Former teammates and friends have expressed their sadness at the passing of Peter Brabrook, the West Ham United all-time great who passed away on Saturday at the age of 79...
Saturday 2 May 1964, Wembley Stadium.
The FA Cup final between First Division West Ham United and Second Division Preston North End.
With just seconds of the 90 minutes remaining, the scores are locked at 2-2 and the 100,000 crowd are preparing for extra-time and a possible replay.
Then, one final throw of the dice for the Hammers. Goalscorer Geoff Hurst surges towards the penalty area from the centre of the field, only to be denied by a well-timed tackle by Preston’s Tony Singleton.
The ball runs wide to the right, where West Ham’s No7 Peter Brabrook is waiting, socks rolled down to his ankles, energy sapped by the hallowed Wembley turf. What follows next is Claret and Blue folklore. Brabrook takes a touch, looks up, and from just inside the corner of the box, clips a cross into space at the far post, where Ron ‘Ticker’ Boyce arrives with perfect timing to guide a header into the corner of the net and clinch the first major trophy in the Club’s history.
“It’s something I’ll always remember,” Ron told us this week, following the sad news that his former teammate and friend had passed away at the age of 79. “We were throwing everything forward and it really was the last chance of the game.
“Once I saw that Peter had the ball in that position, I knew there was an opportunity. Nine times out of ten, he would deliver a perfect cross and I just instinctively drifted into the space at the far post.
“You’d make that run simply because you knew that he had the quality to put the ball in to that area. He had pace, skill and was a top, top player.”
Great character
Peter Brabrook was also a top, top man and, along with everyone connected to West Ham United, Ron was saddened to hear that Peter had passed away on Saturday after a short battle with cancer.
“It’s a great shame that we’ve lost him, so sad for his family,” said Ron. “He was a great character, always laughing and joking, and played the game with a smile.
“I’ll never forget something he did during an away game once. We were hanging on for a point and won a corner in the last couple of minutes. Peter went over to take it but ‘accidentally’ kicked the corner flag instead and went down clutching his leg, helping to waste a bit of time in the process!
“The crowd were in hysterics and the poor old referee didn’t know what to do. That was Peter, though, he was just a tremendous character and loved by all of his team-mates.”
Fellow 1964 FA Cup hero Jack Burkett echoed Boyce’s sentiments about the popular winger, who made 215 appearances under Ron Greenwood between 1962 and 1968.
“Peter was a wonderful guy,” said Jack, who was one of six players from the 1964 side to play at Wembley a year later in the triumphant European Cup Winners’ Cup Final team.
“I used to get the full blast from Peter. Me being a left-back and him being a right-winger, we used to be up against each other when it was attack versus defence in training matches.
“It was hard enough against him in training and I would have hated to be marking him in a proper match. He was quick, had two good feet and could go inside or outside his marker.
“It’s easy to forget that, before he came to West Ham, he was an England international and played at the World Cup in 1958. He was a top-class player and, were it not for injuries and some great wingers around at the time, he might well have played for England in 1966.
“Most of all, though, I’ll remember him as a lovely, down to earth bloke who was always laughing. He used to do things like trip himself up and stage a fall, just to make us laugh.
“Off the pitch, he was a joker, but he was serious in his play and we were lucky to have him. It’s terribly sad that he’s no longer with us.”
He was a hero
A third member of our 1964 FA Cup winning side, Eddie Bovington, also paid tribute to his former Hammers teammate this week.
“He was a hero to everyone when he came to the club in 1962,” said Eddie. “Because he’d played for England at the 1958 World Cup, it was a big, big signing and gave us all a real lift.
“He was a very talented player and a lovely guy off the pitch. We actually roomed together on away trips in that cup-winning season, so I got to know him very well and we were great pals.
“Peter was a comedian, he loved a laugh and a joke, and was one of those that everyone in the dressing room loved. It’s very sad to hear the news and I will miss him.”
Another teammate and long-time friend was Harry Redknapp, who followed Brabrook into the side as West Ham’s right winger in the mid-1960s.
Decades later, after Brabrook had made a successful second career as a butcher, Redknapp brought him back to the Club as an Academy coach.
Brabrook flourished in that role, working alongside Academy Director Tony Carr in developing some of the best players in the Club’s history, and winning the FA Youth Cup and FA Premier Academy League Under-19 double in 1999.
“It’s a sad day and I was so sorry to hear that my big pal Peter Brabrook passed away on Saturday night,” said Redknapp. “Peter was a special character and a great player. He played for Chelsea as a teenager and was the youngest player to play in the England team for a long, long time, where he played in the 1958 World Cup.
“I took him back to West Ham and he coached the successful youth team that we had over a period of years with Tony Carr. He did a great job with the kids for me.
“He never had a bad bone in his body and I never heard him say a bad word about anybody. He was just a fantastic man and I’ll miss him an awful lot.”