On this day - 8 June

Classic match

West Ham United 1-0 Blackburn Rovers
Football League War Cup final
Saturday 8 June 1940, Wembley Stadium, London

West Ham United won their first Wembley final on this day in 1940, edging out Blackburn Rovers 1-0 to lift the inaugural Football League War Cup.

Sam Small was the hero of the day, following up after Alec George Foreman's shot had been parried by Blackburn goalkeeper James Barron to score the only goal of the game on 35 minutes.

A crowd of 42,300 braved the war-time bombing of London to attend the final at Wembley Stadium, but they were not rewarded with a classic match. West Ham began the game as favourites and they held the upper hand for much of what was described by The Times as a 'grim' game. When West Ham did get things right, they troubled Rovers, with Foreman, Len Goulden, Stanley Foxall and Archie Macaulay all heavily involved.

The best move of the match culminated in Small's all-important goal. Foxall and Goulden combined to find Foreman, whose shot looked certain to find the net until Barron flung out a hand to make the save. However, the Blackburn stopper was unable to recover quickly enough to prevent winger Small finishing into the net.

Both teams came close in the second half, but West Ham goalkeeper Herman Conway and his defenders were largely untroubled by their opponents and the Londoners held on to win.

The trophy was presented to the winning team by A.V.Alexander, First Lord of the Admiralty, while the crowd was made up in part by servicemen. Following the final, a number of players from both sides immediately returned to their service units in the various Armed Forces.