Eintracht Frankfurt v West Ham United
UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg, Frankfurt Stadion, Thursday 5 May 2022, 8pm BST (9pm CET)
West Ham United's European tour continues with a UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg away to Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday evening.
Having overcome opposition from Croatia, Belgium, Austria, Spain and France to reach the final four, the Hammers now face German opposition, with a place in the final in Seville the reward for the winners on aggregate.
The Hammers need to overcome a 2-1 deficit to reach the Club's first major final in this competition, 46 years to the day since John Lyall's side took on Anderlecht in the 1976 European Cup Winners' Cup final in Brussels.
Incidentally, West Ham had overcome Eintracht Frankfurt in the semi-finals on that occasion, coming from 2-1 behind after the first leg to win 4-3 on aggregate - and there will need to be a repeat performance and result for David Moyes' men to emulate that achievement.
This season, both clubs topped their respective Europa League groups, with West Ham dominating GNK Dinamo Zagreb, KRC Genk and Rapid Vienna to win Group H with a game to spare, while Eintracht won Group D without losing a match to finish ahead of Olympiacos, Fenerbahçe and Antwerp.
West Ham then came from behind to defeat Sevilla 2-1 in the round of 16 and Lyon 4-1 in the quarter-finals, while the Bundesliga side overcame Real Betis 3-2 and Barcelona 4-3 respectively.
Goals from Ansgar Knauff and Daichi Kamada bettered Michail Antonio's strike at London Stadium, giving Eintracht the advantage heading into Thursday's tie in western Germany.
Looking back into history, West Ham won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965, reached the final again in 1976 and made the quarter-finals in 1981, losing to Soviet Cup winners Dinamo Tbilisi. In 1999, Harry Redknapp's side won the UEFA Intertoto Cup and reached the UEFA Cup second round. The Hammers were twice involved in the UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds in 2015 and 2016, but were eliminated before the tournament proper.
Frankfurt won the UEFA Cup in 1980, defeating fellow West Germans Borussia Mönchengladbach in the final. Prior to that, Eintracht won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1967 and famously reached the European Cup final in 1960, losing 7-3 to Real Madrid in the final.
Ticket news
Our allocation of 2,400 Standard Tickets for Thursday's tie in Germany sold out to Bondholders and Season Ticket Holders with 55+ Priority Points.
For both Wheelchair Viewing Spaces and Accessible (AEA) ticket information, please call 0333 030 0174 or email [email protected].
To enquire about Club London packages for our remaining home Premier League fixtures; please call 0204 551 0037 or click here.
Matchday Information
Frankfurt Stadion (known on non-UEFA matchdays as Deutsche Bank Park) is located 20 minutes from Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (Main Station) and West Ham United supporters are strongly encouraged to travel by train.
Special supporter services will depart from 6.20pm local time on Thursday and return to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof after the game.
The West Ham United supporters' section at Frankfurt Stadion can be accessed via E2 (Entrance 2) and Turnstiles 19-21.
We strongly advise supporters to only travel if they have purchased a ticket directly though West Ham United. Supporters purchasing tickets in the Home sections will not be permitted entry and will not be re-located to the visiting supporters section.
There is no area to store luggage at the stadium and bags larger than 20l are not permitted. Flags or banners no larger than 2m x 3m will be permitted.
Supporters will be able to collect their ticket from the Ibis Steinberger Hotel Metropolitan situated at Poststrabe 6, 60329 Frankfurt am Main, Germany close to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. Supporters should note that the collection point is around 20 minutes by car from the stadium.
You will be able to collect the ticket in your name on production of photo ID. Please note that we are unable to accept any third-party collections and the ticket can only be collected by the named ticket holder.
Tickets can be collected between 10am-7pm on Wednesday 4 May (local time) and 10am-6pm on Thursday 5 May. Tickets can only be collected from the hotel as there is no facility to collect tickets at the stadium.
Should you require assistance, please contact the following relevant departments:
Supporter Services
- Twitter - @WestHamHelp
- Email - [email protected]
Ticketing
- Tel - 0333 030 1966 (option 1)
- Email - [email protected]
Click here for full information.
How can I follow the game?
Kick-off on Thursday at 8pm UK time (9pm local time), with the tie being broadcast live on television by BT Sport 1 in the UK. Please check your local TV listings if you live outside the UK.
We will also be covering the game live with a blog and audio commentary on whufc.com and our Official App and across our social media channels, with goals, highlights and exclusive reaction to follow after the final whistle.
Team news
West Ham United manager David Moyes will be without Italy defender Angelo Ogbonna, who is continuing his rehab after undergoing knee surgery before Christmas.
Otherwise, the Scot will hope to have a clean bill of health, while the Hammers do not have any players suspended for the second leg.
Eintracht Frankfurt could be without Denmark midfielder Jesper Lindstrøm, who was forced off with a hamstring injury in the first leg.
Austria centre-back Martin Hinteregger missed Monday's Bundesliga defeat by Bayer Leverkusen through illness, but is likely to be fit. Captain Sebastian Rode also missed Monday's game, as did suspended striker Rafael Santos Borré, but both are expected to return to face the Hammers.
UEFA Europa League
If Thursday's second leg ends level, two 15-minute periods of extra time will be played.
The away-goal rule is no longer applicable and all goals are counted equally. So, if the scores are still level on aggregate at the end of extra time, a penalty shootout will be held.
Each manager may use five substitutes in normal time, and a sixth substitute may be used during extra time, if it is needed. However, the five normal-time substitutions can only be made during three stoppages in play (not including half-time) and the sixth during a fourth stoppage in play during extra time (not including half-time in extra time).
The opposition – Eintracht Frankfurt
The origins of Eintracht Frankfurt date back 123 years, to when Frankfurter Fußball-Club Viktoria von 1899 was formed.
Viktoria joined the new local Nordkreis-Liga in 1909, merged with Frankfurter Fußball-Club Kickers in 1911 to become Frankfurter Fußball Verein (Kickers-Viktoria) and won three league titles prior to the start of the First World War.
In 1920, another merger, this time with Frankfurter Turngemeinde von 1861, formed TuS Eintracht Frankfurt von 1861, and the club we face tonight was formally born.
After another name change in 1927, to Sportgemeinde Eintracht Frankfurt (FFV) von 1899, the club continued to challenge for a variety of local and regional league titles and reached the German championship final in 1932, losing to Bayern Munich.
Football in Germany continued to be regionalised during the Third Reich, with Eintracht winning the pre-war Gauliga Südwest in 1938. After the war ended, the club was placed in the Oberliga Süd and won it in both 1953 and 1959.
The latter success was followed by victory over local rivals Kickers Offenbach that secured the national title and a place in the 1959/60 European Cup. There, Eintracht went all the way to the final before famously losing 7-3 to Real Madrid in the final at Glasgow’s Hampden Park.
Those achievements meant it was no surprise that when the new national professional Bundesliga was launched in 1963, Eintracht were among the 18 teams invited to be part of it.
The Frankfurters remained in the top-flight for its first 33 seasons, finishing third on five different occasions and going closest to winning the title in 1991/92, when they ended the campaign just two points behind champions VfB Stuttgart.
However, there were struggles too, with relegation play-offs needing to be won in 1984 and 1989, and Eintracht dropped out of the Bundesliga for the first time in 1996.
That began a period of yo-yoing over the next decade and a half, but, like West Ham United, Eintracht have now been a top-flight club for ten consecutive seasons since winning promotion in 2011/12.
Indeed, there are a number of similarities between the two, with both club’s origins in the 1890s, both winning their national cup competitions on multiple occasions, a single major European trophy and the UEFA Intertoto Cup each, and achieving a record-high finish of third in their respective professional leagues. The German word ‘Eintracht’ even roughly translates to the English word ‘United’!
Speaking of those cup wins, Frankfurt have won the DFB Pokal – Germany’s equivalent of the FA Cup – on five occasions, with the most recent of those in 2018. They also lifted the Intertoto Cup as long ago as 1967, before defeating fellow Germans Borussia Mönchengladbach to win the UEFA Cup in 1980.
While the Bundesliga continues to be dominated by Bayern Munich and, to a lesser extent, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt remain one of Germany’s biggest clubs – a reputation our visitors would undoubtedly love to confirm by winning this season’s UEFA Europa League.
Previous meetings
This will be the second tie in which we have met Eintracht Frankfurt in European competition.
The first was in the spring of 1976, when John Lyall's Hammers recovered from a 2-1 first-leg defeat in West Germany to score a dramatic 4-3 aggregate win in the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup.
The second leg was held on a wet evening at the Boleyn Ground on 14 April 46 years ago.
Trevor Brooking put the Irons in front on the night and levelled on aggregate before Keith Robson belted in a second from 25 yards.
Brooking's superb individual third made it 3-0 before Klaus Beverungen's 87th-minute goal set up a grandstand finish, but with goalkeeper Mervyn Day in sensational form, West Ham clung on to go through.
Prior to that unforgettable tie, West Ham visited Frankfurt's old Waldstadion home for three tour/friendly matches and won all three – 4-0 in May 1923 and 2-1 in both May 1928 and August 1965.
Match officials
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP)
Assistant Referees: Diego Barbero (ESP) and Ángel Nevado (ESP)
Fourth Official: José María Sánchez (ESP)
VAR: Alejandro Hernández (ESP)
Assistant VAR: Juan Martínez Munuera (ESP)
Thursday's tie will be officiated by an all-Spanish team, led by referee Jesús Gil Manzano.
The 38-year-old has taken control of 59 UEFA matches, including 23 in the Europa League, and has been on the FIFA list since 2014.
Born in Don Benito in central Spain, Manzano worked his way up through the Spanish divisions to take charge of his first La Liga match in August 2012.
He has previously refereed Europa League matches involving Southampton, Manchester United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur, and has been regularly appointed to UEFA Champions League fixtures this season, most recently taking charge of Liverpool's 3-1 win at Benfica in the quarter-finals.
