Continuing our series commemorating the 50th-anniversary of the Club’s FA Cup final triumph over Fulham, central defender TOMMY TAYLOR recalls the East End’s scramble for Wembley tickets back in 1975...
The FA Cup final.
Wembley Stadium.
West Ham United versus Fulham.
Saturday 3 May 1975.
It was the hottest ticket in town… just ask Tommy Taylor.
“The FA Cup was massive for West Ham United and our fans and, once we reached the final, everyone was after me,” winces the former central defender, recalling one particular encounter just hours after the Hammers had secured their Wembley date with a semi-final replay victory over Ipswich Town (2-1). “Trying to take it easy, I’d only had a couple of celebratory beers on the team coach coming back from Stamford Bridge because I needed to collect our Great Dane – Bluey – from my wife’s parents on the way home.
“Having put him onto the back seat of our Ford Capri, I saw blue flashing lights in my rear-view mirror so pulled over and wound-down the window just a couple of inches. The copper reckoned my reversing lights were staying on, while driving along. ‘Ah, that keeps happening,’ I said. ‘Well, please get out of the car, Tommy?’ they asked. ‘I’d rather stay here,’ I replied, looking for any excuse not to. ‘I don’t want the dog jumping out, officer.’
“Still, they insisted I opened the door and unlocked the boot which, thankfully, I managed to do without any problems. The copper fiddled around with a couple of wires before nodding: ‘There you go, Tommy, all fixed!’ Then, he said: ‘Right, we’ll follow you home to make sure everything’s okay.’
“The last thing I needed, I replied: ‘But you don’t know where I live?’ The copper nodded: ‘Tommy, we know exactly where you live!’
“I was so careful driving those last couple of miles home but once we’d finally pulled up outside my house, those two coppers came running across, once more, asking: ‘Tommy, any chance of a couple of FA Cup final tickets?’
“We’d literally only just reached Wembley. ‘I don’t know what’s happening yet but if I get any spares, I’ll give you a call,” I waved before dashing inside without taking their telephone numbers!”
Raised in Hornchurch, Tommy – an England schoolboy and youth international – kicked-off his career at Leyton Orient, where he made 100-plus appearances before joining West Ham in October 1970, in a £78,000 deal.
“Arriving for training one morning, manager [and former Hammer] Jimmy Bloomfield was waiting for me,” recounts Taylor, who was also capped eleven times at U23 level. “‘Tom, I’ve just sold you so don’t bother getting changed,’ he said. ‘Where am I going?’ I asked in a state of shock. ‘To West Ham United,’ he replied. ‘Get some breakfast and we’ll head to Upton Park at 12 o’clock.’ Everything happened so quickly.”
The 19-year-old signing made his Hammers debut against Tottenham Hotspur (2-2) in front of 42,322 spectators at the Boleyn Ground – an all-time record attendance at Upton Park.
“It was amazing to finally play in the top division in that kind of atmosphere,” says Tommy, recalling the first of his 399 first-class appearances down West Ham way. “Finding myself marking two men, a cautious Bobby Moore was playing 15 yards behind me. ‘Bobby, I won’t miss the ball, I promise,’ I assured him, hoping he’d move forward to come and play alongside me in central-defence.
“‘How many centre-halves have you had with you here down the years?’ I asked. ‘Five,’ he replied holding up one hand. ‘Well, there ain’t going to be a seventh!’ I smiled. It wasn’t cockiness, just a confidence in my own ability.
“The FA Cup final against Fulham was a huge occasion but, for me, that debut against Spurs was the biggest game of my career.
“Arriving as a teenager, I’d look around Ron Greenwood’s dressing room and see ‘Mooro’, Geoff Hurst, Jimmy Greaves, Frank Lampard, Trevor Brooking and Billy Bonds sitting there. At times, I couldn’t help but giggle at the antics of some of the senior players.
“At half-time, for example, Ronnie Boyce – who we sadly lost in February – would be cutting a cigarette in two for a quick fag before going back out there. Imagine that happening today?”
Equally, it must have been hard to imagine West Ham ever getting to an FA Cup final, too.
In 1970/71, the Hammers notoriously crashed out of the world’s oldest national football competition at freezing Blackpool (0-4) after a quartet of first-teamers had made a well-documented, Friday night visit to a nightclub reckoning the following afternoon’s third-round tie would be postponed.
“I didn’t even know they’d gone out,” insists Tommy. “I’d just gone to bed expecting it to be played!”
And the next three campaigns saw West Ham suffer dismal defeats at Huddersfield Town (2-4), Hull City (0-1) and Hereford United (1-2).
Four seasons into his Claret and Blue career, however, Taylor did get to play in the shadows of the landmark Twin Towers with that 1975 FA Cup final victory over the Cottagers.
After missing the opening tie at Southampton (2-1), he returned for the fourth round to help the Hammers overcome third-tier Swindon Town (2-1) in a replay at the County Ground following a 1-1 draw at the Boleyn Ground.
“When you’re in the top division everyone wants to beat you,” contends the 73-year-old, taking time-out from a winter break in the Spanish sunshine. “You’ve got to make sure that you go and win at those places. After that, we beat Queens Park Rangers (2-1) in a great game at Upton Park. They were a very good team with some really talented players.”
Victory over the Rs set up a tricky quarter-final at a swamp-like Arsenal, where Alan Taylor – one of three pre-Christmas signings – netted twice on his first-ever FA Cup start for the Hammers.
John Lyall’s underdogs also enjoyed a huge let-off, when ‘keeper Mervyn Day sent [future Hammer] John Radford sprawling through the Highbury mud yet, taking those conditions into account, referee Ken Burns waved away the grumbling Gunners’ protests for a penalty.
“Arsenal were a bit upset that day and, looking back, they’d every right to be,” concedes Lincolnshire-based Tommy recalling the 2-0 victory. “Alan had certainly shown everyone he knew where the goal was before going on to score twice in both the semi-final and final, too. ‘Sparrow’ was on fire! In fact, all three of John’s new signings made an impact when they arrived – Billy Jennings was only 5’ 9” but he was a magnificent header of a football, while Keith Robson made a massive change to our side, too. Robbo would always get stuck in, kick people and show that this West Ham team wasn’t afraid to compete.”
The semi-final draw paired the Hammers with Ipswich Town and, following a goalless draw at Villa Park, another crucial refereeing decision then went in favour of Lyall’s lads.
“In the Stamford Bridge replay, Ipswich soon put the ball into our net. I looked across at Kevin Lock, who looked at John McDowell, who looked at Frank Lampard. As defenders, it’d appeared to be a perfectly good goal to us and we knew we’d now really be under the cosh,” he continues recalling an evening when another Alan Taylor double would, ultimately, bring a 2-1 victory plus that comical Keystone Kops cup final ticket pursuit. “Ipswich began celebrating like mad but referee, Clive Thomas, somehow blew for offside. ‘Right, quick, let’s play on,’ I said, hurriedly grabbing the ball, putting it on the floor and taking the free-kick before he could change his mind!
“Anyone’s got a chance in the FA Cup, you just need to get a bit of luck and the right draw as you go into each round.”
Now it was second-tier Fulham and a Wembley rendezvous with the man Tommy had partnered for nearly 150 games across some four seasons at the heart of the Hammers defence.
“When you find yourself playing in an FA Cup final you just want to win,” he insists. “I had to blank everything else out and, although it sounds harsh, Bobby Moore just had to be another opponent until we shook hands at the final whistle.
“We were now led by a different captain, a man who simply had to win every game he played. ‘Bonzo’ was like a bull in a China shop. Mostly all youngsters, we were virtually all Londoners, too, bar two or three players. Young boys, there was a great spirit amongst us and I was so lucky to play with some truly great team-mates.
“On the Friday night, a few of us got a black cab to Wembley dogs and because there were too many passengers, we bundled John McDowell onto the floor,” laughs Tommy. “We’d a rule that last man out paid the fare and, arriving at the stadium, everyone jumped from the taxi while poor Johnny Mac was still scrambling around on the deck!
“The next afternoon, there were 100,000 people inside Wembley but you could still hear everything that was being said out on the pitch. I thought the game against Fulham was our easiest match of the entire competition because our football just flowed,” he continues recalling the majestic May afternoon that saw namesake Taylor memorably bag a third double to secure the famous old trophy. “It was great to hear the final whistle because once we’d gone 2-0 up, the final then seemed to last for ages.
“We had good fun riding on the bus through the East End during Sunday morning’s trophy parade, too,” concludes a rusty Tommy as he contemplates heading back to the driving range to hit yet more practice balls in preparation for his long-overdue return to the golf course. “It was unbelievable to see all that support pouring out onto the streets but – like I say – the FA Cup was massive for West Ham United and our fans...”
