West Ham United's 100 Greatest Moments: Part Four (70-61)
- by Graeme Howlett
- Filed: Monday, 20th April 2020
Back in 2004, readers of KUMB.com voted for their greatest West Ham moments.
With several years having passed since - during which we've witnessed a number of memorable occasions, matches and goals - we decided to revisit the list - for a second time (the first being in 2011) - in order to include some more recent events.Due to the vast size, we'll be breaking our countdown down into ten parts; here follows part four - that's entries 70 to 61. Please note the number in brackets represents the entry's previous position in our list.

There's been a few cracking East versus West London derbies over the years, but few have come close to the time West Ham and Chelsea served up a real Christmas feast in their final Division One encounter at Stamford Bridge before the holiday season began in December 1966.
With Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters - the Hammers' three World Cup winners from that unforgettable 1966 Final from just five months earlier - on the pitch, Ron Greenwood's side got off to a cracking start going 2-0 up within half-an-hour through goals from Peter Braybrook (after 24 mins) and World Cup winner Peters (29). Then, a further six goals within 20 minutes saw Chelsea go 3-2 ahead - through Tommy Baldwin (40), Tony Hately (51) and Charlie Cooke (54) - before Johnny Sissons (55, 58) and Budgie Byrne (60) made it 5-3 to the visitors.
With ten minutes left to play, West Ham and England captain Moore felled Hately to conceded a penalty that Bobby Tambling converted to halve the deficit to one - before the Blues legend struck for a second time, in the final few seconds of the game, to earn the home side a share of the spoils from a quite remarkable ten-goal thriller.

Not since Paolo Di Canio strutted his stuff in Upton Park in the early 2000s had West Ham been able to boast a genuinely World-class player in their ranks - but Dimitri Payet, signed for a mere £11million the year before - practically spare change in the transfer market at the time - was undoubtedly that.
It was Danny Blind who committed the cardinal sin of tripping the mercurial Frenchman some 28 yards from David De Gea's goal, midway through the second half of a tense FA Cup quarter final at Old Trafford with the match goalless at the time. A full 64 seconds elapsed before Payet began his run-up for the resulting free kick, by which time he'd had plenty of opportunity to calm his nerves and pick his spot.
An estimated 10,000 travelling West Ham fans were situated behind De Gea's goal while millions more watched on TV, with the game being broadcast live. The Spanish stopper couldn't have been better positioned - but no goalkeeper was going to stop this one. Payet took a deep breath and one last look at the target before whipping a wicked free kick over a Red wall. De Gea, at full stretch, could do nothing as Payet's perfectly-placed strike cannoned back off the post into the back of the net. Cue delirium in the stands.
Even though it was a goal worthy of winning any game, Manchester Utd salvaged a reply courtesy of a late Antony Martial goal that should've been disallowed due to a blatant foul by Bastien Schweinsteiger on West Ham's goalkeeper Darren Randolph - and they went on to win the replay at the Boleyn Ground. And although he eventually left the club under a cloud, few Hammers fans will forget this goal.

West Ham's double-winning team of the late 1990s are rightly recognised for being one of the club's greatest success stories at youth team level. However some 35 years earlier the seeds first sown by the likes of Ted Fenton and Malcolm Allison in the late 1950s were the first to bear fruit as West Ham's youth team won the FA Cup for the first time. However an easy task it most certainly was not; having played the first match in a two-legged affair at Anfield the Irons were comfortably beaten, going down 3-1 - despite enjoying a late revival during which they hit the post. Billy Droyden had scored United's goal but the odds against West Ham reversing the tie in the second leg were considered slim, at best.
The Irons - playing in front of a bumper crowd in excess of 25,000, not unlike in 1999 - got off to a flying start when Trevor Dawkins opened the scoring on the night to make it 2-3 on aggregate. But two quick goals for the Merseysiders silenced the crowd who, with the aggregate score at 2-5, must have thought that was it. But cometh the hour, cometh the man - and when big striker Martin Britt levelled the scores on the night shortly before half time a glimmer of hope appeared. On the hour mark Britt grabbed his second of the night to put West Ham 3-2 up and just one behind on aggregate, but despite their best efforts the Irons entered the last ten minutes a goal behind.
As the home fans roared their team on a young Harry Redknapp beat his man on the flank and fired the ball into the near post - where it was perfectly met by Britt, who nodded it beyond Rodney Swindlehurst into the far corner to make it 4-2 on the night and 5-5 on aggregate. Extra time looked a certainty - until with just seconds of the game remaining, Redknapp beat his man once again before centring his cross. Britt - who else? - was first to react and he bundled home his fourth, West Ham's fifth, and the goal that took the cup to the east end for the first time ever courtesy of a 6-5 aggregate win.

Neither extra time nor the requisite five penalties per team had been able to produce a winner in this frantic FA Cup third round replay at Upton Park. And with the tie poised at 8-all during sudden death, Everton goalkeeper Joel Robles fired against the crossbar leaving West Ham with an opportunity to finally put the game to bed. The trouble was, the Hammers were practically out of penalty takers - which is when an unlikely hero emerged.
Slaven Bilic looked desperately for someone willing to step up, but Robles opposite number Adrian was the only volunteer - even though the only time he'd ever taken a penalty was during training sessions at Chadwell Heath.
And so it was that the Spaniard stepped forward charged with firing West Ham into the fourth round. Hurling his gloves purposefully to the floor, Adrian walked back to the edge of the 'D' before beginning his run up. "It looks like he's going for power," guesstimated Sky's commentator - before Adrian, cool as a cucumber, calmly rolled the ball to Robles' right, sending his compatriot the wrong way.
Adrian, arms outstretched slid across the turf on his knees before being engulfed by his team mates as the Boleyn erupted.

March 1991 and Billy Bonds' West Ham, going well in League Division 2 and looking good for promotion were drawn at home to Division 1 high-flyers Everton in the quarter finals of the FA Cup. Unusually for the competition (at that time anyway) the tie was played on a Monday night - good news for the Hammers who had a long and illustrious history of over-performing under the Boleyn lights. To beat a good Everton side, they would have to once again.
But cometh the hour, cometh the man - and little Stuart Slater tore Howard Kendall's side apart with a virtuoso performance that was capped by a wonderful goal to win the game.
With an hour gone, the winger teased and tormented the Everton defence before firing beyond Neville Southall to put West Ham two-up, after Colin Foster had opened the scoring with a screamer in the first half. A late strike from Dave Watson couldn't prevent the ailing Toffees from spiralling out of the competition; for West Ham, a semi-final with Nottingham Forest awaited. For Slater, whose career was to be cruelly curtailed by injury, the game probably represented his peak at West Ham.

Tipped for the drop by many and having dipped in and out of the relegation zone for much of the season it was a therefore a pleasant surprise when Harry Redknapp's side went into the final game of the 1994/95 campaign safe in 14th spot. But whilst Redknapp's team - minus injured talisman Julian Dicks - may have had little but pride to play for, opponents Manchester United needed a win - and for Blackburn to lose at Liverpool - to secure the Premiership title.
Michael Hughes threw a huge spanner in the works by giving West Ham a 31st minute lead much to the delight of the majority in the 24,783 crowd - an advantage Redknapp's side carried into the half time break. But with key striker Mark Hughes thrown into the mix at the interval the Mancunians were a different prospect in the second half - and it was no surprise when they pulled level through Brian McClair just seven minutes after the restart.
With news that Blackburn were behind at Anfield, Ferguson's side sniffed victory and a league Championship - but West Ham's Ludo Miklosko had other ideas. Time after time the big Czech 'keeper denied Man U; even still, a second goal seemed inevitable due to the visitors' total domination of the game. When Andy Cole was presented with a gilt-edged opportunity with moments to go it looked like West Ham's staunch resistance had all been for nothing - until Miklosko pulled off a stunning close-range save that sent the title to Ewood Park, despite Rovers having been beaten By Man Utd's arch rivals.

Liam Brady was quite simply a footballing genius. Whether at Arsenal, Juventus, Inter or, clearly the pinnacle of his career, at West Ham, he was a Messi of his day; a European Maradona. The affable Irishman arrived in east London in 1987, aged 31, following a season with Italian side Ascoli and immediately became a crowd favourite - despite being part of the squad relegated in 1989. Having featured 89 times for the Irons he made his farewell appearance on a sunny May day in West Ham's final game of the 1989/90 campaign against Wolves.
With West Ham already three-nil to the good through goals from Keen, Morley and Robson, Brady delighted the home fans with an 88th minute trademark finish to secure a 4-0 win. A spontaneous pitch invasion ensued and referee Allison, having deemed the final two minutes of the game unnecessary, blew for time as Brady was raised aloft by jubilant fans.

Often described as the game that had everything - including its own video release entitled 'The Day of Reckoning' - the February 2000 Premiership clash with Bradford City was possibly the most ridiculous ever seen at the Boleyn Ground too.
Hammers 'keeper Shaka Hislop was forced off with a broken leg after just two minutes leaving rookie Steven Bywater - goalkeeping hero of the 1999 double-winning youth team -to make his first team debut. Dean Windass put the visitors ahead from point-blank range on the half hour before 'Tricky' Trevor Sinclair levelled the scores five minutes later. West Ham went ahead through John Moncur two minutes ahead of the half time whistle but were pegged back in the final minute of the half by Peter Beagrie's penalty (which was naturally followed by a customary somersault).
Young Bywater, who was having a nightmare debut fumbling and dropping everything that came his way, conceded two more goals in the first five minutes of the second half. The red-haired Lawrence scored both; the first coming from a Bywater mistake and the second a lob with the 'keeper stranded in no-man's-land, to leave West Ham 4-2 behind. Dean Saunders should have made it 5-2 but hit the post - and that signalled one of the most extraordinary comebacks ever witnessed at Upton Park.
If there ever was a game that perfectly encapsulated Paolo Di Canio's time at West Ham, this was it. Felled inside the box but ignored by referee Neil Barry, his pleas to be substituted by Harry Redknapp were ignored. After a penalty was given for O'Brien's lunge on sub Paul Kitson crazy scenes ensued as Di Canio literally wrestled the ball from Frank Lampard's grasp before slamming it into the bottom corner with 25 minutes to play. Joe Cole levelled the scores on 70 before Lampard finally got on the scoresheet to make it 5-4 with seven minutes of time remaining.
The unfortunate Bywater was to be replaced for West Ham's next game (at home to Everton) by loanee Sasa Ilic - who proved to be even worse.

West Ham hadn't won at Goodison Park in seven years; delicately poised at 1-1 and with the game about to enter injury time Trevor Sinclair's cross found Paolo Di Canio with the goal at his mercy due to the absence of a prone Paul Gerrard, who had been felled in a collision moments earlier and lay injured yards from his goal line.
But instead of going for goal and possibly earning West Ham a valuable three points - even though it wasn't quite as simple as that due to the presence of one or two Everton defenders - Di Canio astounded everyone by catching the ball and requesting assistance for the injured goalkeeper. The gesture earned the mercurial Italian an round of applause from the Goodison faithful and later, plaudits worldwide for his unique act.
Even though it was later decreed as the Premier League's 'greatest act of sportsmanship', Di Canio's boss, Harry Redknapp, admitted later that, at the time, with West Ham in a position to take all three points, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Despite having played in two Cup Winners Cup finals, West Ham had never qualified for the UEFA Cup prior to 1999. They had qualified to do so 13 years earlier when finishing third in the First Division, but were prevented from participating in 1986 as English clubs were banned from all European competition, after 39 Juventus fans were killed following a clash with Liverpool supporters before the European Cup Final.
When Harry Redknapp's side lost to Metz in the first leg of the Intertoto Cup Final, effectively a UEFA Cup preliminary round, West Ham looked like being denied once again - until a shock 3-1 second leg win in France sent the Hammers through to the first round proper for the first time in our history and into Europe for the first time since 1976.
The opponents for the Boleyn Ground's first ever UEFA Cup tie were Croatian outfit Osijek - and the Hammers didn't disappoint as they ran out comfortable 3-0 winners through goals from Paulo Wanchope, Paolo Di Canio and Frank Lampard. A 3-1 success in Croatia and a 6-1 aggregate win sent the Irons through to the second round of the competition - where they were promptly sent packing by Romanian side Steaua Bucharest, losing 2-0 on aggregate.
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