Events in
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Crowdless
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1980 What, No Crowd ? In October of 1980, due to an official ruling after crowd trouble in the away tie, West Ham were made to play their Cup Winner's Cup home tie match with Castilla of Madrid in an empty Upton Park Stadium, thus creating a world record smallest crowd for a 'first class' fixture - zero. Apart from club and other officials (70 from each club including players), a few journalists and 16 'ball-boys' (to retrieve wayward kicks from the empty terraces), no one was allowed to attend, so only 262 non-paying privileged people witnessed the eerie occasion that was described as a weird sensation - to watch a serious contest at a large professional venue with just the echoes of the players shouts to be heard from the empty stands. Added to this, five hundred police ringed the approachs to the Boleyn Ground to deter any attempts by the more determined followers. West Ham had lost the away leg 3 - 1, but scored three times to take the lead, an event that would have 'brought the house down' if the fans had been present. Castilla equalised but the home team went on to score twice in extra time, eventually winning 5 - 1, and 6 - 4 on aggregate.
© Lal Cook. |
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