West Ham are one of 32 teams taking part in the TST (The Soccer Tournament) in the United States this month.
The tournament, which is taking place in Cary, North Carolina, features teams from across Europe and the USA. Rather than featuring first-team players from each respective team, the players involved are well known and aim to make the sport more fun for spectators and fans.
West Ham are joined by the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Wolves and Wrexham in having representatives from their ranks in the tournament. Each game is made up of a 7-vs-7 line-up, with a number of different rule changes. Former footballers such as Greg Halford, Lee Trundle, Chris Eagles, Danny Drinkwater, Leon Best, Stephen Ireland, Zat Knight, George Boyd and Luiz Gustavo are all competing.
One big rule change is there is no offside, with another being teams can make an unlimited amount of substitutes. This summer marks the inaugural season of the competition, with TST also founding The Basketball Tournament, with the winner set to pocket £800,000 ($1million) prize money.
West Ham’s second group game against Dallas was abandoned on Thursday after an alleged racial slur was directed towards Hammers player Frank Nouble. The West Ham players, led by Anton Ferdinand and Carlton Cole, walked off the pitch and the game was subsequently abandoned.
A West Ham statement read: “The players made a collective decision to walk off the pitch as a team in support of our player. As a club, everyone at West Ham United stands shoulder to shoulder in solidarity against all forms of discrimination and abuse.”
With the game abandoned, and not forfeited, West Ham cannot qualify for the knockout stages. West Ham are still set to play their final group game against Culture By Mo Ali FC on Friday.
The tournament is set to conclude on Sunday, with the full knockout stages taking place over the weekend.
TST Groups and Teams
Group A
Newtown Pride FC
Kingdom FC
Hoosier Army
Borussia Dortmund
Group B
Blade & Grass FC
DMV Diplomats
Wolves
Villita FC
Group C
Hapoel Tel Aviv FC
SLC FC
Club Necaxa
Virginia Dream
Group D
Culture By Mo Ali FC
Far East United
West Ham
Dallas United
Group E
Wrexham Red Dragons
Say Word FC
Como 1907
US Women
Group F
Hashtag United
Nati FC
Conrad & Beasley United
Gracie FC
Group G
Sneaky Fox FC
Jackson TN Boom
Teamp Dempsey
Zala FFF
Group H
Raleigh Rebels FC
North Carolina FC
Duke Sevens
Charlotte FC
Knockout stages brackets
Round of 16 - June 3
Group A 1st vs Group B 2nd
Group C 1st vs Group D 2nd
Group E 1st vs Group F 2nd
Group G 1st vs Group H 2nd
Group A 2nd vs Group B 1st
Group C 2nd vs Group D 1st
Group E 2nd vs Group F 1st
Group G 2nd vs Group H 1st
Quarter-finals - June 3
Winner of RO16 1 vs Winner of RO16 2
Winner of RO16 3 vs Winner of RO16 4
Winner of RO16 5 vs Winner of RO16 6
Winner of RO16 7 vs Winner of RO16 8
Semi-finals - June 3
Winner of QF 1 vs Winner of QF 2
Winner of QF 3 vs Winner of QF 4
Final - June 4
Winner of SF 1 vs Winner of SF 2
