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West Ham United 2 - 1 F.A. Premier League

by Roger Hillier

United in fun

Former West Ham and England heroes Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters share a laugh before the Bobby Moore Memorial match

Geoff Hurst cuts the ribbons to officially open the new Bobby Moore Stand

THE BOBBY MOORE MEMORIAL MATCH

In Bobby Moore’s honour and to mark the one year anniversary of his death, West Ham hosted a unique memorial match. The Hammers played the first ever FA Premier League Representative side at Upton Park on Monday March 7, 1994.

It was a special occasion with a full itinerary. The match itself was almost incidental as the evening’s proceedings commenced with the unveiling of the Bobby Moore Bust in the reception area of the new stand by Bobby's widow, Stephanie Moore.

The Bobby Moore Bust

1964’s & 1965’s Heroes

Soon after and the players from the 1964 FA Cup and 1965 European Cup Winners Cup winning sides walked out onto the pitch to be presented to the 20,311 crowd. These included three of Bobby’s former teams who flew thousands of miles to rejoin their 1960s team mates. Budgie Byrne and Johnny Sissons flew in from Durban and Cape Town respectively, while former goalkeeper Jim Standen jetted in from California.

Soon after two more of Bobby’s influential team mates, Malcolm Allison and Noel Cantwell joined the celebrations. The images of these Hammer heroes posing in a team group in front of the new stand are one of the lasting memories of the evening and the nostalgic images frequently feature in the later West Ham history books and articles.

Goalkeeper Jim Standen

THE WAY THEY WERE

1964 FA Cup Winners

THE WAY THEY WERE

1965 European Cup Winners Cup

Back row: Ken Brown, Martin Peters, Peter Brabrook, Jim Standen, Johnny Byrne, Alan Sealey, Jack Burkett, Geoff Hurst, Noel Cantwell

Front row: Ron Boyce, Joe Kirkup, John Sissons, Eddie Bovington, Brian Dear

Brabrook, Standen, Burkett, Bond, Bovington, Brown, Boyce, Byrne, Hurst, Peters

The Bobby Moore Stand

The match coincided with the opening of the £5m Bobby Moore Stand (a renaming of the South Stand). This official opening was carried out by the 1964 and 1965 cup winning players with 1966 World Cup hero Geoff Hurst having the honour of cutting the ribbon.

Ten minutes later and the West Ham and the Premier League Representative sides came out onto the pitch to be presented to the dignitaries of the evening. These included Stephanie Moore, Sir Bert Millichip (Chairman of the Football Association), Sir John Quinton (Chairman of the Premier League), Terry Brown (Chairman of West Ham United), and David Philip (Chairman of Dagenham Motors, the club’s main sponsor).

At 7.59 pm a minute prior to the kick-off, a minute's silence was observed in memory of Bobby Moore. 60 seconds during which the only sound that could be heard was the driving rain.

Arsenal’s manager, George Graham, led the Premiership side, and even he got into the spirit of the evening by abandoning his defensive principles in selecting a Premiership XI to play West Ham's current side for the Bobby Moore Memorial Trophy.

Graham's selection which consisted of a player from each Premier League club. The players participating for a half. Fittingly an ex Hammer captained the Premier League side and another scored the game’s opening goal.

Liverpool’s Julian Dicks was the second-half skipper and Tony Cottee returning to his former club scored the opener for the Premiership XI side in the 15th minute. Another ex Hammer, Liam Brady, the Brighton manager, also made an appearance for the league side.

Just nine minutes after Cottee's opener and West Ham were on level terms thanks to a Clive Allen effort. Then with 16 minutes remaining on the clock the claret and blue winner was headed in by Dutchman Jeroen Boere.

Clive Allen’s equaliser turned out to be his last goal for the first team and by the time of The Bobby Moore Memorial Match he had played his last league game for the Hammers.

Stephanie Moore presents Liam Brady with his Memorial medal

Premier League XI line-up before the kick-off

Teams:

West Ham United:

Miklosko (Kelly 45), Gordon (Butler 45), Potts, Martin, Bishop (M. Allen 50), Holmes, Brown (Gale 45), C. Allen, Morley (Boere 45), Rowland, Williamson

FA Premier League XI:

1st half:

Gunn (Norwich City), Venison (Newcastle United), Dorigo (Leeds United), Wark (Ipswich Town), Bould (Arsenal), Jobson (Oldham Athletic), Hoddle (Chelsea), Yorke (Aston Villa), Wilcox (Blackburn Rovers), McClair (Manchester United), Cottee (Everton)

2nd half:

Pressman (Sheffield Wednesday), Summberbee (Swindon Town), Dicks (Liverpool), Monkou (Southampton), Calderwood (Tottenham Hotspur), Ndlovu (Coventry City), Barker (Queens Park Rangers), Hodges (Sheffield United), Rocastle (Manchester City), Holdsworth (Wimbledon), Brady (Brighton).

Referee: P. Don (Middlesex)

To conclude the evening’s itinerary, the winning West Ham United team was presented with The Bobby Moore Memorial Trophy.

Match officials and players from both sides were all presented with a Memorial match medal.

£160,000 Raised

It was estimated that the match raised about £160,000 for the beneficiaries The Bobby Moore Family Trust and Imperial Cancer Research.

Clive Allen who scored for West Ham is challenged by

Steve Bould representing the Premiership

For fans who missed the nostalgic evening there was a chance to catch it the following evening when Carlton Television televised highlights.

Newspaper coverage courtesy of Richard Miller

Jeroen Boere climbs above Julian Dicks and heads West Ham's winner

Julian Dicks and Alvin Martin present a medal to Stephanie Moore after the match

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