Festive cheer is here, even for the most miserable of Hammers. An upturn in league form has seen London’s claret and blue side lurch themselves away from the perils of the bottom three just in time for their fans to relax and enjoy their Christmas holidays properly.

With Karren Brady leading the club, we can surely expect there to be plenty of Hammers stocking fillers around the country this year. Maybe some Irons pyjamas or Dimitri Payet bow ties? The Hammers better have their own Christmas crackers on sale, too, otherwise they’ve really missed a glaring trick.

We are keen competitors here at FootballFanCast, though, so we have compiled our own challenging Christmas cracker. Bringing you a brain-twisting teaser, a stunning West Ham goal and a thought-provoking statistic, it’s a bundle of Christmas joy with a touch of Payet, Carroll and Bilic.

Teaser Time

Who were West Ham’s opponents when their record attendance was set at Upton Park? And in which season?

No clues, this is an easy one…

Click through to slide 4 for the answer...

CARLTON GOAL

Carlton, leader, legend. Even the most ardent of Carlton Cole fanboys will struggle to suggest that he was ever a prolific goal scorer, yet in amongst his moments of... erm... the opposite of magic, there was this absolute gem of a finish.

A one-touch attacking move carved open the Wigan Athletic defence like a perfectly cooked turkey, with Cole finishing the move like Andriy Shevchenko in his prime. West Ham went on to win the game one-nil if you were wondering, making Cole the match-winner yet again.

What a man.

The Stat

Dimitri Payet, hardly surprisingly, has seen his value improve rapidly in 2016. As per TransferMarkt, West Ham’s talismanic attacking midfielder's price-tag has doubled this calendar year, making him one of the most valuable players in the Premier League at this point.

Few players have improved quite as significantly in this time period, either, and he is the oldest of the top twelve on the list shown above. West Ham’s star has gone from a gifted, exciting winger to one of Europe’s most desirable attacking stars.

The Answer...

Tottenham Hotspur in 1970/71

A monumental 42,322 squeezed into Upton Park to witness a 2-2 London Derby back in the early knockings of the 1970s. It probably will have been a little snug in the crowd on that day, but what an atmosphere that will have been.

Of course, the Hammers are attracting far bigger crowds than a measly 42,000 in the modern day thanks to their move to the London Stadium. So soon after the glory days of 1966, West Ham were one of the most reputable clubs in European football.