On Wednesday, West Ham United will face Fiorentina in Prague in the UEFA Europa Conference League Final.
This’ll be the Hammers’ third appearance in a European Final, and first for 47 years.
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Read all about the history of Fiorentina in European Finals here.
West Ham United 2-0 1860 Munich: Cup Winners’ Cup Final 1965
Back in May 1964, West Ham United won the FA Cup for the very first time, beating second-tier Preston North End 3-2 at Wembley, with Ronnie Boyce the scorer of a 90th minute winner.
This saw Ron Greenwood’s team qualify for Europe for the very first time, featuring in the fifth edition of the relatively new Cup Winners’ Cup.
The Hammers beat Gent 2-1 in the first round, edged out Sparta Prague 3-2 in round two before a 6-4 victory over Lausanne-Sport.
The difficulty level increased in the semi-finals, but the Irons had enough to overcome Real Zaragoza, winning 2-1 at home before a 1-1 draw at La Romareda, with John Sissons bagging the decisive equalise in Spain.
Alan Sealey was to be the hero of the night, scoring twice in just two minutes, first getting on the end of Boyce’s through-ball. before pouncing on an error made by Munich goalkeeper Petar Radenković.
Manager Greenwood is one of the longest-serving coaches in English football history, taking charge of 231 matches across a 13 year period, before becoming England boss.
This triumph against 1860 Munich is his crowning achievement and, to date, is also West Ham’s greatest success.
The following season, as holders, West Ham did reach the Cup Winners’ Cup semi-finals again, but were beaten 5-2 by eventual winners Borussia Dortmund.
West Ham United 2-4 Anderlecht: Cup Winners’ Cup Final 1976
It would actually then take West Ham a decade to qualify for Europe again, returning by winning the FA Cup in 1975, beating Fulham 2-0 in that final.
Now led by John Lyall, the Hammers once again cruised through the early rounds, overcoming Reipas Lahti and Ararat Yerevan, before an away goals win over ADO Den Haag, following a 5-5 aggregate draw.
In the semi-finals, as would be the case in 2022, the Irons were paired with Eintracht Frankfurt, only, unlike last season, they were able to overcome the German club back then.
Despite a 2-1 defeat at Waldstadion, West Ham managed to turn the tie around with a 3-1 victory at the Boleyn Ground, in which Trevor Brooking scored twice and Keith Robson was also on target.
So, this set up a final showdown with Anderlecht.
11 years earlier, West Ham had enjoyed the luxury of playing a final at Wembley with rolls-revered this time, as the tie was played at Heysel, little over five miles across Brussels from Anderlecht’s home ground.
Despite leading early through Pat Holland, the Irons were eventually beaten 4-2, both Rob Rensenbrink and François Van der Elst scoring twice, as Anderlecht claimed the first of their five major European honours.
In the subsequent 46 years, West Ham had not returned to a European Final, coming agonisingly close in the Europa League just 12 months ago.
This time in the Europa Conference League, following knockout wins over AEK Larnaca, Gent and AZ, David Moyes’ men will be in Prague on Wednesday taking on Fiorentina, 90 minute away from the club’s first silverware of any kind for 43 years.
