theyflysohigh : Steve Marsh
email: theyflysohigh@btinternet.com
West Ham United Club Historian : Welcome to the Private memorabilia collection of 'theyflysohigh'
RARE ISSUES
One area of programme collecting that has gained rarity value are those produced for matches that were called off. A club programme would have been printed days in advance of the game. Whatever the reason for the cancellation or postponement, the weather would have been the cause in most cases, the publication would have been ready for dispatch. Clubs adopted various courses of action when dealing with postponed match programmes, on some occasions the complete print run was destroyed. Even then it's not guaranteed that a total destruction would have taken place as some still manage to get into the public domain. Another popular practice by the club's especially during the 70's was to save the print run and re-use the programme when the game was re-arranged and just use an insert for the new game with updated information.
Not all of West Ham United's rare programmes are for postponed games. The Hammers European adventures in the mid-60's produced some rarities, the home style programme produced for the travelling West Ham United Supporters Club for the away games and are amongst the more sort after items for the more keen collector as only 200 for each game was produced.
Please Note:
This section deals with those programmes that are "RARE" and does not include those that are simply "Expensive to Buy" such as the 1923 F.A. Cup Final, War-time and Pre-War programmes. Although many may regard these as Rare, they can be obtained if you’re willing to part with serious money. We have tried our best to give a reason for why the programmes are listed. We have also enlisted the help of fellow collectors to try and bring a definitive list together. If you feel we should include any more, please let us know by using the contact link above and a reason for inclusion.
ALDERSHOT TOWN : Carling Cup First Round
RARE
Upton Park
9 August 2011
Match Postponed : Police Advice
West Ham's Carling Cup game was postponed on police advice due to the continuing riots in London.
West Ham United were asked by the police to postpone the Carling Cup first-round tie with Aldershot Town
The club were contacted the evening before the game was due to take place and told that all major public events in London were to be rearranged because of the need to focus police resources elsewhere. Whilst neither the club or police anticipate any issues around the game taking place, the club had to comply with the police request.
The Club confirmed that Matchday programmes would not be sold to the general public and that all copies were being destroyed.
As we now know a handful escaped the destruction order which immediately catapults this programme into the most wanted West Ham United Home programme of the last Decade.
Rearranged 24 August 2011
COMMON
MANCHESTER UNITED : F.A. Cup (Third Round)
RARE
Upton Park
15 February 1986
Match Postponed : Artic Conditions
The big freeze once more brought English football to a standstill and our home games against Southampton, Manchester United and Ipswich Town all fell victims of the arctic conditions.
The F.A. Cup Third Round tie home programme was not on sale to the general public and all copies were destroyed.
However it seems at least some copies did survive, but not many. One surfaced at Auction in May 2009.
Rearranged 5 March 1986
COMMON
CHELSEA : Canon League Division One
RARE
Upton Park
12 January 1985
Match Postponed : Artic Conditions
Rearranged 13 April 1986
The snow which fell on England on Sunday 6 January had a domino effect on soccer fixtures, a back-log had already built up to cause problems on and off the field. Over half the Canon League games were deferred on January 12 the day of the Chelsea fixture.
Special arrangements had been put in place for this game and also for the subsequent rearranged date, the South Bank in its entirety was reserved for Chelsea Supporters only. Admittance to the South Bank will be on production of a Chelsea Members Identity Card and no one will be admitted to that part of the ground unless they are in possession of such a card.
The Club regretted the necessity of this action and apologise to those supporters that normally occupy the South Bank but on this occasion they felt it is advantageous to put these arrangements into operation.
COMMON
With an 11.30 am kick-off time, alcoholic drinks was not on sale at the bars, however, non-alcoholic drinks and snacks were available. West Ham United supporters could only buy seat tickets if they were in possession of two different vouchers which were distributed in the matchday programmes versus Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield Wednesday.
TRANMERE ROVERS : Football League Cup (Second Round)
RARE
Prenton Park
11 September 1974
Tony Coombes, Tranmere Rovers' Matchday Programme, Club Archivist & Ambassador shed's light on why this programme is on most collectors wants list.
Tony explains; when the programme was originally printed (4,500 copies), a member of the local / national press had published an article within the first edition, criticising the Board, management and the players.
In a twist of fate following the direct delivery from the printers to the stadium, the board (while in readiness for the match) saw a copy of the programme, which then led to all copies of the first edition being immediately recalled on the morning of the game.
They were subsequently destroyed in their entirety at the printers under club supervision - with a new edition reprinted containing an alternative press article, but only less than half the original print run (2,000) were now produced. Not surprisingly, with limited supplies the programme then sold out to an above average crowd of 8,638 who attended the match. No copies of the original programme exist.
In early April of the same season, manager Ron Yeats was sacked from his position. Rovers ended the campaign third from bottom in the league table and were relegated along with AFC Bournemouth, Watford and Huddersfield Town to the Fourth Division.
ENGLAND YOUTH XI v. WEST HAM UNITED Under-19s
RARE
Upton Park
14 December 1970
West Ham United were asked by The Football Association if the club would play host and provide an Under-19 team to oppose the England Youth XI for this International Youth Trial Match.
There is still some debate surrounding the actual issue of the programme on the day of the match. The programme has no price value on the cover, suggesting it was not on sale to the general public and that it was only available to guests and dignitaries
However it has been reported that the programme was inserted into the bound volumes of the time. Some collectors have also reported that they were included in the "End-of-Season" packs that were sold by Helliar & Sons, but not all packs contained a copy, presumably because of the small print run.
Please note:
The programme is dated 15 December but was actually played on the afternoon before (14th) due to the ongoing power cuts caused by the miners strikes at that time.
COVENTRY CITY : Football League First Division
RARE
Upton Park
11 February 1970
Match Postponed : Continual Rain
The Coventry City match was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday 7 February 1970 but was Postponed. The fixture was re-arranged and played 4 days later on Wednesday 11 February 1970. The original Saturday programme was re-issued for the Wednesday game as they were already printed.
However an additional 200 programmes bearing the new rearranged date of Wednesday 11 February were printed and distributed to dignitaries, guests and the media only.
COMMON
Price realised in Auction May 2009 £120
Price realised on Ebay March 2017 £311
MILLWALL Youth XI : London Youth F.A. Senior Cup (Semi-Final)
RARE
Upton Park
1 April 1968
West Ham United had a very successful Youth side in the 1960s and 70s. With teams competing in various Leagues and competitions that no longer exist today.
The latter stages, especially Cup-ties were more-often-than-not staged in the home stadium normally reserved for first team matches instead of the usual training pitches like Chadwell Heath as used in the earlier rounds of the competition.
The match programmes in most cases were a single-sheet costing just a few pence, the print run in the low hundreds, which in itself makes the programmes from the 60s and 70s quite Rare.
However the game against a Millwall Youth XI on 1 April 1968 seems to be on most people's wants lists. A sell-out on the day, and copies that were normally inserted into the 'End of Season' bundle issued by the printers Helliar & Son was missing, not surprising due to the low print run.
ASTON VILLA : Football League First Division
Villa Park
27 December 1965
FROZEN OUT... ONCE!
Back in the 1960s, teams would play each other home and away over the Christmas period. In 1965, the fixture list saw West Ham United head to Aston Villa on 27 December before hosting their Midlands opponents at the Boleyn Ground the following day.
More than 30,000 people turned up at Villa Park to witness a match between two sides battling to avoid relegation. However, the game would last only 30 minutes before the referee was forced to abandon proceedings due to the frozen conditions.
Originally priced at 6d (2.5p), the programme featured a cover photo from the previous season involving West Ham's John Bond and Ronnie Boyce.
The match was replayed on 7 February 1965, with Geoff Hurst and John Sissons scoring in a 2-1 West Ham win.
As with all programmes produced for abandoned matches, the 16-page edition has become a collectors' item.
ASTON VILLA : Football League First Division
RARE
Upton Park
28 December 1965
FROZEN OUT... TWICE!
Despite the inclement weather, both teams travelled to London for the return fixture on 28 December 1965, only for the low temperatures to see the game postponed due to a frozen pitch.
The programme produced by the Hammers for this match-that-never-was contained 12 pages and also cost 6d.
The cover featured the BBC Sportsview Team award trophy presented to the Hammers for their 1965 European Cup Winners' Cup success. Further photos inside from the presentation evening included one of Moore receiving a medallion from the UNESCO Council of Sport and Physical Recreation.
Price realised on Ebay July 2017 £412.01
EUROPEAN CUP WINNERS CUP : 1965-66 Season
Following their European Cup Winners Cup success against TSV Munchen 1860 the previous season. The Hammers European adventures in 1965-66 season produced some rarities. The West Ham United Supporters Club commissioned only 200 of the home style programme for each (AWAY) game and given free with their compliments to those travelling supporters.
OLYMPIAKOS
(Greece)
1 F.C. MAGDEBURG
(East Germany)
BORUSSIA DORTMUND
(West Germany)
ASTON VILLA : Football League First Division
RARE
Upton Park
19 November 1963
This is a strange one, the match against Leicester City at Upton Park was played on Saturday 16th November 1963.
However, there seems to be a limited number, how many is unclear, which are dated the 19th November.
The 19th happens to be a Tuesday, and on that date we were playing Swindon Town at the County Ground in a 4th Round League Cup tie. So the home programme dated the 19th is clearly wrong.
The most obvious answer, the wrong date (19th) was spotted soon after the print run began. And rather bin those already printed they were released for sale on the date of the game.
Whatever the reason, if you have one dated the 19th it's rare.
COMMON
RARE
THE BIG FREEZE OF '63
NOTTINGHAM FOREST : Football League First Division
Football was virtually put on ice between late December 1962 and March 1963 as ferocious blizzards, drifting snow that reached 25 feet and regular temperatures of -20c made it the worst winter in football history and the coldest since weather records began. The number of postponements even exceeded the great white-out of 1947.
The severe conditions actually began on 22nd December 1962, but worsened on Boxing Day when snow fell heavily in the south of England. 19 of the 46 Football League games were postponed that day with another three abandoned. "Football cut in half" screamed the Mirror headline the following morning
Upton Park
26 December 1962
Price realised in Auction £165
NOTTINGHAM FOREST : Football League First Division
Upton Park
26 December 1962
Price realised on Ebay June 2019
£3327.77
This Extremely RARE Blackburn Rovers Programme was printed but not issued to the general public, and only became available in the bound volumes at the end of the season.
FIRST PRACTICE MATCH : Club Colours v. Whites
Upton Park
11 August 1960
From the late 1920s right through to the 1963-64 season the Hammers held Public Practice Matches at Upton Park before the start of each season.
The 'Pipe-opener' served a two-fold purpose. First and foremost it gave the opportunity to raise funds for local and other deserving charities. The second so that fans can see the preliminaries to the upcoming campaign. The occasion was also used to run the rule over players who are "on trial" for possible places in the senior team.
Although the accent on "practice without injury" during these games it is always a natural thing for the players to "take it easy" when going into tackles, but this is usually compensated for by more goals scored.
The games are normally billed as REDS v. BLUES, or CLUB COLOURS v. WHITES and CLUB COLOURS v. BLUES.
ALL of these Practice Match programmes from the period are considered RARE.
This one in particular is hard to obtain, due to the fact the match was due to be played on a Thursday evening and was Cancelled at the last moment due to a waterlogged pitch.
LUTON TOWN : Football League First Division
Upton Park
17 January 1959
This programme hit the headlines on 24 January 2025, when at auction it reached a record high price for a West Ham United home programme.
The match against the Hatters was one of seven Football League First Division matches called off the day before the match was due to take place because of an unfit pitch.
Reports of the programme only being available in bound volumes at the end of the season might not be the case. The copy at 'theyflysohigh' shows no signs of binding stress.
Auction
For the record, and pardon the pun, the 'Hammer' dropped at £6,600.
George Izatt and Ted Fenton inspect the Upton Park pitch
LEYTON YOUTH JUNIORS : Andrews Cup Final
Upton Park
21 April 1958
The Andrews Cup was first donated in 1951 by A.W. Andrews of Chelmsford who was Vice-President of the Essex County and competed by teams in the Forest District Youth League with players in the immediate post school age groups.
The Andrews Cup was played for by teams from across the County and not just teams from the Forest league.
The Under 16½ Competition ran until 1976 being reinstated in 1988 for boys Under 14.
This 1958 final was held at Upton Park but the match programme was not printed by Helliar and Sons.
MILLWALL : Southern Junior Floodlight Cup Final
Upton Park
17 February 1958
It has been reported that the only copies seen are those that have been removed from the bound volumes of the time.
Not true, this programme was issued at the time of the game, the simple truth is, it's RARE.
For the record the Hammers won 2-1
BURY : Football League Division II
RARE
Upton Park
4 February 1956
The Bury match was postponed because of a frozen playing surface. An interesting point of note however surrounded the rearrange game. Following an agreement by our Lancashire opponents to play the match by floodlight on 19 March 1956 a further postponment was threatened owing to the proposed banning of floodlight fixtures by the Players' Union.
The difficulty was overcome and the fixture took place, to become the first League game played at the Boleyn Ground under "Floodlights".
For the record the Hammers won 3-2
Price realised in Auction £225
COMMON
LIVERPOOL : Football League Division II
RARE
Upton Park
15 January 1955
The weekend of 15th January 1955 was very nearly a "lost week-end", for only the Hammers "A" Team was able to complete its fixture. Games postponed that day included the First Team v. Liverpool, Reserves v. Chelsea, "B" Team v. Dartford, Colts v. Arsenal and Juniors v. Briggs Minors. Unfit grounds due to heavy snowfall caused all the cancellations.
The "A" Team had a prolonged journey to Yarmouth Town for their Eastern Counties League fixture which they arrived late, the kick-off having to be delayed. However, the weather conditions at Yarmouth were more favourable than those met en route, and although the ground was treacherous with a hard top surface and soft underneath there was no snow to provide a further handicap.
COMMON
Last one at Auction realised £500
Ebay: April 2018 realised £599
GLASGOW CELTIC : Friendly
Upton Park
17 October 1949
The Friendly game against Glasgow Celtic is worthy of consideration to these pages. The game was billed as a Charity Match with the proceeds to go to the New Catholic School Fund.
The club was hoping for a large turn out, an attendance of nearly 10,000 was probably due to the game being played on an Monday afternoon when many would have been at work.
The present leaders of the Scottish League were humbled 5-2 with goals from Robinson 2, Woodgate, Bainbridge and an own goal by McGrory.
Price realised in Auction December 2016 £210
CHELSEA "A" : East Anglian Cup (Second Round)
Upton Park
1 September 1949
The match verses a Chelsea "A" side in the East Anglian cup was the only game played at Upton park in this competition.
Both West Ham United and Chelsea were given "Byes" in the First Round.
The competition only ran for one season.
For the record the Hammers won 3-2 but lost away to Kings Lynn in the next round.
SWANSEA TOWN : Football League Division II
Upton Park
1 March 1947
The match programme against Swansea Town was a hastily printed single sheet due to a combination of factors.
The abominable weather at that time which necessitated an extension of the playing season, coupled with fuel cuts and the proposed "ban" on mid-week sport there was also a post war paper shortage.