Since the death of the Old Division One and the ensuing inception of the Premier League, no team from outside the top flight has been able to lift the FA Cup. The appetite for the competition seems to have waned in recent years and indeed if you offered the clubs, players, and probably most fans the choice of either, surely nearly all would prefer to finish 4th in the EPL to capture a Champions League spot? I presume we all know that our club, West Ham, were indeed the last team to win the FA Cup from the lower leagues. It is now 33 years since that wonderful day in the sun at Wembley in 1980 when the Hammers beat Arsenal 1-0.
What got me reminiscing back to the great day was when I was picking my “Best West Ham Team Ever” for the WHTID profile site. My selections for this hypothetical team included six players from the team that played in that 1980 Cup Final. I think Parkes, Bonds, Martin, Lampard, Brooking and Devonshire would be on most fans radar to be considered for their own best team? However, what on earth were this group of players doing in the old second division? After our relegation in the 77/78 season we would have to wait until the season after our Wembley win before we graced the top flight again. Certainly in todays game, no team would be able to keep quality players of this ilk in the lower leagues?
The day itself started with a sense of being robbed. A newspaper strike on the Saturday meant that the day was not starting with that special feeling of reading all about your teams great achievement of reaching the Final – and knowing everyone else would be reading the same. The day before, Brian Clough had made the headlines, twisting a famous Muhammad Ali quote. Cloughie wrote that Trevor Brooking “floated like a butterfly – and stung like one too”. Trevor certainly made “old Big Head” look a little foolish after his winning goal the following day.
Similar to current tactics, the Hammers played 4-5-1 with David Cross playing as a lone striker and Stuart Pearson in a role most similar to what Kevin Nolan plays nowadays. It was not a fantastic game but it was a fantastic result with two main highlights from the game. Brooking’s goal in the 13th minute was made more exceptional by the fact he scored it with a header. Heading the ball was one thing that he did try to avoid for most of his career. The other flashpoint was when Willie Young hacked down Paul Allen late in the game when clean through with only the keeper to beat. A certain send off in todays game but back then a mere yellow was considered enough.
To the current season and I think most fans agree that the likelihood of relegation is unlikely, anything’s possible with West Ham, but unlikely. If come January we look safe, would it not be wonderful to see Big Fab Sam really launch an effort for Cup glory once again? A bit of luck with the draw would help, but I think West Ham fans don’t deserve such a long wait for our next Major trophy.
If you want a trip down memory lane…