sport news Ex-Hammers star Pat Holland speaks on the ecstasy and ultimate agony of ... trends now
West Ham’s last run to a European final was an archetypal 1970s tale of controversial decisions, World Cup stars and problems behind the Iron Curtain.
The Hammers, who won the European Cup-Winners’ Cup under Bobby Moore, returned to the competition in 1975-76 and came close to glory before losing 4-2 to Anderlecht.
After progressing past Finland’s Reipas Lahti in the opening round, John Lyall’s FA Cup winners were drawn against Ararat Yerevan, then part of the old Soviet Union though now in modern Armenia.
Travel was more complicated than hiring a private plane, as the club would do now.
‘We had to fly Aeroflot to Moscow and then change for another long journey south,’ says midfielder Pat Holland. ‘Things didn’t get any easier on arrival. Airport security took so long studying my picture I didn’t think I was going to get in. When we finally reached the hotel, it was infested with cockroaches.’
Pat Holland made 245 appearances for West Ham United across the spell of 12-year period
Holland reflected on his own European final with West Ham in 1976, ahead of the club's monumental Europa Conference League final clash with Fiorentina next Wednesday evening
West Ham beat Yerevan and then Dutch side Den Haag in the last eight. Semi-final opponents Eintracht Frankfurt were strong, boasting German World Cup winners from two years earlier, Bernd Holzenbein and Jurgen Grabowski
Frankfurt won the first leg 2-1 but then succumbed 3-1 at a raucous Upton Park. ‘Trevor Brooking had one of those nights and scored twice,’ says Holland. ‘He was our most creative player. The secret was having workers around him, getting goal-side and giving him the space and freedom to play.’
Holland, pictured during an FA Charity Shield match, recalls the agony and ecstasy from their 4-2 defeat against Anderlecht in 1976
The next day’s headlines proclaimed ‘Terrific
