He was without doubt one of the most exciting players ever to sign for West Ham United FC when he joined for a record £35,000 from Chelsea. His quick and mazy runs on the right flank thrilled the Upton Park crowds of the sixties.
He scored some thrilling goals but he was an unselfish architect of many others, his deadly and accurate crosses were appreciatively accepted by strikers who were grateful to get on the end of them and turn them into goals - the most famous and most crucial of his crosses being made in the dying minutes of the 1964 FA Cup final, which was met by the head of teammate Ronnie Boyce and proved to be the goal that won West Ham its first major trophy.Though he was an unsung hero at times, he is still fondly remembered by many West Ham fans who were privileged to see him play, some of whom who have stated that he was their favourite player at the time - and with a side overloaded with legends like Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters and Johnny Byrne, that is saying something!
In later years, long after he had retired from playing he still continued to be a great servant to the club in his role as a coach and as a scout and was loved and respected by all that had the privilege of meeting him. Today we pay tribute to the legend that is Peter Brabrook, who sadly passed away last Saturday…
From Genesis to Stamford Bridge
Peter Brabrook was born in Greenwich, South East London on 8 November 1937. He spent his early years in the East End of London playing for several local youth clubs before joining non-leaguers Ford United (now known as Redbridge FC).
Brabrook was an outstanding football prospect whose talent was noted by scouts from several league clubs. Despite learning his footballing trade in the East End of London, it was Chelsea that recruited him from under the noses of the Hammers, when their legendary scout Jimmy Thompson persuaded the then 15-year-old to join the Stamford Bridge club.
Brabrook signed on as an apprentice in 1953. Within a few years, he would be capped at England Youth level and would sign professional forms with the Blues.
It was an exciting time for the Stamford Bridge club. After years of mediocrity the club had appointed a new forward thinking manager - former Arsenal legend Ted Drake. With five England caps, two league titles and a FA Cup winner’s medal to his name, Drake was keen to emulate his success from his playing days in his new role as manager.
Unlike previous managers who wore suits, gave instructions during half time talks and were generally mild mannered, Ted Drake had a more ‘hands on’ approach and was often in the thick of the action - a hard taskmaster and motivator on the training ground and a barker on the touchline during matches.
More importantly he begun to revamp the scouting system and the youth team set up - the former of which unearthed some bargain players from the lower leagues and the latter of which helped produced and develop a crop of talented youngsters.
In the space of three years Ted Drake had led Chelsea to their first ever league title in 1955, his shrewd signings from the lower leagues paying dividends. At the time many believe this was the start of an exciting era for the club. Indeed the future of Chelsea FC looked very rosy as the youth team that Drake had helped setup had churned out a clutch of promising young players who are knocking on the first team door.
These talented blue lions were dubbed ‘Drake's Ducklings’ (in response to Manchester United’s successful youth players who were dubbed the ‘Busby Babes’). The first of the ‘ducklings’ who had made the great leap into the first team was Peter Brabrook,
Drake blooding his young forward, still only 17 years of age, by selecting him on three occasions during that memorable title run to fill in for the injured No. 10 Seamus O’Connell. By the following year, Brabrook became a regular in the Chelsea senior side, when Drake converted him from a forward to a winger to replace the injured (former Hammer) Eric ‘Rabbit’ Parsons.
He scored his first ever league goal in his first appearance of his second season against Blackpool away - and never looked back.
Over the following seasons the pacey and dynamic Brabrook terrified opposing defenders with his deadly wing play, as other ‘ducklings’ also begun to creep into the first team - including Jimmy Greaves, Bobby Tambling, Terry Venables, and Barry Bridges who were all, like Brabrook, future England internationals discovered by Jimmy Thompson and were a few years younger than him.
Of the new ducklings that emerged to play for the first team, Jimmy Greaves was the most impressive of them all. The East End born goal machine was another one that escaped West Ham’s radar, to sign for the Blues. In Greaves’s first season for the club he finished as Chelsea’s top scorer with 22 goals in 37 appearances.
Another Blues youngster feared by opposing defenders, the deadly Greaves was firing in goals from all angles but it was Brabrook who had been supplying his bullets as he formed a good understanding with his fellow young team mate – the winger’s crosses and passes, being gratefully accepted as assists to goals scored by Greaves and his fellow strikers.
Chelsea Lions to the Three Lions
Not surprisingly, Brabrook’s talent soon begun to attract the attention of the national team selectors who included him in England’s 1958 World Cup squad in Sweden. He was one of five uncapped players and the youngest squad member.
England drew all three of their group matches with Brabrook not playing in any of those games. Eventual tournament winners Brazil won the group to progress into the quarter-finals. The second placed team would also be joining them.
However both England and the Soviet Union were level on points and on goal average and thus both sides finished joint second - triggering a play off game to decide who would book their place in the next round.
Having already fought an entertaining 2-2 draw with the USSR in the earlier round (a game in which the Three Lions were given a scare but fought back gallantly after being two-nil down), the England select committee decided to make some changes to inject creativity into the side to combat the talented Soviets.
Three new players were brought into the starting eleven including two debutants - one of whom was Peter Brabrook. It was a risky gameplan that almost paid off. Both England and the Soviet Union fought another thrilling match though this time there were a lack of goals for most of the game.
Brabrook impressed in his international debut in such a crucial game. His appearance for his country also marked the first time a Chelsea player from the youth team being capped at full international level for England. The match eventually ended in a narrow 1-0 defeat for the Three Lions and England were sent packing from Sweden. Brabrook went on to make two further England appearances.
The twilight years at Chelsea
Meanwhile, back on the home front at club level, in spite of the presence of a clutch of new talented youngsters in the side and the club’s brand of attacking football led by Brabrook and Greaves which excited football fans up and down the country, the next seven years saw Chelsea FC surprisingly underachieving with a series of disappointing mid-table finishes and even the odd relegation battle as the title winning side of 1955 begun to break up.
The west London side might have been scoring a lot of goals, but they also appeared to be leaking in a lot too!
The final nail in the coffin of Chelsea FC in general and Ted Drake in particular occurred in June 1961, when the club made the controversial decision to sell Jimmy Greaves to AC Milan for £80,000 - a huge sum in those days.
Greaves had finished the previous season with an incredible 41 goals in 40 league games and was undoubtedly one of Chelsea’s key players, but the board of directors needed money and found the money offered by the Italian giants very tempting.
After the sale of Greaves, Chelsea then went into freefall and spent most of the season being rooted at the foot of the table. Though Brabrook was playing well, there was no one of quality to tuck away the countless chances he had created. Greaves meanwhile, who had never been comfortable with the idea of leaving London, let alone the country, had become unsettled in Italy and put in a transfer request.
Realising their grave error in judgement, the Blues attempted to resign their former striker in a bid to stop themselves falling into the second division, but Greaves who had always been frustrated with his former club’s lack of ambition in securing trophies opted to join London rivals Tottenham Hotspur who had also bid for his services.
With their attempt to re-sign their former striker now dashed, the rot continued for Chelsea FC as they tried frantically to escape the relegation zone. As the last throw of the dice, the Chelsea board of directors eventually sacked Ted Drake and replaced him with a younger man, their player coach Tommy Docherty but his appointment came a little too late as he was unable to keep the Stamford Bridge club in the top flight.
Peter Brabrook would now be starting his next season in the second division - or so he thought…
During the summer period, Tommy Docherty set plans into motion to get Chelsea promoted back into the First Division at the first attempt. He made radical changes to the squad by selling some of the senior players. Several of the younger players such as Terry Venables, Barry Bridges and Bobby Tambling (all 21 years of age or under) were retained to form the backbone of a new and exciting Chelsea side.
To the shock of the Blues faithful, Peter Brabrook, a fans'-favourite aged 25 and seemingly at the peak of his career, was deemed surplus to Docherty’s plans and was put up for sale. This alerted the attention of top flight clubs and there was no shortage of suitors for Brabrook, who were all keen to add an England international to their ranks.
Merseyside giants Everton FC were the first to make a bid for the winger but Brabrook wasn’t keen on leaving the capital. This gave West Ham the advantage and Brabrook signed for the Hammers for a princely sum of £35,000 - then a record for a winger.
Life at Upton Park
Arriving at Upton Park, Brabrook discovered, that like his previous club, his new employers were also going through a transitional period. They had replaced their manager Ted Fenton the previous season after a very poor campaign that almost saw the East End club relegated to the Second Division.
The new manager, Ron Greenwood, was previously assistant manager with Arsenal and a respected coach who was an admirer of the great Hungarian national side that dominated world football in the 1950s. Greenwood wanted to instil some continental flair into his West Ham side.
To usher the Hammers into a golden era that he had envisaged for the club, Greenwood made changes to the side and training methods. He had been very busy in the transfer market and Upton Park fan favourites such as Phil Woosnan and Andy Malcolm (the club’s first ever Hammer of the Year) were sold to raise funds for new players.
Greenwood made several shrewd signings and the revamped and re-energised Hammers line up made an immediate impact and finished a respectable eighth place, before Brabrook joined their ranks.
The signing of Brabrook was thus far West Ham’s most notable and expensive acquisition but Greenwood considered it money well spent as he seemed an ideal player to slot into the new working model that he had implemented to the club's starting XI.
And the new boy didn’t disappoint either, making 27 league appearances in his debut season for the Hammers and notching up seven league goals while making countless others for his teammates.
In spite of the radical changes made by Greenwood, the Hammers' league form was indifferent. Unlike the Fenton era in the top flight, the Hammers didn’t struggle against relegation but they didn’t make an impact in the league either. Much to Brabrook’s frustration life at Upton Park was a series of mid-table finishes.
However what they lacked in league success, the Hammers more than made up for it in cup matches. No club, no matter how big wanted to face West Ham in a cup competition as it is these ‘singular games’ they excelled at - as no one could beat them ‘on the day’.
It was Brabrook’s second season with the Hammers that was to be his personal best. He made 38 league appearances while scoring a career best total of eight leagues goals.
Despite another mid-table finish, the season was notable for a successful FA Cup run that saw the Hammers reach the final for the second time in their history. Brabrook had played in every match of their cup run and scored two goals in the process. The opponents in the Final were second division Preston North End.
Despite being rated as underdogs, the Lilywhites gave their First Division opponents a run for their money as they dominated large parts of the match. They took the lead on two occasions only for the Hammers to equalise with goals from John Sissons and Geoff Hurst.
As the game approached the 90th minute and with the match deadlocked at 2-2, it looked as though the game was heading for extra time until Brabrook pumped in a last minute cross that young Hammers midfielder Ronnie Boyce gratefully got on the end of, to head home the winner to secure the Hammers their first ever trophy.
Victory in the FA Cup final granted the Hammers entry into the following year’s European Cup Winners competition - which also ended in success for the Hammers, when they defeated TSV 1860 Munich of West Germany in the final.
Sadly though Brabrook was one of four Hammers from the 1964 FA Cup final line-up who was omitted from the 1965 ECW Cup starting XI. In an injury -lagued season that saw him restricted to just 22 league appearances, Brabrook was only able to make one appearance in that glorious European cup run.
His place on the right wing was taken in the Final by young winger Alan Sealey, who enetered West Ham folklore by scoring both goals in a 2-0 victory over the strong German side.
The following season, 1965/66, saw a fit-again Brabrook make 32 league appearances scoring eight league goals, matching his previous best ever goal tally. As holders of the ECW Cup, the Hammers were allowed entry into that season’s European competition to defend their trophy.
This resulted in another relativity successful European Cup run that ended at the semi-final stage, where the Hammers were beaten by the eventual winners Borussia Dortmund of West Germany. Unlike the previous season, Brabrook contributed greatly to this cup run, making six appearances and scoring one goal.
The same season also saw another great cup run in the Football League Cup, where the Hammers reached a two-legged final against West Bromwich Albion. After leading 2-1 in the first leg at Upton Park, the Hammers were crushed at The Hawthorns in the return leg when they were resoundingly beaten 4-1 by the Baggies (making the final score 5-3 on aggregate).
Once again Brabrook had contributed greatly to this cup run by making eight appearances (including appearances in both legs of the final) and scoring two goals.
Brabrook was again a first team regular in the 1966/67 season, making another 32 league appearances and scoring five league goals. This season saw yet another impressive cup run which ended in the semi-final stage of the Football League Cup.
Just like the previous season’s final, the Hammers faced West Bromwich Albion over two legs. The first leg was at The Hawthorns and just like the previous season’s final leg at the same venue, the Baggies delivered another thrashing that effectively decided the tie in a 4-0 victory.
The Hammers could only force a 2-2 draw at Upton Park which saw them exit the cup. Brabrook again played in both of these matches.
During these seasons, such was Brabrook’s form, there had been frequent calls for him to be recalled to the national side, but this never happened and he remained uncapped during his tenure at Upton Park.
Season 1967/68 proved to be Brabrook’s last season for West Ham. Unlike the previous two seasons his first team appearances had become sporadic. At 30, and with the club adding younger signings such as Billy Bonds to the first team and players such as Trevor Brooking emerging from the youth team, Brabrook’s position in the side was under threat.
He made only 14 league appearances (scoring two goals) that season. Realising that his footballing career has reached its twilight years and that his own Hammers career was coming to an end, Brabrook decided to leave West Ham for their east London neighbours Leyton Orient, who were then playing in the Third Division.
Later Years
Peter Brabrook spent three seasons with Leyton Orient making 72 leagues appearance for the Os and scoring six goals. After helping the Brisbane Road club clinch the Third Division title and thus winning promotion to the Second Division in 1970, he left the club and wound down his career with non-leaguers Romford FC where he spent one season before hanging up his boots.
Brabrook then started a coaching career with non-league clubs Ford United (his former club) and then Billericay Town. It was at the latter that he discovered a young, prolific striker by the name of Steve Jones and contacted his old club West Ham to alert them of his availability.
West Ham manager Billy Bonds and his assistant Harry Redknapp snapped up the youngster and he went on to have a successful lengthy league career which included two spells with the Hammers.
Shortly after his stint with Billericay Town, Brabrook rejoined the Hammers in a coaching capacity, where he coached the club’s schoolboys team on a part time basis. Years later West Ham’s academy director Tony Carr recruited Brabrook on a full time basis and put him in charge of the club’s Under 17 side.
In this new role Brabrook was responsible for developing the careers of Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe. Brabrook retired as Under 17 coach in 2002, but didn’t completely sever his links with the club. In recent years he took on a scouting role for the Hammers.
Even after retirement, Peter Brabrook’s love for Chelsea and West Ham, the clubs where he spent the majority of his career, never deserted him and he was a regular attendee at functions organised by both. One such function he attended was the final game at the Boleyn Ground last May, one of his last public appearances.
Peter Brabrook died in St Luke's Hospice in Basildon on 10 December after losing his fight against a liver tumour.
Epilogue
To many Hammers fans the Cup-winning teams of 1964 and 1965 is the era of where West Ham’s story begins - the dawn of the glory years. What made the FA Cup and European Cup Winners Cup wins all the more sweeter is the fact that most of the players that played in those cup finals came directly from the youth team.
To the fans, it is a matter of pride that a large amount of their heroes were, like them, born in and around the East End of London and thus they were their ‘very own boys’.
Peter Brabrook was born south of the river and was not recruited from the fabled Academy of Football but in spite of this, West Ham United and its supporters had not forgotten the key role he played in securing the club’s first trophy, his immense contributions to the club as a scout and as a coach after his playing days had ended, or the fact that his youth years were spent on the playing fields of the East End and so he is a player they are proud to call: ‘One of us!’
Thank you Uncle Peter for your immense contributions to our club. We are forever in your debt. Rest in Peace, sir…
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