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1970-71 Football League First Division

Manager: Ron Greenwood

A tough start saw three London derbies, which all ended in draws. After 10 games the team were still without a win and twentieth. The League Cup brought some relief with a narrow 1–0 home win against Hull City, but the journey ended with a 3–1 defeat at Coventry City.

Finally a league win arrived when Burnley were beaten 3–1 at home, with Geoff Hurst grabbing a hat-trick. The following home game with Tottenham brought a record attendance of 42,322, a figure which stands today. New signing centre-half Tommy Taylor made his debut and the Hammers twice came from behind to draw 2–2. It was a great night for Bobby Moore as Celtic were the opponents in his testimonial match. This was England versus Scotland, an ear-shattering game that provided great entertainment. The Scots were leading 3–2 just six minutes from time when Clyde Best equalised to give a final 3–3 scoreline. At Derby County in December Jimmy Greaves, playing in his 500th league game, scored in the 4–2 victory. A poor run of results followed, including a 4–0 FA Cup defeat at Blackpool and a 4–1 home loss to Derby.

In February the Hammers snapped up goalscorer Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson from Newcastle, who scored on his debut in the 2–0 win against Nottingham Forest. It was a big boost to the team in signing Robson and he was again on target in successive home wins over Manchester United and West Bromwich Albion. Relegation was avoided after finishing third from bottom.

Note:

Players in BOLD made their debuts for West Ham United

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
White Hart Lane
2 - 2 (Bennett, Greaves)
15 August 1970
Att: 53,640

Grotier

Bonds

Lampard

Bennett

Stephenson

Moore

Best

Brooking

Hurst

Greaves

Howe

REPORT:

ARSENAL
Upton Park
0 - 0
17 August 1970
Att: 39,903

Grotier

Bonds

Lampard

Bennett

Stephenson

Moore

Best

Brooking

Hurst

Geaves

Howe

REPORT:

CHELSEA
Upton Park
2 - 2 (Howe, Hurst)
22 August 1970
Att: 39,240

Grotier

Bonds

Lampard

Bennett

Stephenson

Moore

Best

Brooking

Hurst

Geave

sHowe

REPORT:

LEEDS UNITED
Elland Road
0 - 3
26 August 1970
Att: 42,677

Grotier

Bonds

Lampard

Bennett

Stephenson

Moore

Best

Brooking

Hurst

Geaves

Howe

REPORT:

MANCHESTER UNITED
Old Trafford
1 - 1 (Hurst)
29 August 1970
Att: 50,676

Grotier

Bonds

Lampard

Bennett

Stephenson

Moore

Best

Brooking

Hurst

Geaves

Howe

REPORT:

SOUTHAMPTON
Upton Park
1 - 1 (Hurst [pen])
31 August 1970
Att: 26,213

Grotier

Bonds

Lampard

Bennett (Eustace)

Stephenson

Moore

Best

Brooking

Hurst

Geaves

Howe

REPORT:

EVERTON
Upton Park
1 - 2 (Moore)
5 September 1970
Att: 29,171

Grotier

Bonds

Lampard

Eustace

Stephenson

Moore

Best (Redknapp)

Brooking

Hurst

Geaves

Howe

REPORT:

HULL CITY : FL Cup (Second Round)
Upton Park
1 - 0 (Eustace)
9 September 1970
Att: 19,160

Grotier

Bonds

Lampard

Eustace

Stephenson

Moore

Best

Redknapp

Hurst

Greaves

Howe

REPORT:

WEST BROMWICH ALBION
The Hawthornes
1 - 2 (Howe)
12 September 1970
Att: 24,606

Grotier

Bonds

Lampard

Bennett

Stephenson

Moore

Brooking

Eustace

Best

Greaves

Howe

REPORT:

NEWCASTLE UNITED
Upton Park
0 - 2
19 September 1970
Att: 25,841

Grotier

Bonds

Lampard

Bennett

Stephenson

Moore

Redknapp (Brooking)

Eustace

Hurst

Greaves

Best

REPORT:

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
Leeds Road
1 - 1 (Hurst [pen])
26 September 1970
Att: 20,885

Grotier

Bonds

Lampard

Boyce

Stephenson

Moore

Best

Brooking

Hurst

Eustace

Howe

REPORT:

BURNLEY
Upton Park
3 - 1 (Hurst 3)
3 October 1970
Att: 23,295

Grotier

Bonds

Lampard

Boyce (Heffer)

Eustace

Moore

JOHNNY AYRIS

Brooking

Hurst

Best

Howe

REPORT:

COVENTRY CITY : FL Cup (Third Round)
Highfield Road
1 - 3 (Hurst)
6 October 1970
Att: 19,362

Grotier

Bonds

Lampard

Lindsay

Stephenson

Moore

Ayris

Best

Hurst

Brooking

Eustace

REPORT:

STOKE CITY
Victoria Road
1 - 2 (Greaves)
10 October 1970
Att: 23,035

Grotier

Bonds

Lampard

Lindsay

Stephenson

Moore

Boyce (Eustace)

Best

Hurst

Brooking

Greaves

REPORT:

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Upton Park
2 - 2 (Eustace, Hurst)
17 October 1970
Att: 42,322

Grotier

Bonds

Lampard

Eustace

TOMMY TAYLOR.

Moore

Ayris

Lindsay

Hurst

Greaves

Dear

Tommy Taylor

REPORT:

CRYSTAL PALACE
Selhurst Park
1 - 1 (Howe)
24 October 1970
Att: 41,396

Grotier

Bonds

Lampard

Eustace

Taylor T.

Moore

Howe

Lindsay

Hurst

Greaves

Dear

REPORT:

BLACKPOOL
Upton Park
2 - 1 (Eustace, Greaves)
31 October 1970
Att: 26,239

Grotier

JOHN McDOWELL

Lampard

Eustace (Heffer)

Taylor T.

Moore

Ayris

Lindsay

Hurst

Greaves

Dear

John McDowell

REPORT:

IPSWICH TOWN
Portman Road
1 - 2 (Hurst)
7 November 1970
Att: 22,993

Grotier

McDowell

Lampard

Heffer (Holland)

Taylor T.

Eustace

Redknapp

Lindsay

Hurst

Best

Howe

REPORT:

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Upton Park
3 - 3 (Best 2, Moore)
14 November 1970
Att: 23,978

Grotier

McDowell

Lampard

Eustace

Taylor T.

Moore

Ayris

Lindsay

Best

Hurst

Howe

Saturday the 14th November 1970 saw the arrival at Upton Park of fourth placed First Division rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers for a game that was to be played in torrential rain in front of a 23,978 crowd.
The fixture saw the return to the side of captain Bobby Moore who had missed the previous match with a hairline fracture of the big-toe on his right foot. Such was the Injury crisis at the time - there were 14 first-team players nursing injuries and thus unavailable for selection - that Bobby played with his toe encased in protective padding which required him to wear a size bigger boots than normal. As he explained afterwards, with a typical Mooro tongue-in-cheek comment: "The boots belonged to Billy Bonds (who happened to be serving a suspension at the time) and I had to move faster than usual to keep up with them !"
Perhaps the first remarkable incident to happen that afternoon was the fact that Bobby himself scored one of his rare- but always spectacular-goals. The second was that he scored from a shot hit with that borrowed boot on his injured RIGHT foot. With the score at 1 -1; Clyde Best had headed a brilliant equaliser in the 33rd minute from a Geoff Hurst cross; the ball was played back to the England maestro, following a goalmouth scramble, in the 50th minute. From fully 30-yards out Moore hit a fiercely stunning volley that caught Parkes, the Wolves goalkeeper, completely off-guard.
Some 24 minutes later, Best added his second, with another header from yet another Hurst centre, to give his side a 3-1 lead.
With ten minutes to go Wolves won a corner. From the resulting kick the ball was fired into the Hammers area but it was met by Bobby Moore who swiftly intercepted to head the ball away. His clearance flew straight into the face of referee Mr. John Gerrard Lewis who was standing virtually right in front of him. The referee was poleaxed by the force of the impact.
Mooro, often accused of being deadpan and unemotional by those who did not really know him, bent over to assist the official. Seeing Mr. Lewis unconscious, Bobby took his whistle from out of his hand, stood up in the correct referee's posture and blew it to halt the game. Bobby then called on the Hammers trainer - Rob Jenkins - to revive and tend to the dazed official who needed several minutes before he was able to restart the match.
When play finally did resume, it was the Hammers who seemed suddenly dazed. First Wolves striker, Jim McCalliog, crashed home a curving shot from the edge of the area and then with three minutes left a header rebounded off a post for Bobby Gould (who was to later join the Hammers) to sweep the ball home from close range to equalise. Suddenly the whole tempo of the game had changed and the final whistle could not come quickly enough for Moore and the Hammers who held on to salvage a point.
After the match Bobby shrugged off his whistle blowing action by simply saying: "It was just instinctive," but his manager, Ron Greenwood, paid him the following tribute: "Bobby has a sense of occasion. One of the secrets of his success is that he does the right thing at the right time."

MANCHESTER CITY
Maine Road
0 - 2
21 November 1970
Att: 28,485

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Eustace

Taylor T.

Moore

Holland

Lindsay (Howe)

Greaves

Hurst

Best

REPORT:

COVENTRY CITY
Upton Park
1 - 2 (Best)
28 November 1970
Att: 22,800

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Eustace

Taylor T.

Moore

Holland

Howe

Best

Hurst

Greaves

REPORT:

DERBY COUNTY
Baseball Ground
4 - 2 (Best 2, Brooking, Greaves)
5 December 1970
Att: 30,806

Ferguson

Bonds

Lampard

Eustace

Taylor T.

Moore

Lindsay

Brooking

Best

Hurst

Greaves

REPORT:

LIVERPOOL
Upton Park
1 - 2 (Greaves)
12 December 1970
Att: 27,459

Ferguson

Bonds

Lampard

Eustace

Taylor T.

Moore

Lindsay (Ayris)

Brooking

Best

Hurst

Greaves

REPORT:

CHELSEA
Stamford Bridge
1 - 2 (Lampard)
19 December 1970
Att: 42,075

Ferguson

Bonds

Lampard (Best)

Eustace

Taylor T.

Moore

Ayris

Brooking

Dear

Lindsay

Greaves

REPORT:

NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Upton Park
26 December 1970 

Postponed : Snow on Pitch

BLACKPOOL : FA Cup (Third Round)
Bloomfield Road
0 - 4
2 January 1971
Att: 21,814

Ferguson

Bonds

Lampard

Eustace

Taylor T.

Moore

Ayris (Dear)

Lindsay

Best

Greaves

Howe

REPORT:

ARSENAL
Highbury
0 - 2
9 January 1971
Att: 49,057

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Bonds

Taylor T.

Howe

Redknapp

Lindsay

Best (Llewelyn)

Brooking

Eustace

REPORT:

LEEDS UNITED
Upton Park
2 - 3 (Brooking, Eustace)
16 January 1971
Att; 34,407

Grotier

McDowell

Lampard

Bonds

Taylor T.

Howe

Redknapp

Lindsay

Hurst

Brooking

Eustace

REPORT:

COVENTRY CITY
Highfield Road
30 January 1971 

Postponed : Pitch Declared Unfit

DERBY COUNTY
Upton Park
1 - 4 (Eustace)
6 February 1971
Att: 26,606

Grotier

McDowell

Lampard

Bonds

Taylor T.

Howe (Moore)

Redknapp

Lindsay

Hurst

Brooking

Eustace

REPORT:

COVENTRY CITY
Highfield Road
1 - 0 (Greaves)
9 February 1971
(Programme reused dated 30 January 1971)
Att: 25,083

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Bonds

Taylor T.

Moore

Redknapp

Boyce

Hurst

Greaves (Lindsay)

Eustace

REPORT:

LIVERPOOL
Anfield
0 - 1
16 February 1971
Att: 38,032

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Bonds

Taylor T.

Moore

Redknapp

Boyce

Hurst

Eustace

Greaves

REPORT:

MANCHESTER CITY
Upton Park
0 - 0
20 February 1971
Att; 30,168

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Bonds

Taylor T.

Moore

Redknapp

Boyce

Hurst

Eustace

Greaves

REPORT:

NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Upton Park
2 - 0 (Hurst, Robson)
24 February 1971
Att: 35,601

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Bonds

Taylor T.

Moore

Redknapp

BRYAN ROBSON

Hurst

Eustace (Lindsay)

Greaves

REPORT:

BLACKPOOL
Bloomfield Road
1 - 1 (Hurst [pen])
27 February 1971
Att: 15,689

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Bonds

Taylor T.

Moore

Redknapp

Boyce

Hurst

Eustace (Greaves)

Robson

REPORT:

CRYSTAL PALACE
Upton Park
0 - 0
6 March 1971
Att: 26,157

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Bonds

Taylor T.

Moore

Redknapp

Boyce

Hurst

Robson

Greaves

REPORT:

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Molineux
0 - 2
13 March 1971
Att: 25,166

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Bonds

Taylor T.

Moore

Redknapp (Greaves)

Robson

Hurst

Boyce

Eustace

REPORT:

IPSWICH TOWN
Upton Park
2 - 2 (Greaves 2)
20 March 1971
Att: 25,957

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Bonds

Taylor T.

Moore

Ayris

Boyce

Hurst

Robson (Best)

Greaves

REPORT:

EVERTON
Goodison Park
1 - 0 (Kendall [og])
30 March 1971
Att: 29,094

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Bonds

Taylor T.

Moore

Redknapp

Boyce

Hurst

Robson

Greaves

REPORT:

MANCHESTER UNITED
Upton Park
2 - 1 (Hurst, Robson)
3 April 1971
Att: 38,507

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Bonds

Taylor T.

Moore

Redknapp

Boyce

Hurst

Robson

Greaves

REPORT:

WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Upton Park
2 - 1 (Greaves, Robson)
9 April 1971
Att: 34,981

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Bonds

Taylor T.

Moore

Redknapp

Boyce (Brooking)

Hurst

Robson

Greaves

REPORT:

NOTTINGHAM FOREST
City Ground
0 - 1
10 April 1971
Att; 20,032

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard (Stephenson)

Bonds

Taylor T.

Moore

Redknapp

Lindsay

Hurst

Robson

Greaves

REPORT:

BURNLEY
Turf Moor
0 - 1
13 April 1971
Att: 15,841

Ferguson

McDowell

Howe

Bonds

Taylor T.

Moore

Redknapp

Eustace (Stephenson)

Hurst

Robson

Best

REPORT:

STOKE CITY
Upton Park
1 - 0 (Hurst)
17 April 1971
Att: 26,269

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Stephenson

Taylor T.

Moore

Redknapp

Bonds

Hurst

Robson

Greaves

REPORT:

NEWCASTLE UNITED
St James' Park
1 - 1 (Hurst)
24 April 1971
Att: 22,790

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Stephenson

Taylor T.

Moore

Redknapp

Bonds

Hurst

Robson

Howe

Events of the preceding week that virtually assured our First Division safety served to ease off the pressure in our match against Newcastle United at St. James's Park, for we travelled north with the knowledge that one point up there would guarantee that Burnley could not catch us.
We got the necessary point - and merited sharing the spoils with the Tynesiders - but it was not a game over which much enthusiasm was aroused. The Magpies were the first to score, but we equalised before the interval and late in the second-half almost snatched full spoils
It was our twelfth away point of the season; although not gained by top-rate soccer it could be attributed to some determined play that we hope augurs well for the future.

SOUTHAMPTON
The Dell
2 - 1 (Hurst, Taylor)
27 April 1971
Att: 19,935

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Stephenson

Taylor T.

Moore

Llewelyn

Bonds

Hurst

Robson

Howe

Our visit to The Dell ended in bitter disappointment for Southampton, as their third successive home defeat could cost them a place in the Fairs Cup next season.
By securing our first-ever win over the Saints in a First Division fixture we immensely improved our own position in the table-a fact materially assisted by five points from our last five away games. 
We took advantage of some unexpected lapses in the home rear-guard to net our goals, but although two up with 25 minutes to go had to defend hard in order to keep our heads in front at the finish. The line-up was the same as at Newcastle, except that Dave Llewelyn made his first League appearance of the season.

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
Upton Park
0 - 1
1 May 1971
Att: 24,983

Ferguson

McDowell

Lampard

Stephenson

Taylor T.

Moore

Redknapp

Bonds

Hurst

Robson

Greaves

REPORT:

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