West Ham 1-0 Everton, 28th August 1971
28th August 1971: West Ham met Everton at the Boleyn Ground, Diana Ross was number one with ‘I’m Still Waiting’ and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was in UK cinemas.
Clyde Best (pictured below) scored the only goal of the game as the Hammers recorded their first win of the 1971/72 season at the fifth time of asking in front of 26,878. Best would end the campaign as the Irons’ top goalscorer with 23 goals from 56 appearances.
Ron Greenwood’s Hammers went on to finish the 1971/72 season in 14th place, while Harry Catterick’s Everton ended up 15th. Trevor Brooking was voted Hammer of the Year for the first time with Bobby Ferguson runner-up. Derby won the First Division title and Leeds won the FA Cup.
West Ham United: Bobby Ferguson, John McDowell, Tommy Taylor, Bobby Moore, Frank Lampard, Johnny Ayris, Billy Bonds, Trevor Brooking, Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson, Clyde Best, Geoff Hurst.
Everton: Gordon West, Keith Newton, Mick Lyons, John Hurst, Peter Scott, Howard Kendall, Alan Ball, Colin Harvey, Johnny Morrissey, David Johnson, Jimmy Husband.
Happy 58th Birthday Paul Allen
Paul Allen was born in Aveley on 28th August 1962 and made his debut for West Ham 28 days after his 17th birthday, on 25th September 1979, in a 1-1 home League Cup third round draw with Southend. He made his first league start four days later in a 2-1 home win over Burnley in the Second Division and scored his first goal the following month in a 2-1 home defeat to Luton before notching another in a 2-0 January home win over Preston. He played in every round of the 1980 FA Cup-winning campaign, coming on as sub to score in the 2-0 fifth round home victory over Swansea. At 17 years and 256 days old, Allen’s appearance for the Hammers against Arsenal made him the youngest player to appear in an FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. The teenager was clean through on Pat Jennings’ goal in the closing stages when he was cynically brought down by Arsenal’s Willie Young.
Allen had made 46 appearances in all competitions in 1979/80 but found minutes hard to come by in the 1980/81 promotion-winning campaign, making only one league start. He scored from the bench in the 2-1 home win over Orient on 27th December 1980 and did play in the Charity Shield defeat to Liverpool as well as in two European Cup Winners’ Cup matches and the first leg of the League Cup semi-final against Coventry. He regained his place in 1981/82 as the Hammers made their top-flight return although he was sent off in the 1-0 League Cup third round replay defeat to West Brom at the Boleyn Ground. Allen scored two goals in the League Cup in 1982/83, the first in the 3-0 home win over Notts County in a fourth-round replay and the second in the 2-1 quarter-final defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.
The midfielder enjoyed a more profitable season in front of goal in 1984/85, scoring his first league goal in nearly four years to earn a point in a 1-1 draw at Newcastle in September 1984. He also scored in the 4-2 win at Stoke the following month and in a 1-1 home draw with Newcastle in February 1985. He scored two FA Cup goals in the space of three days in March 1985, the first in a 5-1 fifth-round replay win over Wimbledon and the second in the 4-2 quarter-final defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford. Allen was voted Hammer of the Year for 1984/85 but, after 197 appearances and 11 goals in the claret and blue, he left the club in the summer to sign for Tottenham in a £400,000 deal. Four of those 11 goals can be viewed in my video below.
After eight years at White Hart Lane, Allen moved to Southampton for £550,000 in September 1993. He played 33 Premier League games for the Saints in 1993/94, scoring once, but played just 10 league games without scoring in 1994/95, spending two periods out on loan with Luton and Stoke. After one goal in 49 appearances with Southampton, the England Under-21 international then signed permanently for Swindon before spells with Bristol City and Millwall. Allen, 58 today, retired in 1998 and has since worked for the PFA.