By Hugh Southon
I was absolutely thrilled to see that British Pathe had finally released a short video of the greatest game of football involving the Hammers I have ever seen. It really is my greatest Irons match memory!
The video cannot possibly convey the horrendous conditions of that day or the enormous upset created by the young Hammers of that time – a side that had emerged through youth and reserve team football by and large before going on to become the glory glory team of the mid sixties.
You can view that match against Manchester United again here https://www.claretandhugh.info/video-west-ham-v-man-utd-semi-final-1964/
It was raining torrents at Hillsborough as we arrived in Sheffield and persisted all afternoon to the point where I spent the next 10 days off work with flu
On the train home the communication chord was pulled no less than a dozen times to the point where I missed my connection home and spent the night on an Embankment seat waiting for the first train back to Kent.
But here I am still standing all these years later remembering the day as if it were yesterday and the events surrounding that 3-1 victory over an all star United was worth every second of what we had to suffer as spectators.
Sorry if all of that was a bit self indulgent but it was one of the greatest days on my life!
If Sunday’s game is half as good it will be a total classic.
I remember the game well , we travelled down in a rover 90 , it took hours to get there , lol.
All the pitches were like that Hugh if you remember , Upton park on the first day of the season saw the ground lush green 3 months later a baron waste land , its amazing the football we played in such conditions , the west ham way , ( you know that west ham myth that doesn’t exist ) couldn’t imagine today’s players playing on such surfaces , Ronny Boyce was a fantastic player but never given the credit he deserved , always remember the the goal at man city when he scored from outside the ground beating Corrigan , he always seemed to score crucial goals, class .
Let’s hope we do it again tomorrow ,
coyi,,,,,,,,,s
Rarely scored Ticker – so named because he made everything happen
. However, on this day ….:-)
Yes always the right occasion ,then the final ,