1976 European Cup Winners' Cup final

The 1976 European Cup Winners' Cup final was a football match between West Ham United of England and Anderlecht of Belgium. The final was held at Heysel Stadium in Brussels on 5 May 1976. It was the final match of the 1975–76 European Cup Winners' Cup tournament and the 16th European Cup Winners' Cup final. Anderlecht won 4–2 against the 1964–65 European Cup Winners' Cup winners to secure their first ever European trophy.

1976 European Cup Winners' Cup final

Match programme cover
Event	1975–76 European Cup Winners' Cup
West Ham United Anderlecht 2 4
Date	5 May 1976
Venue	Heysel Stadium, Brussels
Referee	Robert Wurtz (France)
Attendance	51,296
← 1975 1977 →

Route to the final

Main article: 1975–76 European Cup Winners' Cup

West Ham United					Anderlecht
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg		Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Reipas Lahti	5–2	2–2 (A)	3–0 (H)	First round	Rapid București	2–1	0–1 (A)	2–0 (H)
Ararat Yerevan	4–2	1–1 (A)	3–1 (H)	Second round	Borac Banja Luka	3–1	3–0 (H)	0–1 (A)
Den Haag	5–5 (a)	2–4 (A)	3–1 (H)	Quarter-finals	Wrexham	2–1	1–0 (H)	1–1 (A)
Eintracht Frankfurt	4–3	1–2 (A)	3–1 (H)	Semi-finals	Sachsenring Zwickau	5–0	3–0 (A)	2–0 (H)

Match

Summary

Pat Holland put West Ham into the lead in the 28th minute. Just before half-time, Frank Lampard misjudged a back pass, allowing Peter Ressel to collect the ball and pass it to Rob Rensenbrink to score the equaliser. In attempting the backpass, Lampard tore a stomach muscle that ruled him out of much of the remainder of the game. Three minutes into the second-half, François van der Elst scored, assisted by Rensenbrink. Keith Robson later equalised for West Ham from a cross by Trevor Brooking. Anderlecht were awarded a very dubious penalty in the 73rd minute, after Holland appeared to win the ball cleanly from Rensenbrink. With no VAR to overturn the decision, the penalty stood and Rensenbrink then scored from the penalty spot. Holland appeared to make clear contact with the ball but Rensenbrink fell very theatrically. (Nb. With two minutes left, as West Ham came close to an equaliser, van der Elst ran through on the break to score Anderlecht's fourth goal for victory in a very even game.^{[citation needed]} As a side note, Anderlecht President, Constant Vanden Stock, admitted paying 1 million Belgian francs (£18,000) to the referee of a European tie in their game against Nottm Forest in the 1984 UEFA cup semi-final. Anderlecht received a one year year ban from European competitions.

Details

5 May 1976

West Ham United	2–4	Anderlecht
Holland 28' Robson 68'	Report	Rensenbrink 42', 73' (pen.) Van der Elst 48', 88'

Heysel Stadium, Brussels

Attendance: 51,296

Referee: Robert Wurtz (France)

West Ham United

R.S.C. Anderlecht

GK 1 Mervyn Day DF 2 Keith Coleman DF 3 Frank Lampard  46' DF 4 Billy Bonds (c) DF 5 Tommy Taylor MF 6 John McDowell MF 7 Pat Holland MF 8 Graham Paddon FW 9 Billy Jennings MF 10 Trevor Brooking FW 11 Keith Robson Substitutes: FW 12 Alan Taylor  46' Manager: John Lyall

GK 1 Jan Ruiter DF 2 Michel Lomme DF 3 Hugo Broos DF 4 Gilbert Van Binst (c) DF 5 Jean Thissen MF 6 Jean Dockx FW 7 François Van der Elst MF 8 Arie Haan MF 9 Peter Ressel MF 10 Ludo Coeck  32' FW 11 Rob Rensenbrink Substitutes: MF 15 Franky Vercauteren  32' Manager: Hans Croon

See also

• 1975–76 European Cup Winners' Cup
• 1976 European Cup Final
• 1976 UEFA Cup Final
• R.S.C. Anderlecht in European football
• West Ham United F.C. in European football

External links

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup results at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
• 1976 European Cup Winners' Cup Final at UEFA.com