It was the filthiest weather I can ever remember at a football match.
Hillsborough March 14, 1964 and an FA Cup semi final between an all star Manchester United team and a Hammers X1 who had risen together out of the reserves.
We were massive underdogs but with torrential rain pouring down from start to finish and the pitch a total quagmire it was to become the greatest game of Hammers football I have ever seen.
Even now -55 years on – I remember that rain and that game as though it were yesterday not least because Hammers fans must have pulled the communication cord at least a dozen times on the way back to London ensuring I missed my last train to Kent and slept on the Embankment before catching the first train home the next morning!
The Hammers were irresistible on that afternoon running out 3-1 winners with two goals from Ronnie ‘Ticker ‘ Boyce and Geoff Hurst with Dennis Law responding for United.
Although we went on to win the final against Preston this was the game that mattered and the one that has lived in so many memories for so many years.
Let us know of your most memorable game with an accompanying video if possible.
COYI
Hugh, you’re so right. Without any question this was my favorite Hammers game ever. I was soaked. The rain was constant and the pitch was a mud bowl. Who can ever forget “Puffer” charging through the mud like a raging bull. This against a Man U side with the “Holy Trinity” of Law, Best and Charlton. I never got a ticket for the final, but who cares. I was at Hillsborough that special day. That game kicked us on to the FA Cup, Cup Winners Cup and World Cup in three successive years. Great times to be a Hammer.