West ham united football club was founded in 1895 as the thames ironworks team thames ironworks were a shipbuilding company and west ham are also known as the irons or the hammers since 1904 their home has been the boleyn ground kids t shirt design reads 1895 the birth of football thames ironworks hermit road e16we lovingly print all of our kids t shirts onto 100 cotton soft style loose fitting unisex t shirts for boys and girls