Wednesday, June 7, 2023
West Ham United Official Story
West Ham hâve long been known as the Football Academy, riot only for the class of footballer they turn out but also for the class of football they play. Never was that image better illus- trated than on the day they won the Cup-Winners’ Cup at Wembley in 1965. They defeated Munich 1860 on a night which was a crédit to English football. Many of West Ham’s heroes that night went onto greater things. Manager Ron Greenwood would take up the same post with England and lead them to the finals of both the 1980 European Championship and the 1982 World Cup. Left-half Bobby Moore captained England to victory in the 1966 World Cup triumph, supported by Hammers Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst. Hurst, of course, made history as the only man to score a hat- trick in a World Cup Final when he put three past Hans Tilkowski. It is an odd feature of West Ham’s career in Europe that, until 2006, they had competed only in the Cup-winners Cup. In 1964-65 they competed as FA Cup holders and the following season as defending champions. However, defeat both home and away at the hands of eventual winners Borussia Dortmund ended their European com- mitment for nearly a decade. After winning the FA Cup against Fulham in 1975 - this time with Moore on the losing side - West Ham re- turned to Europe. They beat Lahden Reipas, Ararat Erevan, Den Haag and Eintracht Frankfurt on their way to the Final against Anderlecht in their home city of Brussels. In the Heysel stadium goals by Pat Holland and Keith Robson were not enough. Two goals each from Rob Rensenbrink and François Van der Elst meant the Hammers lost 4-2. Van der Elst, ironically, later spent two seasons at Upton Park.
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