West Ham United and Chelsea battled their way to the final of the 1958-59 Southern Junior Floodlight Cup. The Blues’ overcoming Queens Park Rangers, Bexleyheath and Southampton, while the Hammers enjoyed victories over Millwall, Fulham and Reading. However, due to fixture congestion at the end of the campaign, the tie was delayed to the following season.

Chelsea won the right to host the final on home soil on Wednesday 14 October 1959, and only those players eligible from the previous season could play on this occasion.

Both sides fielded an array of ‘stars of the future’ the Blues’ with Terry Venables, Barry Bridges and Bobby Tambling and the Hammers’ parading Eddie Bovington, Geoff Hurst and Bobby Moore.

A single goal decided the contest, West Ham’s Andy Smillie converting a penalty for hands in the 15th minute, to win the Cup for the third successive season, having defeated Chelsea and Arsenal in the two previous finals with the greater experience of the Hammers the decisive factor on this occasion.

A triple triumph for the Youth Section, which bears testimony to the excellent work done at the time by Bill Robinson and Wally St. Pier.