West Ham United 2 TSV Munich 1860 0
Sealey 69, 71
European Cup Winners’ Cup final
Wednesday 19 May 1965, Wembley Stadium
Attendance: 100,000
West Ham United: Jim Standen, Joe Kirkup, Jack Burkett, Martin Peters, Ken Brown, Bobby Moore, Alan Sealey, Ron Boyce, Geoff Hurst, Brian Dear, John Sissons
TSV 1860 Munich: Petar Radenković, Manfred Wagner, Hans Reich, Wilfried Kohlars, Stevan Bena, Otto Luttrop, Alfred Heiss, Hans Küppers, Rudi Brunnenmeier, Peter Grosser, Hans Rebele
Twelve months on from lifting the FA Cup, West Ham United were back under the Twin Towers for the European Cup Winners’ Cup final.
Their opponents were the German Cup winners TSV Munich 1860, a fine side who had defeated US Luxembourg, FC Porto, Legia Warsaw of Poland and Torino of Italy.
As so seldom happens in the pressurised atmosphere of a final, both teams produced their best, sending the capacity 100,000 crowd home drooling over their collective skill and endeavour.
Described as a ‘magnificent game’ that was a ‘triumph for West Ham and a triumph for the game of football’, the showpiece was marked by 90 minutes of ‘bold and imaginative’ play by both sets of players.
Ron Greenwood’s Hammers, in particular, were irresistible.
The Londoners created chance after chance. John Sissons missed an open goal, then hit the post. Geoff Hurst was twice denied by splendid saves from goalkeeper Petar Radenković.
At the other end, Jim Standen was also called into action, saving acrobatically from Peter Grosser and Hans Kuppers.
West Ham were the better side, however, and their superiority was rewarded twice in the space of three second-half minutes.
Alan Sealey scored both, the first from Ronnie Boyce’s pass and the second after Martin Peters knocked Bobby Moore’s pass into his path four yards from goal.
A little more than 20 minutes later and Moore was climbing the famous Wembley steps for the second time to raise a trophy for his team.
Twelve months later, he would do so again, but that is another story altogether…