55 YEARS AGO - BELHUS v WEST HAM UNITED:
The home match against West Ham United on 10th August 1969 was played in front of a crowd of around 2,000. See match scorecard below . . .
https://belhuscc.cricketclubwebsite.co.uk/scorecard/fixtureID_335998/Sunday-1st-XI-v-WEST-HAM-UNITED-FC-10-Aug-1969.aspx
It was a memorable Sunday afternoon at Belhus Park resulting in a win for the Hammers (by 42 runs), who had a pretty useful side - Geoff Hurst played 1 First Class match for Essex CCC in 1962 and Bobby Moore had actually been offered terms by Essex.
In the football league, WHU had beaten Newcastle the previous day (Saturday) and after their Belhus Park visit, they moved to Upton Park the following day (Monday) and won their match against
Chelsea. Winning 3 matches in 3 days must be a West Ham record!
It was an honour to play against a West Ham United side that included 2 players (Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst) from the 1966 World Cup winning team, and Brooking and Hurst were subsequently Knighted.
Many books have been written about the players and manager (Sir Alf Ramsey) of that great 1966 side, with the most recent offering, and perhaps the most revealing, by Sir Geoff Hurst - 'Last Boy of '66: My Story of England's World Cup Winning Team'. 2024. It is well worth a read.
Photo above: Back: Alan Stephenson, Sir Trevor Brooking, Sir Geoff Hurst, Frank Lampard Snr, Roger Cross, Harry Redknapp. Front: Sir Bobby Moore, John Sissons, John Charles, Brian Dear, Ron Boyce, Stuart Morgan.
