We delve into the UK Newspaper Archive to return to August 1967, when manager Ron Greenwood turned to a teenager to combat the Clarets...
Ron Greenwood’s West Ham United side of the 1960s were true entertainers.
In Greenwood’s first seven full seasons in charge between 1961/62 and 1967/68, the Hammers played 294 First Division matches.
In those games, an incredible 1,045 goals were scored at an average of 3.55 goals per game, with West Ham scoring 523 and conceding 532.
Despite scoring nearly two goals every time they took to the pitch, Greenwood’s Hammers’ inability to keep the ball out of their own net meant they never finished higher than eighth in the First Division table.
While such inconsistency was not a recipe for success in the league, the Irons’ ability to raise their game on any given day was better suited to the knockout competitions, where the east Londoners won the FA Cup in 1964, European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1965 and reached the Football League Cup final in 1966.
Influential throughout were West Ham’s outstanding England internationals - captain and centre-half Bobby Moore, visionary midfielder Martin Peters and prolific strikers Geoff Hurst and Johnny Byrne.
Byrne departed in February 1967, but the Club’s trio of 1966 FIFA World Cup-winning heroes remained part of Greenwood’s squad at the start of the 1967/68 season, which kicked-off in typically unpredictable, goal-filled style.
Hurst and Peters scored in a 3-2 First Division defeat by Sheffield Wednesday at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday 19 August 1967, where new goalkeeper Bobby Ferguson and defenders Billy Bonds and John Cushley all made their West Ham debuts.