West Ham United are expected to score a very different kind of goal this month – by beating London rivals Arsenal off the top of the premier league of personalised registrations.

The number plate WE57 HAM is being auctioned by DVLA Personalised Registrations, and auctioneers are preparing themselves for bidding chaos.

Damian Lawson, Marketing Manager for DVLA Personalised Registrations, said: ‘We get huge amounts of interest whenever we release football related registration numbers for auction, but we are particularly excited by this one.

‘We know what a large and passionate support there is for West Ham and because the number reads so well we think it stands a real chance of topping the table for football plates.’

They believe that interest in the unique plate will be so great that it is likely to sell for more than the hottest football personal registration auctioned to date - AR53 NAL – which went for a massive £36,000 in 2004.

Here is the current league of top football plates:

1. AR53 NAL - £36,000
2. V1 LLA - £35,000
3. ALB 10N - £19,000
4. DER 8Y - £14,500
5. S41 NTS - £11,500
6. PRE 570N - £9,400
7. 1 WBA - £8,400
8. W1 GAN - £7,700
9. EVR 70N - £6,400
10. S9 URS - £4,600

The auction of WE57 HAM is the climax of a three-day sale of 1,500 personalised registrations at Down Hall Hotel in Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, from October 24th to 26th.