with Thomas Ince levelling the tie with a carbon copy effort. But Ricardo Vaz Te's dramatic late strike secured a 2-1 victory for the east Londoners.
Allardyce, who guided Bolton to promotion via the play-offs at the Millennium Stadium in 2001, said: "It's probably bettered that because it's West Ham United, with the size of the club and the pressure, and because it's at Wembley.
"It's the first time I have come here and won - not that I've been here very often. It's been an outstanding, thrilling season compared to where we came from.
"This is a memory for life and we will enjoy it. You want to go up automatically but if you don't and you win the final then it's a memory for everyone for years and years to come.
"The delight you get out of winning at a venue like this, the trophy, the medals, the celebrations, it's an outstanding achievement. It's bigger than anything else, other games played here are cup competitions but this is everything, it's about what's happened over 10 months, not six or seven games."



Comment 2 - 22 of 22
No comment from the primrose spectacled totally biased moron (That's not an insult I suppose?)
John you still don't argue or discuss the content of the postings - all you do is try to put down and insult the writer for stating what is obvious for anyone who has the slightest knowledge of football. Everyone except the primrose spectacled totally biased moron agrees - West Ham under Fat Sham Attaprice are playing terrible Route One football and made an easy job of getting back into the Premier hard work and it was only down to Lady Luck that we just made it by the skin of our teeth. I wonder what you and the rest would be saying now if Lady Luck hadn't intervened and it was Blackpool going up instead of West Ham ? My bet is that you'd all be agreeing with me and baying for Attaprice's head on a spike outside Upton Park. That's why Attaprice is celebrating - he knows he would have been sacked if we didn't beat Blackpool. Gilbert/Sullivan probably told him so and with Paulo waiting in the wings they should still sack him because on this evidence there's no chances of West Ham staying in the Premier with him as manager.
When I read these comments it seems to me that you ARE the only oine complaining Papadragon; In fact it's so pathetic I'm not going to even bother reponding to your rants any more.
Great - we're back up and now we have to stay in the Prem. The big advantage is that we now have owners that care for the club - not like some others (cluck cluck!). They seem to be getting us out of our financial Icelandic mess and they deserve all the plaudits - let's face it whatever you think about Sam he was brought in to get us back up and he did it
Well done Sam you and your team you deserve this for all your hard work,you are a Premiership Manager
Given the powerful squad of experienced EPL and International players he started with Fat Shame Attaprice made bloody hard work of an easy job with his poor team selection, badly times substitutions and lack of any game plan. Promotion should have been a walk in the park with 100 points given the squad he had to pick from. You can thank Lady Luck for shining on us at Wembley and not Fat Sham for promotion. If we are to stay in the Premier then we must sack Attaprice immediately, retire half the 1st team, appoint Paulo and give him a 75 million war chest. Only Paulo has the leadership qualities, the players respect, the passion, the drive, the charisma and the pulling power to do for West Ham what Brendan and Paul have done for Swansea and Norwich. Plus forget any move away from Upton Park - Myopic Park is NOT a good idea. If we don't make radical changes and persist with Fat Sham, the Bolton Old Boys brigade and their bloody awful footballing style we'll get murdered at home and crucified away next season and will be right back in the Championship and next time it won't be quite so easy to get out of it.
well done west ham and big sam back wear we belong
well done sam proud of everyone at westham in acheiving premiership football......brilliant .....mind you i was not a well man untill vaz te stepped up bless him...being a hammer fan...its just something you get used 2. WE NEVER DO ANYTHING EASY.....COYI............BREATH TAKEN END OF SEASON DRAMAS WE COULD HAVE DONE WITHOUT....unlucky blackpool sure you will bounce back next season automatically under olly
No Papadragon, you just THINK you're more intelligent than the rest. I'm intelligent enough to know that we are back in the premiership and you don't get there without merit. Of course everyone can take issues with team selections and tactics but the fact is that we are back. Next season is another issue and we should all get behind the team and forget personal vendettas with Allardyce who, by the way is not my favourite manager either, but he did the job he was asked to do. Slag big sam off if you want (by the way it seems to me that calling him Sham Attaprice is pretty insulting if we have to talk about that). Yes you're entitled to your opinion but I just don't like your supercilious attitude; you know better than everyone just about sums it up. By the way are you happy we're back in the permeiership or not?
Well done big Sam. Someone had to teach the Hammers that playing pretty boy football and getting stuffed each week was not the way to go. There is no Hurst, Peters and Moore there any more, they are just a bunch of average 'jobbers' and Sam has turned them into a team.
Anthony 99% of west ham fans are totally behind there team did you not see the oustanding 40 thousand fans singing there heart out yesterday.dont take the posts on here as a true representation of the west ham fans every club has there doom and gloom merchants who constantly want to try and bring the team down but luckily the only place they can be heard is on forums like this as they are such a small minority.
I am an Everton fan who worked for West Ham in the 80's.Why don't you hammers fans get behind the manager and the team.We all know that investment will be needed but I cannot believe the negative attitude of west ham supporters.Your club is a fantastic club and now are back in the top division,get on and support and stop whinging,and if Sam is still there back hium or stay away.
blackpool weren,t the only team to miss chances, the hammers missed chances too, i.e nolan hitting the crossbar, vaz te missing a very good chance, gilks having to make some exceptional saves, i think some people are looking at the game one sided as west ham were supposed to be rank favourites. the hammers played a tactical game letting blackpool have plenty of posession and hitting them on the break, when west ham decided to play a bit after 20 minutes or so they pinned blackpool back, and they could have done this at anytime they wanted, once blackpoll equalised west ham went back to their original tactic of letting blackpool come at them, the tacctic worked because they hit blackpool after breaking down their attack and scoring, at the end of the day it,s about finnishing and blackpool couldn,t west ham could, well done west ham you fooled them with a change of tactic from the league games and it payed off. no way were you outplayed....QPR supporter
West ham were lucky, Blackpool missed no end of chances and were the better side on the day, but goals count. Sam Ataprice is not the man for WEST HAM now were back in the top flight he needs to be replaced and quickly.
The real Hammers fans appreciate good football and what Fat Sham Attaprice and his Bolton Old Boys brigade are serving up is definitely NOT good football I'm NOT the only person who thinks West Ham had Lady Luck on their side yesterday and that Blackpool deserved to win. That doesn't make me a Millwall supporter or any less a West Ham supporter. And John and others try attacking the argument NOT the commentator - your Ad Hominem remarks and personal insults do you no favours - you don't find me insulting other contributors here because I disagree with their comments. Discuss the football - we're both watching the same match after all except my glasses are NOT primrose coloured. Whilst I appreciate the die hard West Ham supporter I am intelligent and experienced enough to see the flaws in our current set up. For a start if Taylor/Demel get a roasting from Blackpool's boys Ince/Phillips and have to be replaced what do you think the likes of Lennon, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Valencia etc etc will do to them ? It doesn't bear thinking about. and that's just for starters. Unless there are some major changes in personnel and a lot of money spent I'm afraid our stay in the Premier will be short and humiliating.
Well done big sam has not been the prettiest football especially at home but he has bought a team on its knees to promotion in one season and there are not too many managers out there who could of done that,he has the experience to keep us in the prem next season and after a season or two consolidation i can see him taking us to the next level and introducing a few more flair players like he did at bolton.i never lost the faith we would do it luv the play offs luved the day at wembley blackpool team and fans were brilliant best way to get promoted by far just dont want to go through it too often...."IRONS IRONS IRONS"
Blackpool outplayed us with good football mostly on the ground and 70% possession They were unlucky not to score at least 3 times Fat Sham Attaprice's long ball, knock it down and up/under style football won the day more by luck than judgement We will get murdered in the Premier by the real football teams there Time for Attaprice to go and Paulo to bring back football to West Ham
Congrats, big Sam and continue your good work since you were in Bolton. You remain my England coach. Emma, Lagos-NIgeria
Oh you Hammers,frightened the life out of me..80 years of age listening on the radio....great result in the end.. And to BIG SAM ALLADICE,,,Thanks, brilliant.
A well deserved result. Now lets get ourselves together and show the doubters that west ham united can compete with the top clubs. we belong in the prem COYI
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