After writing a number of nostalgia articles on West Ham players and staff from the 1960’s a common theme struck me. Many of them looked back at the 1964 FA Cup semi final win against Manchester United as one of their greatest days. In a decade where the club won the FA Cup and the ECWC Cup, this game was right up there with the best memories. The Hammers had arrived at Hillsborough for this special occasion by beating Charlton, Orient, Swindon and Burnley in the previous rounds. Ron Greenwood kept the same eleven players for every game in the Cup winning run; Standen, Burkett, Bond, Bovington, Brown, Moore, Brabrook, Boyce, Byrne, Hurst and Sissons. The week before the Hillsborough semi final, Manchester United had beaten West Ham 2-0 at Upton Park in the league. They could boast three of the biggest names in World football at the time; George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law and Manchester United manager Matt Busby had rested all three in the league game! All three would return for the already star studded United team a week later in Sheffield.
West Ham were very much the underdogs. Whilst Moore was establishing himself as an England International, Hurst was not yet a household name and Peters was being overlooked in the Cup side for Eddie Bovington. The Hammers were already renown for their style of play but the quagmire pitch for the semi final had most neutrals thinking they would be a soft touch. However, earlier that year John Lyall’s career had been cut short by injury and Ron Greenwood had used this as a motivational tool for the players during the Cup run. Ron not only reminded the players on how lucky they were compared to John Lyall, but also that reaching a Wembley Cup Final would ensure John a bumper testimonial match at the end of the season. Just for further motivation West Ham had recently been beaten by Leicester in the League Cup semi final and the players were determined to make amends.
The instructions were simple. Deny Manchester United the time and space they needed to dictate the pattern of the game. Albert Walker, ex player and one of the West Ham trainers that day had seen some of the United players chatting and laughing with some of the Dagenham Girl Piper band beauties that were playing before the game. However, when he walked into the West Ham changing room soon after and saw the atmosphere in there he just knew West Ham were going to win that day. A full house of 65,000 watched the two teams battle the heavy conditions and despite George Best rattling the West Ham cross bar in the ninth minute, West Ham had carved out enough opportunities in the first half themselves to suggest they were right in the match and an upset could be on the cards. After the interval Ronnie Boyce, who only ever seemed to score important goals, chipped United keeper David Gaskell to put the underdogs in front after 55 minutes. Man Utd pushed forward looking for the equalizer but again Boyce scored from a John Sissons cross just seven minutes later. Soon after, there was a real scare when Denis Law collided into Hammers keeper Jim Standen. These were back in the days before substitutes were allowed and if your goalkeeper was injured then an outfield player would have to take his place and you would also play the rest of the game a man down. After several minutes of medical attention, Standen resumed his place between the sticks but Law was soon to take full advantage of the groggy keeper to make the score 2-1. United poured forward for an equaliser but again a sublime counter attack with a ball from Moore to Hurst saw the striker put the game beyond doubt. The Hammers had cemented their place in the Cup Final and would now be the favourites against second division Preston.
In a sign of the times, Ron Greenwood had booked a dining carriage to celebrate on the train ride back home to London. Before they knew it the carriage was full of jubilant West Ham fans! No security guards back then, and truth be known none needed. The Hammers had reached the FA Cup final and in a few short weeks the whole of the East End would be celebrating. In truth, West Ham never reached the same heights in the Final itself, but were still good enough to beat Preston 3-2. John Lyall got the testimonial match as promised, against an All Star eleven that included Terry Venables and Bobby Tambling. The West Ham eleven won 5-0 in front of a bumper 18,800 crowd which netted him 3797 pounds. He of course went on to make a much bigger impact at Upton Park than anyone could have imagined that day at Hillsborough.