West Ham made an unlikely appearnce in The Simpsons during a recent episode titled "The day the earth stood cool." A banner featuring the Hammers' crest and a yellow and green color scheme (instead of the proper claret and blue) hung prominently in the bedroom of a boy named T-Rex, son of the hipster couple from Portland (voiced by Portlandia's Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein) who move in next door to the Simpsons.

Why T-Rex -- a kid with ultra discerning tastes for the unusual and unique until Bart Simpson converts him to the mainstream delights of junk food and commercial television -- has a West Ham banner is never discussed in the episode. But it's not the first time football references have appeared in the incredibly long-running series. Though David Beckham wasn't "a big enough star" to warrant a guest spot, retired Ronaldo has appeared, as well as the Celtic crest. Homer Simpson made a cameo in a Nike ad with a Simpsonized Cristiano Ronaldo before the last World Cup. Manchester United was also shown as being a part of a "22-year riot" and Ryan Giggs was name-checked when the Simpsons visited the UK in 2003.

West Ham were quite pleased with the appearance though, tweeting their delight over the appearance even though the colors were wrong and they were included as a tool to mock American hipsters. Now we can only hope that the club's next TV cameo comes in the form of a zombified Sam Allardyce on The Walking Dead.