THERE was a time when most football fans had a soft spot for West Ham United. But not anymore.

The club that produced Sir Geoff Hurst, Sir Bobby Moore and Martin Peters and was widely credited with 'winning' the World Cup for England in 1966, is now one of the most despised in the country.

Why? Because all the shenanigans surrounding the Carlos Tevez affair has left a bitter taste in the mouths of those who love the game.

The whole Tevez thing was a murky business that tarnished the image of the game and after a lengthy inquiry, I'm not entirely convinced the powers-that-be ever properly got to the bottom of it.

However, what cannot be disputed is the fact the Hammers would have been sunk without trace last season but for Tevez.

His goals and performances during the run-in gave West Ham a fighting chance of survival after they had previously looked doomed, and it was the Argentine who grabbed the all-important winning goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford on the final day of the season, which condemned Sheffield United to a place in the Championship.

If you'd have presented such a story-line to the script-writers at Roy of the Rovers, you probably would have been laughed out of the building. But sometimes fact is stranger than fiction in the crazy world of football.

The reason I'm digging all this up again now is because West Ham's bid for survival effectively began at Ewood Park last season, when Rovers were robbed of a point - and possibly all three - at the end of one of the most bizarre games I have ever seen.

Referee Howard Webb and his assistant Jim Devine achieved the seemingly impossible that fateful afternoon; they managed to make themselves even more unpopular than Lucas Neill, who was roundly abused on his Ewood return.

And, predictably, Tevez was the man at the centre of most of the controversy.

First, the West Ham striker appeared to take a dive following a brush with Brett Emerton in the area, which Mr Webb interpreted as a penalty.

Cue the Argentine, who unashamedly dusted himself down and promptly scored from the spot to hand his team a lifeline.

With the game tied at 1-1, Hammers striker Bobby Zamora then grabbed one of the most controversial winning goals' ever witnessed at Ewood Park.

His strike could have been ruled out on several counts; there was a clear handball and an offside which neither official managed to spot.

Then after all that, Zamora's shot didn't even cross the line anyway - it struck Tevez (who else?) and rebounded back into play again.

But up went Mr Devine's flag to signal a goal and there was no way back for Rovers from that point onwards.

Mark Hughes was livid afterwards, and understandably so.

However, for West Ham and Alan Curbishley, it proved to be a turning point in their season following five back-to-back defeats in the league, and it provided the catalyst for an unlikely rescue mission.

Now Rovers have the chance to settle an old score this weekend when they face West Ham for the first time since that dark day in March and I, for one, really hope they burst the Hammers' bubble.