The early to mid-1960’s was a standout era for The Hammers. This was a period in which West Ham won the FA Cup, European Cup Winners Cup, and, as some supporters of the club are quick to claim, the FIFA World Cup. However, despite their innovative approach to the beautiful game, The Hammers never came close to winning the Football League title. With that said, their performances in the FA Cup and Cup Winners Cup proved that, on their day, West Ham was more than capable of beating anyone. This was evidenced with a series of victories over Englands best sides. All over the pitch, West Ham had players capable of tearing any opponent apart, and many of these were home grown heroes – Moore, Hurst, Peters, Boyce, Brown, Sissons, Burkett, Bovington and Dear all honed their skills locally.

 

Their first major trophy came in 1964, when Ron Greenwood guided his team through a tricky FA Cup run which included a 3-1 semi final defeat of Manchester United, leading to a showdown with Division 2’s Preston North End. In true West Ham style, the game was a rollercoaster affair, with Preston taking the lead after 10 minutes and West Ham equalising literally a minute later. Dawson again put the northerners into the lead until Hurst pulled one back for the Hammers after the half. It looked to be destined for a stalemate until a header by Boyce in the 90th minute gave West Ham the cup. The following season, West Ham turned their attention to the European Cup Winners Cup. The Hammers nailed all their matches including defeats of Real Zaragoza and Sparta Prague, and reached the final at Wembley against West Germany’s 1860 Munich. Despite chances at both ends, the match was a 0-0 deadlock at half time. A breakthrough was finally reached when Ronnie Boyce threaded the ball between two defenders and Alan Sealey latched on and scored from an awkward angle. Just two minutes later, Sealey struck again to seal the win for West Ham. Sealey was a young, untested player and was forced to play up front due to injuries to more established players. Meanwhile, Greenwood reflected that “This was Bobby Moore’s greatest game. Technical perfection”.  

 

Moore’s legs would get a good workout – the following year he would become the only player in history to climb the Wembley steps to collect three different trophies in successive seasons: The FA Cup in 1964, the Cup Winners Cup in 1965 and the World Cup in 1966. The West Ham trio of Bobby Moore in defence, Martin Peters in midfield and Geoff Hurst in attack, played a critical role in England’s 1966 World Cup triumph, this is why many Hammers fans like to point out that “West Ham won the World Cup”. It is evidenced by the fact that Moore captained the side while Hurst netted a hat-trick and Peters sealed the win in the final against West Germany. Peters was claimed by none other than Alf Ramsey to be “10 years ahead of his time” and in 11 years with West Ham, he played in every position on the pitch, including goalkeeper. Other West Ham icons of the era were long time servant John Bond, England international Ken Brown, the father of Kenny Brown who played for West Ham in the 1990’s, prolific striker Johnny Byrne and future manager Harry Redknapp, who played on the wing.

 

In 1966, West Ham also reached the League Cup final but couldn’t add to their trophy haul due to a defeat by West Bromwich Albion. With Hurst scoring an amazing 41 goals in the 1966/67 season, the Hammers reached the League Cup semi finals that year only for West Brom to foil them again. The late 60’s saw the emergence of a new generation of Hammers hitting the pitch including Billy Bonds, Trevor Brooking and Frank Lampard Sr, but the successful early to mid 60’s were never truly matched.

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Achievements:
FA Cup x 1
Cup Winners Cup x1

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Star player: Bobby Moore, dob 12 April 1941, pob Barking, England

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One of the greatest defenders of all time and cited by Pele as the best player he ever played against, Bobby Moore is nothing less than an icon of world football history. In 2002, he became the first player to enter the English Football Hall of Fame and that year he was also listed in the BBC’s 100 Greatest Britons. He advanced through West Ham’s youth set-up and slipped on his iconic number 6 shirt as a replacement for a sick Malcolm Allison. He was a composed central defender, possessing a supernatural reading of the game the Norstradamus-esque ability to anticipate opposition movements. In this manner, he distanced himself from the reputation of the hard-tackling, high-jumping defender prevalent at the time. Although his pace was average, he more than made up for this with the timing of his tackles, his reading of the game, and his marshalling of the team.  In 1963 at age 22, Moore became the youngest captain of the England team. In 1964, Moore lifted the FA Cup, was treated for testicular cancer and was named the Football Writers Associations Footballer of the Year. It was from the 1966 World Cup that Moore established himself as a world-class player and sporting icon, captaining the side to World Cup glory and wiping his hands clean of mud and sweat on the Queens velvet tablecloth before shaking her hand and lifting the Jules Rimet trophy. He continued to play for West Ham and England and got involved in a few business ventures including opening a sports shop next door to Upton Park. 1970 was an eventful year for him. He was implicated in the theft of a bracelet from a Bogota, Colombia jewlerry store. A young assistant accused him of takingthe bracelet without paying for it. There is no doubt Moore was in the shop, he had entered in the company of Bobby Charlton to look for a gift for Charlton’s wife, and Moore was arrested. He was released after no proof was forthcoming. Unfortunately, after the teams plane returned to Colombia prior to another match, Moore was again detained and kept under house arrest for four days. Due to the weakness of the evidence, the case was eventually dropped. He went on to star for England in their 1970 World Cup campaign. One of the most famous football photos is of Moore swapping shirts with Pele after the England vs Brazil game. He became England’s most capped player in 1973 and played his final game for West Ham in 1974. He had a spell at Fulham before heading to America and lacing up for the San Antonio Thunder and the Seattle Sounders. His very last club was Danish outfit Herning Fremad where he promoted that country’s transition to professional soccer. He had a difficult life after football, thanks to poor business decisions and his marriage breaking down. He had an unsuccessful and short management career at Hong Kong’s Eastern AA, Southend and Oxford City. It’s argued that the FA could have given him a role as the only Englishman to captain a World Cup winning side, but this was not forthcoming. He had additional brushes with cancer as well, including colon cancer in 1991. In 1993, Moore announced he was suffering from bowel and liver cancer, which by that time could not be stopped. Three days later, commentated on an England match with his mate Jonathan Pierce – seven days after that, on 24 Feburary, Bobby Moore was dead. He was 51. At the first West Ham home game following Moore’s death, the Boleyn Ground was flooded with floral tributes, scarves and shirts bearing the number 6. A floral replica of Moore’s shirt was laid on the centre spot by his England and West Ham team mates, and friends, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters. The number 6 was rested for the game, which the Hammers won 3-1. His former England teammate Jack Charlton said, “I’ve only ever cried over two people, Billy Bremner and Bob.....He was a lovely man.” The Bobby Moore Fund was set up as his legacy. It is for research into bowel cancer and has so far raised £18.8 million. The southern stand of Upton Park was named The Bobby Moore Stand shortly after his death. In 2008, West Ham officially retired the number 6 as a sign of respect. The final touch of the New Wembley Stadium is a statue of Moore looking down on Wembley Way. The plaque below reads thus: “Immaculate footballer. Imperial defender. Immortal hero of 1966. First Englishman to raise the World Cup aloft. Favorate son of London’s East End. Finest legend of West Ham United. National treasure. Master of Wembley. Lord of the game. Captain extraordinary. Gentleman of all time.”