Concluding our season-long series celebrating West Ham United's 1975 FA Cup triumph, we catch-up with SIR TREVOR BROOKING, who lifted the trophy for the first time 50 years ago...
It is 2 May 2025 – we are just one day shy of the 50th anniversary of our famous FA Cup final victory over Fulham.
In tandem with the Club’s official charity – West Ham United Foundation – the Any Old Irons Over-65s group are about to spend a fabulous Friday afternoon celebrating their tenth birthday in the company of Sir Trevor Brooking and a host of ex-Hammers stars.
Fittingly, the venue is Barking’s Loxford Social Club, just a Mervyn Day drop-kick from where the ever-popular, record-breaking five-time Hammer of the Year was born and raised.
Secretly holed up in the members’ snooker room, ahead of his surprise appearance, Sir Trevor does not baulk when it comes to identifying the reasons behind the first of his two FA Cup triumphs.
“The big thing about 1974/75 was the transition both on and off the field,” he observes without hesitation. “With Ron Greenwood moving ‘upstairs’ at Upton Park, John Lyall took charge of the first-team and quickly brought in three relatively unknown players, who each had their own individual styles.
“Coming from Watford, Billy Jennings may only have stood 5’9 but he was a very good header of the ball, while Keith Robson – or ‘Mad Robbo’ as we called him – had a great left foot. Signed from Newcastle United, Robbo could also kick opponents when needed and, yes, he could have his odd mad moment, too!
“Then, of course, there was Alan Taylor, who arrived from Rochdale and got himself on a magical run, scoring twice in each of the quarter-final, semi-final and final itself. ‘Sparrow’ had so much pace that he surprised every defender who came up against him.”
Back in the mid-Sixties, Sir Trevor had finally come onto the Club’s radar himself, when Greenwood spotted him playing for Ilford Boys against their Oxford counterparts.
Accompanying Wally St. Pier to the English Schools Trophy tie, the Hammers manager had tellingly asked his Chief Scout: ‘Why haven’t we seen Ilford’s No4 before?’
The rest, as they say, is history and one month into the 1967/68 campaign, Brooking – who would go on to make the No10 jersey his own – stepped-out for the first of his 643 senior appearances at Burnley, where FIFA World Cup winners Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters aptly all scored in a 3-3 draw.
Certainly, Sir Trevor had arrived at the Club during a golden era that saw skipper Moore ascend the 39 steps to Wembley’s Royal Box to collect the FA Cup (1964), European Cup Winners’ Cup (1965) and Jules Rimet Trophy (1966) in successive years.
“As younger players, we all learned from Bobby, Geoff and Martin and they had a massive influence, while Ron inspired us to always pass our way around the pitch.
“Sadly, the directors didn’t seem to have the money to make the bigger signings that would’ve complemented our squad. We didn’t generally do that well in the League because we never had any real depth during the early-Seventies and, realistically, a cup run was our best chance of success.
“When I’d first signed for the Club in 1965, John was working in the offices at the Boleyn Ground after retiring through injury. Getting involved on the coaching side, too, he eventually became Ron’s assistant,” continues the 76-year-old recalling how a new managerial broom swept the Hammers towards that 1975 Wembley appearance. “Upon being appointed First-Team Manager, he knew what needed to change and – now that Ron had become General Manager – John wasn’t afraid to make his own decisions.
“We’d struggled to find the net during 1973/74 and, after narrowly avoiding relegation, didn’t start the following season too well, either.”
Indeed, West Ham had won just one of their opening eight fixtures of 1974/75 before the hitherto anonymous Jennings, Robson and Taylor popped up in the East End.
“Those three were the reason why we kicked on and climbed the table, while getting ourselves onto that FA Cup run, too. Defenders didn’t really know who they were and we were able to take advantage. We started scoring again.
“As an attacking midfielder, I’d felt a weight on my shoulders to get the goals so was relieved to see them come in and give the team different options going forward.”
But the Hammers’ mid-Seventies revival was not purely down to that newly-arrived attacking trident.
Certainly, another key factor in the Hammers' FA Cup success was the relationship that the 47-times capped England midfielder enjoyed with captain Billy Bonds across almost 550 games and 17 years together.
“Bonzo and myself had both made our debuts in August 1967,” he continues. “Having started out as a right-back, he then moved into midfield, where I was very pleased to have him alongside me. As the more attacking player, I’d be the one getting kicked up into the air but Bill would come across nodding: ‘Don’t worry, I’ll sort him out. Just give me a few minutes!’
“Roommates, Bill and myself were different characters, who respected each other’s strengths. The Bonzo that everyone saw on the pitch, however, was totally different from the person off it. Bill would give absolutely everything and more for 90 minutes but once the final whistle blew he’d be straight into the dressing room. We’d still be taking our boots off while he’d be heading home through the Blackwell Tunnel, leaving us to do all the post-match interviews!”
Having risen to fifth by Christmas, the Hammers then kicked-off their 1974/75 FA Cup campaign with a third-round win at Southampton (2-1) before disappointingly drawing with Swindon Town (1-1) at a boggy Boleyn Ground.
That meant a fraught, fourth-round replay at the County Ground and, having fallen to Hull City (0-1), Huddersfield Town (2-4) and Hereford United (1-2) in recent seasons, many observers were predicting another embarrassing exit.
“We never talk about Hereford,” chuckles Sir Trevor rolling his eyes towards the ceiling. “When it came to Swindon, though, I always felt we’d win because we were now capable of scoring.”
While the third-tier Robins flew into an interval lead, Brooking equalised before Pat Holland secured the 2-1 victory that set up a fifth-round win over Queens Park Rangers (2-1) at the Boleyn Ground.
“Once we’d got drawn at Highbury in the quarter-finals, though, everyone ruled us out of progressing any further,” he says. “But on the day we played very well against a very good team containing the likes of Alan Ball. Making his first-ever FA Cup start for us, Sparrow couldn’t have had a better afternoon at Arsenal (2-0), where he scored both of our goals. Their defenders hadn’t heard of him and they’d already lost two yards by the time they’d realised that he’d got away from them.
“In the semi-final, Ipswich Town were a very good side, too, but fortunately we dug deep and held our own against the cup favourites at Villa Park (0-0) before beating them in the replay at Stamford Bridge (2-1), where Sparrow again netted twice.”
Sir Trevor was now all-set for Wembley’s iconic Twin Towers and the first of his two FA Cup finals, albeit a twist of fate determined that he would be facing an iconic former team-mate, who had moved to second-tier Fulham just a year or so, earlier.
“There was lots of nostalgia around Bobby Moore and anyone who wasn’t a West Ham fan wanted him to win the FA Cup in what was almost certainly going to be his last-ever final,” contends Brooking, who had played over 200 matches alongside his one-time captain. “It was weird to think that we were coming up against Mooro who’d achieved so much at West Ham United.
“Wembley can be pretty nerve-wracking if you’re not prepared for it but fortunately I’d already played there three times for England and knew what to expect. As senior players, Bonzo (aged 28), Frank Lampard (26) and myself (26) also had to make sure that the younger lads didn’t get overawed.
“We needed to ignore all the attention around Bobby and – given we now had pace and could score goals – concentrate on our own strengths. We sat down and said: ‘Let’s make sure that people see we’re a team that can still play a good game of football without Bobby Moore.’
“Nobody thought we’d lose provided we did our jobs properly and performed – although Fulham were having their best year for some time, equally we were a good side who’d done well to reach the final, too.”
Alongside Bonds and Lampard, Brooking remains only one of three Hammers heroes to have lifted the famous old trophy twice having, of course, also etched his name into eternal East End folklore, when unforgettably heading home the decider against top-flight Arsenal (1-0) in 1980.
“Five years later, we were the underdogs but we still felt we could upset the applecart and, no doubt, Fulham would’ve been thinking the same in 1975. It turned out to be a very warm day and the heat became a challenge but – as I’ve said – John had brought in players who could get goals and, yet again, Sparrow got another double to give us our 2-0 win.
“Looking back, the occasion goes very quickly but the welcome home the following morning was a sight that I’ll never forget. With thousands of people pouring out onto the streets of the East End, the parade was fantastic and, at one point, we even passed a hospital, where they’d wheeled out the patients in their beds!
“It was such an exciting period for the Club,” concludes Sir Trevor before heading off to receive a richly-deserved, rapturous reception from those adoring Any Old Irons. “Cup finals don’t come along that often so our 1975 victory was a truly great occasion for our supporters.”
