WEST HAM LEGENDS ROLLING BACK THE YEARS TO RELIVE THEIR FAVOURITE MEMORIES OF UPTON PARK AS THE HAMMERS PLAY FINAL GAME AT THEIR FAMOUS HOME AFTER 112 YEARS
Sir Trevor Brooking 1966-84 (647 apps, 102 goals)
“My best memory as a player at Upton Park would be the European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final in 1976. We played Eintracht Frankfurt. We beat them 3-1 having lost 2-1 out there in the first leg – Graham Paddon got a crucial away goal. Tommy Taylor kicked one off the line at home in the last minute – and at 3-2 we’d have been out. I scored twice (celebrating right) and I always remember that one, amazingly, was a header. That was a great night under the lights. Unfortunately we lost in the final to Anderlecht 4-2.” Frank Lampard Senior
1967-85 (660 apps, 22 goals)
“For me, the most memorable moment at Upton Park was my debut. It was in November 1967, I was 19, it was against Manchester City and I came in at right-back. I remember I got the bus to the ground. Ron Greenwood put me in because John Charles was out through injury. City were a really good side then – they had Franny Lee, Mike Summerbee, Mike Doyle – and I was up against a really good player in Tony Coleman. Plus I wasn’t in my usual position – I was normally a left-back. The crowd were good to me, they loved to see a local boy coming through and in those days there were a few of us – John was one as well, Brian Dear another. We lost 3-2 but I came off thinking I had done OK. It was a great
moment to play for your local side.”
Tony Gale, below 1984-94 (366 apps, 7 goals)
“It was the game against Ipswich in April 1986. We were going for the title. We went a goal down but we ended up winning 2-1. Alan Dickens equalised, then Ray Stewart put away one of his penalties. The crowd just erupted – they thought we were going to win the title. That was one of the best atmospheres I can remember – and again it was under the lights. Then we won at West Brom. So it went to the last week but Liverpool won it when Kenny Dalglish scored at Chelsea.”
Tony Cottee 1982-88/1994-96 (339 apps, 148 goals)
“As a player I would say the same game as Tony – that match against Ipswich, when the atmosphere was astonishing. But actually the game that really stands out from all of them for me was a game we lost – and I actually watched it as a fan! It was when West Ham played against Dinamo Tblisi, below, in the European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final in 1981. We had won the FA Cup the previous season and we had a very good side – we were expecting to beat them. It was a full house. But they came and beat us 4-1 and simply played us off the park. It was one of the best performances I had ever seen from a team there – and still is. At the end the whole of Upton Park simply stood there and applauded them off the field. They scored some sensational goals – I remember Aleksandr Chivadze scoring from 30 yards. As a team they were superb and some of the football they played, sublime. Funnily enough we actually won the second leg out there 1-0. At the end of that season I signed for West Ham.”