West Ham United 1        Arsenal 0
Brooking 13
FA Cup final, 10 May 1980, Wembley Stadium
West Ham United: Parkes, Stewart, Lampard, Bonds, Martin, Devonshire, Allen, Pearson, Cross, Brooking, Pike
Sub not used: Brush
Arsenal: Jennings, Rice, Devine (Nelson), Talbot, O’Leary, Young, Brady, Sunderland, Stapleton, Price, Rix
 
In 1980 it was Second Division West Ham United's turn to be underdogs against Terry Neill's FA Cup holders, making their record third successive final appearance.

This may not have been the greatest spectacle but no-one from east London was complaining as the sun shone on the Twin Towers and the men in all white.

West Ham's winner came from the unlikely source of Trevor Brooking's forehead with just 13 minutes on the clock.

In this, the 99th final, Alan Devonshire climaxed his speedy run down the left-flank with a deep, low cross which was met initially by David Cross. The ball dropped to Stuart Pearson, who mis-hit his shot across goal.

Brooking reacted quickest, falling back and stooping to guide a rare header past Arsenal goalkeeper Pat Jennings from eight yards. It was poetic justice for the elegant Brooking, who had been taunted before the game by Brian Clough who claimed that Brooking 'floats like a butterfly - and stings like one!'

With a goal in the bag, Hammers fought like lions, while John Lyall's tactical masterstroke in playing Cross as a lone striker, with Pearson in a slightly withdrawn midfield role, simply left the Gunners unable to beat Phil Parkes.

And but for the booked Willie Young's cynical, late trip on the breaking Paul Allen - at 17 years, 256 days the youngest player ever to appear in an FA Cup final - West Ham would surely have extended their winning margin.

Yet while Hammers headed back to the East End with the Cup for the second time in five years, Arsenal's agony was set to be compounded by a European Cup Winners' Cup final penalty shootout defeat by Spanish side Valencia four days later.