Since the Football League Cup was launched in 1960, West Ham have enjoyed a fascinating, if ultimately frustrating, relationship with the competition. The competition arrived during one of the most successful periods in our history. Under manager Ron Greenwood, the club was developing a generation of stars including of course Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters. It was therefore no surprise that West Ham quickly established themselves as contenders in the new tournament.
I remember exactly when the competition began. It was our third season in the top flight and our very first game was at home to Charlton on a Monday night. John Dick, Bobby Moore and Malcolm Musgrove scored in a 3-1 win. The second round brought a trip to fourth division Darlington and a poor display saw us beaten 3-2! One of oh so many disappointments endured against lowly sides in our history. While we have lifted major trophies including the FA Cup (three times) and been successful in European competitions (twice), the League Cup in its many guises (currently the Carabao Cup) has remained elusive despite several memorable runs and two appearances in the final.
We were getting closer in 1963-64 when we reached the semi-final and lost the first leg at Leicester 4-3. A long gap to the second leg of almost two months, partly because of our run in the FA Cup that season which culminated in winning the trophy, and we were well placed to progress to the final. Disappointingly we lost the home leg 2-0 and another chance had gone.
Our greatest opportunity came in the 1965-66 season. Just months after winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup, we embarked on another impressive League Cup campaign. The Hammers reached the final after defeating Cardiff City 5-1 away in the semi-final second leg, one of the club’s biggest victories in the competition. The final was played over two legs, as was customary at the time. West Ham faced West Bromwich Albion but fell short, finishing as runners-up. We gained a 2-1 advantage in the first leg at Upton Park with goals from Johnny Byrne and Bobby Moore only to crash to a 4-1 defeat in the second leg. It remains one of the great “what if” moments in the club’s history. The defeat denied a side packed with England’s World Cup-winning talent the chance to add another major honour to an already glittering era.
In 1971-72 another fine run in the competition led to a semi-final with Stoke City which became a saga played out over four games. The first leg at Stoke was won 2-1 with goals from Best and Hurst. Surely this would be our year? There was drama in the second leg as, with Stoke 1-0 up with four minutes remaining Hurst stepped up to take a penalty – if he scored we would be at Wembley. Unfortunately Gordon Banks made a wonder save and the tie went to a replay at Hillsborough. That game resulted in a 0-0 stalemate, which meant a second replay at Old Trafford. The next game for twists, turns, upheavals and sheer football drama was one of the great cup ties of all time.
On 13 minutes keeper Bobby Ferguson went off for lengthy treatment to be replaced in goal by Bobby Moore. Later Stoke were awarded a penalty which Moore saved but the ball rebounded for Bernard to score. We then rallied with goals from Bonds and Brooking putting us 2-1 ahead. Ferguson, still concussed then returned to play in goal only to concede goals from Dobing and Conroy which saw Stoke reach the final. Which incidentally Stoke won beating Chelsea 2-1.
The club had to wait a few more years for the next appearance in the final. In 1980-81, John Lyall’s side was enjoying one of the most remarkable periods in our history. Having won the FA Cup as a Second Division club in 1980, the Hammers returned to Wembley in pursuit of League Cup glory the following season. Once again, however, the trophy slipped through our grasp.
The first 90 minutes was goalless and the final went to extra time. Liverpool opened the scoring in the 118th minute, when defender Alan Kennedy scored. The goal was hotly contested as the shot passed over Sammy Lee of Liverpool in an offside position, obstructing the view of the West Ham goalkeeper, Phil Parkes. Referee Clive Thomas controversially allowed the goal to stand, his opinion being that Lee was not interfering with play. After the game, our usually placid West Ham manager, John Lyall, uncharacteristically expressed his anger to Thomas and said he “felt cheated”. This was later misrepresented by Thomas as Lyall saying that “Thomas had cheated”. The Liverpool lead lasted two minutes, as West Ham equalised courtesy of a Ray Stewart penalty, after a Liverpool handball on the line blocked a goal bound header from Alvin Martin After that 1-1 draw at Wembley full of controversy we finished runners-up for a second time when Liverpool won the replay 2-1 at Villa Park, a result that remains our closest approach to winning the competition since.
Although the trophy never arrived, the competition has provided several memorable moments for supporters. One of the most extraordinary came in October 1983 when West Ham defeated Bury 10-0 at Upton Park. The result remains the club’s record League Cup victory and one of the most emphatic wins in their history in any competition. We then bought Bury’s centre half, Paul Hilton for £100.000! You can’t make it up where West Ham are concerned.
There have also been painful defeats. Among the most notable was a 6-0 semi-final loss away to Oldham Athletic during the 1989-90 campaign, one of the heaviest League Cup defeats the club has suffered.
The Premier League era has produced mixed fortunes. While we have frequently done OK, deep runs have been relatively rare. Semi-final appearances in 2010-11 and 2013-14 offered hope of a return to Wembley, but neither campaign ended in silverware with two-legged defeats by Birmingham and Manchester City respectively. More recently, we reached the quarter-finals in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2021-22, demonstrating a capacity to compete but falling short of the latter stages to Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham.
One modern highlight came in October 2021 when West Ham eliminated Manchester City on penalties in the fourth round. At the time, City had dominated the competition for much of the previous decade, making the result one of the club’s most celebrated League Cup victories in recent years. West Ham won the shoot-out 5-3 after a goalless draw.
Despite never winning the tournament, West Ham’s overall League Cup record reflects a club that has consistently been capable of producing memorable cup football. Few clubs can point to two final appearances, multiple semi-final runs and record-breaking victories while still describing the competition as unfinished business. Conversely some of the teams that have eliminated us include Darlington, Rotherham, Huddersfield, Stockport (twice), Barnsley, Luton, Oxford, Crewe, Bolton (three times), Northampton, Reading, Chesterfield, Aldershot and Wigan.
The contrast with the club’s (relative) success elsewhere only increases the sense of frustration. West Ham have won the FA Cup three times and claimed European honours in both 1965 and 2023, yet the League Cup remains absent from the honours list. The club officially records the two runner-up finishes, in 1966 and 1981 as its best achievements in the competition.
More than six decades after the tournament’s introduction, the League Cup remains one of the few major domestic honours missing from West Ham’s collection. From the Moore, Hurst and Peters era to the modern Premier League age, generations of Hammers have come close. The challenge for future teams is simple: finally complete the set and turn those near misses into a long-awaited triumph. But that is not about to happen any time soon.
On Saturday we face a first round home tie against another team from the Championship in Portsmouth. It will be nothing more than a pre-season runout in preparation for the important business of trying to regain our place in the Premier League which begins the following weekend when on the Sunday we travel to face fellow relegated side Burnley in the first of 46 challenging games. For the moment the League Cup will remain an afterthought.
Under The Hammers 