Matchday Memories: On This Day 1968 – The Sky Blues Nail The Hammers In L.C. Replay

On this first evening of October in 1968 the Sky Blues under ‘gaffer’ Noel Cantwell, beat West Ham United 3-2 in a League Cup replay at Highfield Road. The two sides had fought out a goalless draw at the Boleyn the previous week, the Sky Blues having removed Portsmouth from the competition in Round Two with a 2-0 win at Highfield Road earlier in the month.

City had not forgotten that they had also been beaten 2-1 by the Hammers at home in their third Division One game of the season in August as one of their five defeats in their first eleven league games (and only two wins so far). The Sky Blues fans within the crowd of 27,594 perhaps feared they would go out this evening!

Instead they saw a hard won 3-2 City victory. They witnessed Sky Blues go two goals up late in the first half, the first through ‘Ernie’ Hunt (on 42 minutes) forcing in a free kick by Ernie Machin (both great players, and later CCFPA members, sadly no longer with us)! A minute from the break John Tudor netted the second though looking suspiciously off-side. However, there was still time for 1966 England World Cup star Geoff Hurst to pull one back with an instant volley on the stroke of half-time. 

Our little terrier of an inside forward Ian Gibson (another sad loss to the Sky Blues family and the wider footballing world) was back in the Sky Blues side and gave England captain Bobby Moore a bit of a run around as a keen second half was in prospect.

Then, eight minutes into the second half Ernie and John’s now fellow CCFPA member Dave Clements increased City’s lead to a degree of comfort poking the ball past Bobby Ferguson after John Tudor shot rebounded from the post.

The Hammers other World Cup winning star Martin Peters then made the score a bit more respectable for the visitors getting the Hammers second four minutes from time as their late flurry failed to find an equaliser.

The team’s were slightly different from the programme (top right).

Cantwell’s CCFC lined up:-

Bill Glazier, Mick Coop, Dietmar Bruck, Ernie Machin*, George Curtis*, Brian Hill*, ‘Ernie’ Hunt*, Willie Carr, John Tudor, Ian Gibson* (sub. Ernie Hannigan*) and Dave Clements.

Sadly, though all team members went on to join this Association, no less than six of them (*) have since passed away, Brian, ‘Gibbo’, all three Ernies and most recently ‘Iron Man’ George!

 

West Ham‘s XI was as follows:-

Bobby Ferguson, Bobby Howe, John Charles, Martin Peters, John Cushley, Bobby Moore, Harry Redknapp, Ron Boyce, Trevor Brooking, Geoff Hurst and Brian Dear.                    Referee:- I.P.Jones (Glamorgan)

After all that effort, the Sky Blues failed to progress any further in the competition being knocking out by Swindon Town in Round Four losing 3-0 away in the replay after a 2-2 draw at Highfield Road (our goals came from John Tudor and Tony Hateley). In the league, in the fourth game between the two clubs that season, West Ham comprehensively beat the Sky Blues 5-2 in March at Upton Park in the Division One return game (City’s goals came from the two Ernies, Machin and Hunt).

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The Hammers finished eighth in the League in 1968-69 whereas the Sky Blues had to face a last day cliff-hanger to survive on the last day with a goalless draw at Highfield Road against Division One runners up (to Leeds United), Liverpool.

That single point guaranteeing twentieth place on 31 points separated us from the relegated Leicester City on thirty points and bottom club Queens Park Rangers on only eighteen points!