May 10, 1980
FA Cup Final
Wembley Stadium,
West Ham Utd 1 Arsenal 0
FA Cup Final
Wembley Stadium,
West Ham Utd 1 Arsenal 0
This
time it was second division Hammers' turn to be underdogs
against Terry Neill's FA Cup holders, making their record third
successive final appearance.
This may not have been the greatest spectacle nut no one from the East End of London was complaining as the sun shone on the twin towers and the men in all white.
West Ham's winner came from the unlikely source of Trevor Brooking's forehead with just 13 minutes on the clock.
In this, the 99th final, Alan Devonshire climaxed his pacy run down the left-flank with a deep, low cross which was met initially by David Cross. The ball dropped to Stuart Pearson who mis-hit his shot across goal. Brooking reacted quickest, falling back and stopping to guide a rare header past 'keeper Pat Jennings from eight yards. It was poetic justice for the elegant Brooking, who had been taunted before the game by Brian Clough who claimed that Brooking 'floats like a butterfly - and stings like one!'
With a goal in the bag, Hammers fought like lions, while John Lyall's tactical masterstroke in playing Cross as a lone striker, with Pearson in a slightly withdrawn midfield role, simply left the clueless Gunners in disarray.
And but for the booked Willie Young's cynical, late trip on the breaking Paul Allen - at 17 years, 256 days the youngest player ever to appear in an FA Cup final - West Ham would surely have extended their winning margin.
Yet while Hammers headed back to the East End with the Cup for the second time in five years, Arsenal's agony was set to be compounded by a Cup Winners' Cup final defeat four days later.
WHU: Parkes, Stewart, Lampard, Bonds, Martin, Devonshire, Allen, Pearson, Cross, Brooking, Pike. Unused: Brush.
'We rolled our sleeves up and this win will give us heart,' bubbled Harry Redknapp as his new £7 million strikeforce helped secure Hammers' first win in nine games. But, more importantly, this was the match that was to prove the turning point of a turbulent decade for cash-strapped West Ham.
Sheringham's early, bizarre, long-range header had looked all set to mark another night of Upton Park woe, before Julian Dicks nodded Hammers level and then Kitson turned the game upside down.
Anderton hit back, though, and when Howells wiped out Hartson's thumping header, it looked like the same old story. But having made it 3-3, Spurs' hero turned villain by dragging down Hartson, leaving Dicks to rifle home a no-nonsense spot-kick winner with 19 minutes left.
After starting the decade in 10th place in division two, this win was surely the catalyst for Premiership safety, subsequent Sky TV jackpots, the influx of more quality signings and two high-flying Premiership finishes that ultimately led to a return to European football.
WHU: Miklosko, Breacker, Dicks, Potts, Ferdinand, Bowen, Moncur, Hughes, Bishop, Hartson, Kitson (Dowie 78). Unused: Sealey, Porfirio, Rowland, Lampard.
This may not have been the greatest spectacle nut no one from the East End of London was complaining as the sun shone on the twin towers and the men in all white.
West Ham's winner came from the unlikely source of Trevor Brooking's forehead with just 13 minutes on the clock.
In this, the 99th final, Alan Devonshire climaxed his pacy run down the left-flank with a deep, low cross which was met initially by David Cross. The ball dropped to Stuart Pearson who mis-hit his shot across goal. Brooking reacted quickest, falling back and stopping to guide a rare header past 'keeper Pat Jennings from eight yards. It was poetic justice for the elegant Brooking, who had been taunted before the game by Brian Clough who claimed that Brooking 'floats like a butterfly - and stings like one!'
With a goal in the bag, Hammers fought like lions, while John Lyall's tactical masterstroke in playing Cross as a lone striker, with Pearson in a slightly withdrawn midfield role, simply left the clueless Gunners in disarray.
And but for the booked Willie Young's cynical, late trip on the breaking Paul Allen - at 17 years, 256 days the youngest player ever to appear in an FA Cup final - West Ham would surely have extended their winning margin.
Yet while Hammers headed back to the East End with the Cup for the second time in five years, Arsenal's agony was set to be compounded by a Cup Winners' Cup final defeat four days later.
WHU: Parkes, Stewart, Lampard, Bonds, Martin, Devonshire, Allen, Pearson, Cross, Brooking, Pike. Unused: Brush.
February 24, 1997
FA Carling Premiership
Boleyn Ground
West Ham Utd 4 Tottenham Hotspur 3
'We rolled our sleeves up and this win will give us heart,' bubbled Harry Redknapp as his new £7 million strikeforce helped secure Hammers' first win in nine games. But, more importantly, this was the match that was to prove the turning point of a turbulent decade for cash-strapped West Ham.
Sheringham's early, bizarre, long-range header had looked all set to mark another night of Upton Park woe, before Julian Dicks nodded Hammers level and then Kitson turned the game upside down.
Anderton hit back, though, and when Howells wiped out Hartson's thumping header, it looked like the same old story. But having made it 3-3, Spurs' hero turned villain by dragging down Hartson, leaving Dicks to rifle home a no-nonsense spot-kick winner with 19 minutes left.
After starting the decade in 10th place in division two, this win was surely the catalyst for Premiership safety, subsequent Sky TV jackpots, the influx of more quality signings and two high-flying Premiership finishes that ultimately led to a return to European football.
WHU: Miklosko, Breacker, Dicks, Potts, Ferdinand, Bowen, Moncur, Hughes, Bishop, Hartson, Kitson (Dowie 78). Unused: Sealey, Porfirio, Rowland, Lampard.