1978-79 European Cup Winners' Cup Semi-final vs Barcelona

Lore & Background

West Ham United was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. It moved to the Boleyn Ground in 1904. The team initially competed in the Southern League and Western League before joining the Football League in 1919. It was promoted to the top flight in 1923, when it was also losing finalist in the first FA Cup final held at Wembley. In 1940, the club won the inaugural Football League War Cup. West Ham United has won five major honours: three FA Cups (1964, 1975, 1980), the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965, and the Conference League in 2023. The club's only European Cup Winners' Cup semi-final was in 1975–76 against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Reader's Guide

West Ham United's highest league position to date came in 1985–86, when it achieved third place in the then First Division. The club has a long-standing rivalry with Millwall. West Ham adopted their claret, sky blue and white colour scheme in the early 1900s, with the most common iteration of a claret shirt and sky blue sleeves first emerging in 1904.

Did You Know?

• Three West Ham players were members of the 1966 World Cup finals-winning England team: captain Bobby Moore and goalscorers Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters.
• West Ham United is one of eight clubs never to have fallen below the second tier of English football, spending 68 of 100 league seasons in the top flight up to and including the 2025–26 season.
• The club won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965 and finished runner-up in the same competition in 1976.