FIVE best ever West Ham games

West Ham and classic games go together like a biscuit and tea; The Irons aren’t short of a few nail biters and nerve janglers. All this in my lifetime and I’m only nineteen.

So to pick just five is a challenge in itself. So here are my top 5 West Ham classics, from the past to the present.

At five: Paolo’s finest hour. It was the 28^th of January 2001 when West Ham faced the daunting prospect of facing Manchester United in the FA cup at Old Trafford. No one gave the Hammers a prayer, but after withstanding great periods of pressure from the red devils the Hammers picked up the unlikeliest of victories.

Di Canio picked up Freddie Kanoute’s fine through ball, and with the Manchester United defence begging for offside the Italian carried the ball to the six yard line with Fabien Barthez standing with his arm held high looking like a man hailing a taxi as he appealed for the offside flag in vain. Not to be fazed by the Frenchman’s’ antics the talismanic striker tucked home the winner to send the travelling West Ham fans into raptures. The victory was even more incredible as the Hammers squad was decimated by injuries, suspensions and International call ups.

The pictures of Di Canio sliding on his knees in front of the travelling fans with his arms raised will be an image Hammers fans will never forget.

YouTube Highlights: [youtube Vwrhr4EFuuU]

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  At 4: Di Canio Strop: For me this is my first memory and will forever be etched in my mind. February 2000, the hammers were facing Bradford City at Upton Park, and it turned out to be a real classic. The game itself was a bit of a blur for me, but I remember the rollercoaster of emotions from disappointment to ecstasy the crowd that day felt. The Hammers found themselves 4-2 down with 25 minutes to go and looked down and out. This came after Shaka Hislop the West Ham goalkeeper went off early with a broken leg, and was replaced by young keeper Stephen Bywater; it was a debut to forget for the youngster as it seemed that everything struck at him went in. But the Irons continued to press, with Di Canio being continually fouled and denied two stonewall penalties which were both ignored by the referee. Frustrated with the referee he suddenly sat in the middle of pitch in a childlike strop in front of manager Harry Redknapp demanding to be substituted. Redknapp urged the Italian to continue playing and his chance from the spot finally came after Paul Kitson was bundled down in the box. The penalty award was followed by one of the strangest scenes I’ve ever witnessed at Upton Park. Young midfielder Frank Lampard picked up the ball to take the penalty when Di Canio stormed over and wrestled the ball out of his hands waggling his finger in Lampard’s face. After some considerable argy-bargee and Italian histrionics Lampard eventually stepped to one side allowing Di Canio to step forward to take the spot kick. Di Canio, who had missed against Villa the week before, stepped up and smashed the ball into the corner of the net. Game on I thought. At 3-4 Bradford who were struggling at the foot of the Premier league fell to pieces and the Hammers continued to push forward, and were rewarded when with 20 minutes remaining teenager Joe Cole went on a mazy run and smashed home to draw the scores level at 4-4. The comeback was complete when young midfielder Frank Lampard eventually got on the score sheet with six minutes remaining curling in superbly from just outside the box. A game that I will never forget and I’m sure the Hammers faithful will either. YouTube Highlights [youtube kZkg-LUKhpA]  

 

At 3: Harewood’s semi-final delight: This day in April 2006 wasn’t just for the West Ham faithful, but it was for West Ham sons, Johnny Lyall and Ron Greenwood. Before the game there was an outburst of” Johnny Lyalls’ Claret and Blue army” during a minutes silence for the man, a spine chilling moment for the lucky Hammers at the game. Pardew’s men didn’t have to easiest route to the Semi-final facing Norwich, Blackburn, Bolton and Manchester City. The Irons faced Middlesbrough at Villa park, the game ebbed and flowed, the red of Middlesbrough battered the Hammers early on as they raced out of the blocks, but the Hammers staved of the threat and were rewarded when Marlon Harewood latched onto Dean Ashton’s flick on to smash home past Brad Jones (on after an injury to ‘Boro keeper Mark Schwarzer) to give the Irons a one nil lead with 12 minutes remaining. The Hammers held on to set up a Cup final against Liverpool, a game that turned out to be a classic in itself. Which the Hammers went onto lose 3-1 on penalties after a 3-3 draw in Cardiff. West Ham lead 3 times after goals from Dean Ashton, Paul Konchesky and an own goal by Jaime Carragher only for a heart bursting strike from Steven Gerrard in the 90^th broke the hearts of the Hammers.   YouTube Highlights: [youtube OZ1jhJAXDFk]  

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At 2: A special night under the lights: Now a trip into my father’s memory bank and to a game described as one of the greatest nights under the lights at Upton Park. It was the 14^th of April 1976 when the Hammers entertained Eintracht Frankfurt who lead 2-1 from the first leg of the semi final of the European Cup Winners Cup. The atmosphere at the ground was deafening from the start, and despite first half dominance the Hammers struggled to unlock the door of the Frankfurt defence. The German side still lead at the break but with the away goal the home fans knew they were still in with a very good chance of progress to the final. John Lyalls words of wisdom at half time had the desired effect as just 4 minutes into the second half a Frank Lampard Senior cross was headed home by Trevor Brooking to send the home fans into frenzy. The Hammers defence were in inspired form and survived some nervy moments which included a goal line clearance from Keith Robson. But the Hammers turned the game around and led on aggregate for the first time when tricky Trevor Brooking produced a superb defence splitting ball to find Keith Robson in acres of space. Robson initially lost control of the ball, which led to groans from the Hammers faithful but they soon turned to a roar of joy when ‘Robbo’ produced a stunning bending effort into the top corner of the South Bank net from 25 yards leaving keeper Kunter helpless and the Hammers well on their way to victory. With 10 minutes remaining man of the match Brooking grabbed his second of the night picking up a through ball from Taylor to coolly slot home and send the Upton Park crowd in to delirium. With just 2 minutes remaining Frankfurt grabbed a late consolation but the Hammers held on to reach the final. Speaking after the game Keith Robson said “Our great crowd was worth a goal start to us and although we coped better with the really muddy conditions, the Germans just never let their heads drop and when they pulled it back to 3-1, we were just so elated to hear the final whistle before they could get another away goal. That was the greatest night of my career.” YouTube highlights: [youtube QgLvZb9o_LE]  

 

At number 1: Hammers’ rule the world: It was May 19^th 1965, West Ham were back at the twin towers of Wembley 12 months after the heart stopping 3-2 win over Preston in the FA cup final. The Hammers faced German outfit TSV Munich 1860, a team of real quality and flair. Ron Greenwood West Ham manager at the time said “The match exceeded my wildest hopes,” after the Hammers triumphed. The game was described as the greatest European game of them all, for its end to end pace and skill on show. Alan Sealey scored two goals in as many minutes to secure European victory for the Irons. Sealeys first came after spells of dominance from both sides with John Sissons missing from three yards early on and TSV Munich stopper Petar Radenković making a superb stop from Brian Dear, just one of several saves from the keeper in the first half. At the other end Hans Küppers narrowly missed for the Germans. Sealey’s goal came in the 70^th minute latched onto Ronnie Boyce’s defence splitting through ball to smash home from an unlikely angle. Just two minutes later the Hammers were in dream land as Sealey collect Bobby Moore’s cross to bundle home to secure victory for the Irons. It was the 2^ndtime Bobby Moore climbed the famous stairs of Wembley in 12 months to lift a trophy, little did he know a year later he was to climb to the royal box again to lift the World cup.

YouTube Highlights: [youtube d8kJF8K0HLY]

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