Tonight, West Ham host Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in the semi-final first leg of the Europa Conference League at the London Stadium. David Moyes has guided the club to their second European semi-final in as many years, and they will be desperate to go one better than their Europa League semi-final defeat at the hands of eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt 12 months ago. Should they overcome their talented Eredivisie opponents, Fiorentina or Basel will await the east Londoners in next month’s final in Prague. But would victory in the Czech capital be the first time West Ham have lifted a European trophy?
West Ham have one won one regular European trophy in their history, the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup from the 1964/65 season, which was secured following a 2-0 victory in the final over 1860 Munich. The goals were scored within two minutes of each other at Wembley by Alan Sealey, with the starting XI that day also including Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters. En route to the final, West Ham got the better of Gent, Sparta Prague, Lausanne-Sport and Real Zaragoza. The Irons were beaten in the final of the same competition in 1975/76 with a 4-2 defeat to Belgian giants Anderlecht. The club have also one one minor European title – the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1999. The summer football tournament saw West Ham crowned as one of the three champions alongside Juventus and Montpellier.
West Ham’s last major trophy was the FA Cup in 1979/80, when they edged out London rivals Arsenal with a 1-0 victory in the final at Wembley with the only goal of the game scored by Trevor Brooking. This was their third title in the competition following on from victories in 1963/64 and 1974/75. Their only other domestic trophy is the shared FA Community Shield from 1964. West Ham’s last final was the agonising FA Cup defeat to Liverpool in 2006, with Steven Gerrard equalising for the Reds in injury time before winning on penalties at the Millennium Stadium.