European Cup Winners' Cup final hero Alan Sealey features at No38 in our #50GreatestHammers countdown, in association with Official Sleeve Partner Basset & Gold.
The man whose two goals saw off TSV 1860 Munich at Wembley in 1965 see him rightly ranked in the top 50 of the near-1,000 players to have pulled on a West Ham United shirt since the Club was formed as Thames Ironworks FC in 1895.
You will have the chance to rank the top ten soon, so keep an eye on whufc.com and our official social channels for details of how you can cast your vote!
Alan Sealey
Years with West Ham United: 1961-67
Appearances: 128
Goals: 26
Alan Sealey scored two of the most important and most historic goals in West Ham United’s history.
The winger was the man whose brace at Wembley secured the European Cup Winners’ Cup with a 2-0 win over West German side TSV 1860 Munich in May 1965.
Sealey’s sharp reactions and even sharper finishing were enough to win the Hammers the first and, so far, only continental title.
Born in Hampton in February 1942, Sealey started his senior career with Orient before making the short switch to the Boleyn Ground in 1961.
The presence of Peter Brabrook restricted Sealey’s first-team opportunities but when they came around, he took them.
Having broken into the side in April 1961, the outside right scored eight goals in his first 19 games in the First Division, helping the Hammers challenge at the top of the table in the first half of the 1961/62 season.
The goals continued to flow steadily, if not prolifically, over the next two seasons, before Sealey was given the chance to shine in the 1964/65 European Cup Winners’ Cup run.
With Brabrook injured, the Londoner started seven of West Ham’s nine ties, scoring in the second-round win over Spartak Prague at the Boleyn Ground in November 1965 and, of course, twice in three second-half minutes in that famous Wembley win.
The first saw him collect a pass from Ronnie Boyce and slam the ball into the top corner, before doubling his tally with a close-range finish after Martin Peters had helped on Bobby Moore’s cross.
Now immortalised with a plaque at London Stadium, Sealey sadly passed away in 1996, aged just 53.
His contribution to the history of West Ham United will never be forgotten, and rightly so.