Today I'm going back 43 years to 1979 and my first ever visit to West Ham's Boleyn Ground to watch the Hammers in a Second Division London derby against Chelsea. The attendance on that Monday night was a very healthy 31,627.This was West Ham's second game of the League season and their first home fixture
From the 1950's until the 1970's there was a fashion, particularly amongst the London clubs, to produce smaller "pocket sized" programmes and West Ham stuck to the format for longer than most. I have to say that I miss these smaller issues. They were small but perfectly formed, containing all the information pertinent to the match in question and the thickness of a whole season's worth of those smaller issues is about the same as a 3 or 4 current season 100-page extravaganzas. As a result the modern large issues take up a significant amount of space when it comes to housing a collection whereas the old ones are much easier to store. Progress? I think not. A new season Tottenham Hotspur home issues is now £4 for 82 pages, many of which are adverts, lists of boxholders, articles on non-football matters such as good deeds in the community etc. I would much prefer a much smaller issue without all the irrelevant pages priced at say £2.50. Is it any wonder that matchday programme sales are falling when programmes are becoming so expensive? Rant over.
I remember that we were staying down in Hornchurch with my grandparents and I was desperate to go to a football match while we were there. At the age of 16 I wasn't allowed to venture to a football match on my own and so, after a lot of badgering, my Dad (who was not a football fan) eventually agreed to take me to the featured game. I think that I knew that West Ham v Chelsea was likely to be a "tasty" fixture but it only became clear just how tasty it was when we arrived at the stadium and witnessed a number of skirmishes both inside and outside the stadium. Certainly the police were kept very busy that evening! From our secure vantage with the home fans on the North Bank we could see all sorts of mischief and fighting taking place at the other end of the stadium and the shenanigans were possibly as entertaining as the football on display. Chelsea eventually inflicted West Ham's second defeat of the season winning by a single goal.
The season was to end in a disappointing near miss for Chelsea and glory for the Hammers who won the FA Cup Final, beating Arsenal 1-0 at Wembley. Chelsea finished fourth (compared to West Ham's seventh place finish), level on points with promoted Birmingham City but, crucially, with an inferior goal difference. Champions of what is now called "The Championship" were Leicester City with Sunderland and the aforementioned Birmingham City also promoted in the days before end of season Play-Offs. Relegated that season were Fulham, Burnley and Charlton Athletic.
CRB Match No. 48
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