In his Arsenal preview, Dan Coker looks back at a 2-1 win in 1966 and profiles a former Arsenal and West Ham forward from the same era...
Blast from the past
16th April 1966: The Spencer Davis Group were number one with ‘Somebody Help Me’, The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery was in UK cinemas and, two days later, The Sound of Music won Best Picture at the 38th Academy Awards. Meanwhile, West Ham United took on Arsenal at Upton Park in front of 26,023 – the Hammers had just been knocked out of the European Cup Winners’ Cup having lost 5-2 on aggregate to Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals.
Former Gunner Jim Standen was in goal for the Irons, while future Hammer John Radford was in the Arsenal starting line-up. It took the Hammers only 12 minutes to take the lead, Johnny ‘Budgie’ Byrne (pictured below) converting a penalty. The Gunners were level five minutes later though, courtesy of an equaliser from Tommy Baldwin. Born in Gateshead, Baldwin went on to play for Chelsea, Millwall, Manchester United, Seattle Sounders and Brentford – he sadly passed away last month, on 22nd January, at the age of 78.
The winning goal in this 2-1 victory came from winger Peter Brabrook five minutes before half time. Brabrook scored 12 goals in 50 games during this campaign, with this strike against Arsenal being his last goal of the season. Geoff Hurst would be the club’s top goalscorer in 1965/66, scoring 40 goals in 59 matches. Hurst was voted Hammer of the Year at the end of the 1965/66 season, with Martin Peters runner-up. Both would go on to have the summer of their lives as they both played key roles in England’s World Cup triumph.
Ron Greenwood’s Hammers went on to finish in 12th place in the 1965/66 Division One season while Billy Wright’s Arsenal ended up in 14th. Liverpool won the league title and Everton won the FA Cup.
West Ham United: Jim Standen, Dennis Burnett, Bobby Moore, Dave Bickles, John Charles, Peter Brabrook, Martin Peters, Ron Boyce, John Sissons, Geoff Hurst, Johnny Byrne.
Arsenal: Jim Furnell, David Court, Terry Neill, Ian Ure, Peter Storey, Alan Skirton, Frank McLintock, George Eastham, George Armstrong, John Radford, Tommy Baldwin.
Club Connections
Dinos Mavropanos and Lukasz Fabianski welcome their former club, while Declan Rice returns to his old side. A large group of players join the trio in having turned out for West Ham United and Arsenal:
Goalkeepers: Charles Ambler, Richard Wright, Manuel Almunia, Jim Standen.
Defenders: James Jackson, Matthew Upson, Nigel Winterburn, Carl Jenkinson, Steve Walford, Bob Stevenson.
Midfielders: Freddie Ljungberg, Jack Wilshere, Samir Nasri, Stewart Robson, Liam Brady, Yossi Benayoun, Archie Macauley, David Bentley, James Bigden, Roddy McEachrane, Alex Song, Henri Lansbury, Luis Boa Morte, Fred Kemp.
Strikers: Fergie Hunt, Harry Lewis, Bobby Gould, Jeremie Aliadiere, Dick Burgess, John Blackwood, Dr Jimmy Marshall, Kaba Diawara, Charlie Satterthwaite, Marouane Chamakh, Billy Linward, Lee Chapman, Tommy Lee, Ian Wright, Peter Kyle, John Hartson, Lucas Perez, Davor Suker, Stan Earle, John Radford.
Ron Greenwood was also assistant manager at Arsenal before becoming manager of West Ham.
Today’s focus though falls on a former Arsenal and West Ham forward. Born in Notting Hill on the 15th February 1934, Jimmy Bloomfield started his career at non-league Hayes before joining Second Division side Brentford in October 1952.
After Brentford were relegated in 1954, Bloomfield was snapped up by Arsenal for £8,000, becoming a first-team regular in the 1955/56 season. A powerful inside-forward with a high work rate and accurate passing, Bloomfield was part of Arsenal’s attack from 1955 to 1960 and was one of their few stars during a mediocre period for the club. Bloomfield played 227 times for Arsenal, scoring 56 goals (he is pictured above scoring against West Ham). However, with the arrival of George Eastham in 1960, Bloomfield lost his place in the team and was sold to Birmingham in November that year. He spent four seasons with the Blues, helping them to win the League Cup in 1963 before returning to Brentford.
Bloomfield signed for West Ham at the age of 31 in the early stages of the 1965/66 season, making his debut in a 3-0 defeat at Fulham on October 2nd 1965. His only goal for the Hammers came in a 3-3 home draw with Blackburn in the fourth round of the FA Cup on 12th February 1966, with the replay seeing the Irons trounced 4-1. Bloomfield also played in both legs of West Ham’s European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final against Borussia Dortmund in April 1966, with the Hammers losing 5-2 on aggregate. The second leg in Germany would prove to be Bloomfield’s final outing in the claret and blue. He made 14 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal and only ending up on the winning side twice.
Departing for Plymouth, Bloomfield enjoyed a later spell with Leyton Orient and, in 1969, he became Orient’s player-manager. He won the Third Division in his second full season before being appointed by newly-promoted Leicester City in 1971 as a replacement for fellow former Hammer Frank O’Farrell, who had just left the Foxes for the Old Trafford hot seat. Bloomfield kept the Foxes in the First Division for six years, reaching the FA Cup semi-finals in 1974 (losing to Liverpool after a replay). After his departure in 1977, Leicester went straight down the next season under another former Gunner, Frank McLintock.
Bloomfield returned to manage Leyton Orient again in 1977, with his second spell in charge including a run to the 1978 FA Cup semi-finals where they were defeated by his old club Arsenal. Bloomfield left in 1981, later becoming a coach at Luton, until his sudden death from cancer in Chingford, Essex on 3rd April 1983. He was 49.
Referee
Sunday’s referee will be Craig Pawson; 2023/24 is Pawson’s 12th as a Premier League referee. In 2014/15 he refereed West Ham’s 3-1 home win over Liverpool and sent off Adrian in our 0-0 draw at Southampton, a decision that was later overturned. His Hammers appointments in 2015/16 were both at the Boleyn Ground, for our 2-2 draw with Manchester City in January 2016 and the 3-3 draw with Arsenal three months later.
Pawson’s matches in charge of West Ham United in 2016/17 saw him send off Harry Arter as the Hammers defeated Bournemouth 1-0 in August 2016, while he also officiated in our 2-1 home win over Chelsea in the fourth round of the League Cup in two months later. He awarded Watford a penalty and sent off Michail Antonio as the Irons drew 1-1 at Watford in February 2017. He refereed our 3-2 home win against Liverpool in November 2021, our 1-1 home draw with Chelsea in February last year and our 5-1 home defeat to Newcastle two months later. His most recent Hammers game was our 4-3 defeat at Crystal Palace last April.
The VAR Official is John Brooks.
Possible line-ups
West Ham United will be without the injured Lucas Paqueta and Michail Antonio, but Alphonse Areola should be available. The Hammers have won just four of the past 35 home meetings with Arsenal in all competitions. The Hammers are aiming to do the league double over Arsenal for the first time since 2006/07. However, the Irons are still looking for their first victory in 2024 (drawing four and losing two) and could go winless in their first seven matches of a calendar year for the first time since 1997. David Moyes has recorded just two victories from his last 26 Premier League meetings with Arsenal, drawing eight and losing 16.
Arsenal quartet Jurrien Timber, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Thomas Partey and Fabio Vieira are out, but Bukayo Saka is available. Gabriel Jesus is a doubt, while Takehiro Tomiyasu may return from the Asian Cup.
Possible West Ham United XI: Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Phillips, Alvarez; Kudus, Soucek, Ward-Prowse; Bowen.
Possible Arsenal XI: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
Enjoy the game – Up The Hammers!