The forgotten final
Although the name West Ham United has yet to be engraved on the handsome, solid silver Football League Cup trophy during the tournament's rich 54-year history so far, the Hammers' overall record in the competition since its inception in 1960 compares favorably with all but all but a half dozen or so of their rivals.
Tonight's second leg marks the ninth time the Club have reached the semi-finals.
By the time West Ham reached their first final in 1966, they were already seasoned campaigners in the burgeoning competition, having made the semi-finals in 1964 when losing to Leicester City 6-3 on aggregate.
As winners of the FA Cup in 1964 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965, the Hammers were aiming to make it a hat-trick of major cup triumphs ahead of their two-legged final meeting with West Bromwich Albion in March, 1966 - the last to be staged on a home and away basis before the final was moved permanently to Wembley from 1967 onwards.
Victory over the Baggies carried the extra incentive of a passport to Europe via the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, a handy insurance should Hammers fail to retain the European Cup Winners' Cup.
So it was with great expectations that a crowd of 28,323 assembled at the Boleyn Ground to see the two teams line up for the first leg.
West Ham's out of form England international centre-forward Johnny Bryne had his name booed when it was announced in the line up before kick-off, but had it not been for his hotly-disputed last-minute goal Hammers would have been taking even less than their narrow 2-1 lead to the second leg at The Hawthorns.
Adamant that 'Budgie' had fouled their keeper Ray Porter when scoring, Albion had taken the lead early in the second half through Jeff Astle, who had recently returned from injury.
Bobby Moore's volleyed equaliser in the 72nd minute from near the touch-line was a true 'bolt from the blue' and was most likely meant as a cross rather than a shot.
Moore's fortuitous goal further contributed to the Albion manager Jimmy Hagan's sense of injustice at the result which nevertheless left Hammers boss Ron Greenwood with a first-leg advantage.
Byrne's winner came late enough to necessitate many a Fleet Street scribe tearing up his copy in order to rewrite the opening paragraphs for the following morning's newspaper reports.
No such problems would be encountered by the assembled press ranks for The Hawthorns return, however.
With the tie seemingly finely poised, West Ham switched Martin Peters from right-half to replace Jackie Burkett at left-back while Eddie Bovington moved into Peters' spot. Johnny Sissons' return in place of Brian Dear at outside-left completed the Irons changes from the first leg.
Albion, meanwhile, made just one change: Bobby Hope for Graham Lovett at No10.
Roared on by a 31,925 home crowd, with the exception of the 1,000 or so Hammers fans among them, Albion began in a hurry with centre-forward John Kaye quickly levelling the aggregate score at 2-2 with a half-volley and winger Tony Brown pouncing on a misplaced header by Byrne to lob the ball over a stranded Jim Standen to make it 2-0 after 17 minutes. Then Clive Clarke with a header and a 30-yarder from captain Graham Williams made it 4-0.
Two long-range efforts from Bryne which went over the bar and a Peter Brabrook header which struck a post were all Hammers had to show from a disastrous first half which had virtually decided the destination of the trophy in the Baggies' favour.
With the benefit of hindsight, it proved a mistake playing Peters at left-back, from where it was hoped his presence would give an extra dimension to his forwards by overlapping and ghosting in from deep positions.
But he was forced to stay in his own half to allow Moore to shackle Albion's deep-lying centre forward, John Kaye, who lured Moore into midfield.
Despite reversing the pair's roles in the second half, when the Hammers began to dominate, the switch was too little, too late, leaving just a Peters headed goal 15 minutes from time to reduce the final aggregate to 5-3 in Albion's favour.
With England winning the FIFA World Cup just a few weeks later, with Moore, Peters and Geoff Hurst to the fore, the memories of West Ham's League Cup final defeat were quickly forgotten.
In a strange twist of fate which football has a habit of throwing up, the Hammers and Albion were paired together in the following year's League Cup semi-finals and yes, lightning does strike twice!
The Eastenders again found themselves 4-0 down at The Hawthorns, this time in the first leg. The return was drawn 2-2 at the Boleyn Ground, so the Hammers missed out on contesting the first-ever final at Wembley in what would have been an all-London clash with Queens Park Rangers.