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A Block = £11.00
B Block = £12.00
C Block = £15.00
D Block = £12.00
North & South Bank = 5s
West Enclosure = 6s
A Block = 10s
B Block = 12s
C Block = 15s
D Block = 12s
E Block = 9s
Pre - Season Friendlies
BRENTFORD
Griffin Park
0-1
27th July 1968
Rare Single Sheet Programme
Ferguson
Charles J.
Howe
Peters
Stephenson
Moore
Dear (Redknapp)
Boyce
Brooking
Hurst
Sissons
DARTFORD
Watling Street
3-0
27th July 1968
Grotier
Morgan
Glozier
Bovington
Cushley
Millar
Holland
Lindsay
Hartley
Cross
Llewelyn
CRYSTAL PALACE
National Recreation Centre
4-2
29th July 1968
Fourteen players made the trip to Germany for a pre-season tour, accompanied by Ron Greenwood, Albert Walker, physiotherapist Rob Jenkins and director Mr. Will Cearns.
The first game was against an amateur combination at Cloppenburg, and was preceded on the Tuesday evening by a civic reception at the Dorfkrug, which is in the museum village; the meal was a typical peasant repast which is also part of the tourist attraction of this area.
The players had a light training session on Wednesday morning, and attracted a 5,000 attendance for the evening kick-off. The Hammers took a little while to settle down to the combination of a light ball and bumpy pitch, and for the first 25 minutes Cloppenburg held their own; in fact they got a merited equaliser and nearly snatched the lead. But two more goals reflected our overall superiority and we were well worth the 3—1 interval lead.
For the second half Heffer, Charles and Brooking took over from Bonds, Howe and Boyce. The after-the-interval exchanges rather resembled those of the first 45 minutes, and early on Ferguson made two fine saves, one from a penalty. But it was obvious that the homesters were tiring, and with the score at 4—1 the Hammers piled it on with a further quartet in a ten-minute blitz. This was what the 5,000 attendance had come to see, and they gave the Hammers a great ovation at the end of the 8—1 victory.
In direct contrast to the English weather at the time we were in the middle of a heat-wave, and brilliant sunshine kept the temperature touching the 80-degree mark throughout the tour.
We left for Berlin on the Thursday afternoon, and arrived there around 5 p.m. There was a tremendous reception for the Hammers at Templehof Airport and it was evident that they were looking forward to seeing the team described in their press as " None play so fair as West Ham."
With the thermometer hitting the high spots and holidays still on, the attendance in the Olympic Stadium was down to 18,000. They looked lost in the 80,000 capacity bowl (all seated), but the British contingent gave plenty 9f support and Union Jacks were much in evidence.
In general we dominated the afternoon's proceedings, and with a two-soal interval lead cruised home in the second half. Bobby Moore hit the upright six minutes after the start before Harry Redknapp put us ahead five minutes later, and Moore got the second with a 40-yard drive in the 43rd minute which the 'keeper reached but could not hold. Altogether we created a couple of dozen or more real chance that could have led to further success, and the eventual 2—0 margin did not represent our superiority.
B.S.C. Hertha were disappointed with themselves, for although they had lost by 2—4 to Dinamo Bucharest a week earlier they obviously expected to do better on this occasion. They included four of nine new signings, among them Brungs (second-highest scorer in the Bundesliga last season with Nurnberg F.C.) and Austrian national goalkeeper Freydl (who they replaced at half-time). But against a fine Hammers' performance they were rendered very inept and we could appreciate their disappointment.
NEWCASTLE UNITED : Football League
St James' Park
1-1 (Dear)
10th August 1968
Referee:
Att: 36,830
Ferguson
Bonds
Charles J. (Sissons)
Peters
Stephenson
Moore
Redknapp
Boyce
Dear
Hurst
Brooking
FOOTBALL COMBINATION
There have been changes in the composition of the Football Combination. Coventry City have been elected to the Central League and Brighton & Hove Albion have also resigned, but Luton Town and Queens Park Rangers both re-joined.
The 26 clubs are now in one Division, playing each other once in the league tourney (instead of the usual home-and-away).
The cup competition is made up of four groups ; three are of six clubs playing each other twice, and the other is of eight clubs who also play a total of ten matches in an uneven series. The winners and runners-up of each group qualify for the quarter-finals.
Ernie Gregory will be team-manager of the Reserves, Dave Gladstone being the physiotherapist in attendance.
BIRMINGHAM CITY : Football Combination Cup
Upton Park
3-1 (Cross 2, 1 (pen), Bennett)
10th August 1968
Death
Heffer
Glozier
Bovington
Cushley
Miller
Clements
Lindsay
Hartley
Cross
Bennett
The heavy rain which preceded last week-end's games caused a lot of concern at Upton Park, and had it rained any more on Friday night the opening fixture here could well have been called off. Howeyer, everything turned out satisfactorily in every respect, and although there were one or two "skid-marks" showing at the final whistle the playing-surface came through well.
What is more, pur Reserves also opened their Combination Cup schedule with a well-taken 3—1 victory over Birmingham City Res. The Blues had a strong-looking line-up, but our second-string pinned them back to take a 2—0 half-time lead, Roger Cross scoring the first from 25 yards and the second goal being a great header by Peter Bennett to meet Eddie Bovington's centre. After the interval Roger Cross got his second goal (this time from the penalty-spot), and although the City reduced the margin before the end we were well in control.
READING : South East Counties League Division I
Chadwell Heath
0-0
10th August 1968
Our senior Youth XI contained several amateurs and young apprentices, the line-up being virtually a completely new one for the season. In the circumstances the goalless draw was a fair one, as the Reading Colts side which opposed them are new entrants to the S.E. Counties League.
METROPOLITAN LEAGUE
Towards the end of last season we had contemplated disbanding our "A" Team as such and dropping out of the Metropolitan League. However, we revised our plans and stayed in a competition which now consists of 16 clubs. Among these are newcomers in Bletchley, Romford Reserves, Stevenage Athletic, and Welling-borough Town. Brentwood Reserves and Chatham have resigned. John Lyall will be in charge of the "A" Team with Archie Wood as team-attendant.
Against professional Hatfield Town our "A" Team played well considering that we had a very young side out. Stuart Morgan was unlucky not to score early on when his shot was headed off the line, but after 20 minutes Terry Scales passed to Tony Carr who rounded the centre-half to score.
Hatfield mounted a lot of pressure just after half-time and equalised. But within ten minutes we were once again in the lead ; Scales and Carr were again the responsible combination ; the winger overlapped down the left, the goalkeeper could not hold his cross and Carr headed inside the far post. Hatfield's second equaliser came with a few minutes to go.
