Today’s blast from the past features a 2-1 victory at home against tomorrow’s opponents, Fulham; it arrived on 15th December 1956, in front of 18,119 spectators. Johnnie Ray was number one with ‘Just Walkin’ In The Rain’ and The Ten Commandments was in UK cinemas. Eastbourne GP Dr John Bodkin Adams was arrested for the murder of patient Edith Alice Morrell four days later.
Fulham had Sir Elton John’s cousin, Roy Dwight, in their starting line-up – Dwight would go on to score the opening goal in the 1959 FA Cup Final for Nottingham Forest against Luton. Also in the Cottagers’ side that day was ‘the Maestro’ and arguably Fulham’s greatest ever player, Johnny Haynes, who won 56 caps for England. Roy Bentley had won 12 caps for England between 1949 and 1955 whilst playing for Chelsea, who he had captained to the league title in 1954/55 – a forward at Chelsea, Bentley had been converted to a centre-half at Fulham. Famous football personality Jimmy Hill was also in the Fulham team for this match at Upton Park, as was wing-half Eddie Lowe who had won three England caps in 1947.
32-year-old Bentley gave Fulham the lead after 20 minutes, heading home from an Arthur Stevens cross, but Hammers right-back John Bond levelled from a free-kick just four minutes later. 23-year-old winger Malcolm Musgrove (pictured below) struck the winner from a Ken Tucker pass ten minutes before half time as Ted Fenton’s Hammers picked up a 2-1 victory in this Second Division pre-Christmas clash at Upton Park.
The Hammers went on to finish in eighth place in 1956/57, while Doug Livingstone’s Fulham finished 11th. Inside-left John Dick would end the season as the Irons’ top goalscorer with 13 goals in 41 matches. Leicester topped the Second Division, Manchester United won the First Division title and Aston Villa won the FA Cup.
West Ham United: Bob Wyllie, John Bond, Noel Cantwell, Andy Malcolm, Malcolm Allison, Bill Lansdowne, Malcolm Musgrove, Roy Smith, Eddie Lewis, John Dick, Ken Tucker.
Fulham: Ian Black, Derek Lampe, Roy Bentley, Ken Collins, Eddie Lowe, Robin Lawler, Roy Dwight, Arthur Stevens, Jimmy Hill, Johnny Haynes, Tosh Chamberlain.
Alphonse Areola welcomes his former club, while Issa Diop visits his old side. A decent number of players join the pair in representing West Ham United and Fulham over the years. These include:
Goalkeepers: Bill Biggar, Jan Lastuvka, Tony Parks.
Defenders: Paul Kelly, Bobby Moore, George Horler, George Redwood, Kevin Lock, Tony Gale, Ryan Fredericks, Jack Hebden, Rufus Brevett, John Paintsil, Paul Konchesky, Ian Pearce, Wayne Bridge, Jon Harley, Alan Stephenson, Andy Melville.
Midfielders: Luis Boa Morte, Dick Richards, George Carter, Papa Bouba Diop, Fergus Hunt, Ray Houghton, Havard Nordtveit.
Strikers: Johnny ‘Budgie’ Byrne, Brian Dear, Alf Harwood, Jack Fletcher, Roger Cross, Archie Macaulay, Iain Dowie, Fred Harrison, Danny Shea, Kenny McKay, Leroy Rosenior, Bobby Zamora, Mladen Petric, Bill Davidson.
Scott Parker played for both clubs and was also manager at Craven Cottage.
Today’s focus though is on a player who represented West Ham and England, before playing for Fulham later in his career. Billy Brown was born in Bournmoor, Houghton-le-Spring, Durham, on 22nd August 1900, the fifth child of Thomas Brown (a coal miner) and Jane Chisholm. He was known to family and friends as ‘Scotty’ Brown on account of his father being half Scottish.
Brown had been plucked from local football in his native North East with Hetton, guesting for West Ham during the First World War. He returned to the Hammers in 1920, making his first team debut aged 20 in a goalless Second Division draw at South Shields on 7th May 1921. It wasn’t until the 1922/23 campaign that Brown won a regular first-team place, at inside-right. He scored his first goals for the club when notching a brace in a 4-1 thrashing of Wolves at Molineux on 16th December 1922 and scored 12 goals in 34 games in this breakthrough season.
Brown scored the only goal in the fourth round second replay victory over Southampton at Villa Park and also scored twice in the 5-2 semi-final win over Derby at Stamford Bridge as Syd King’s Hammers won through to the first Wembley FA Cup Final, a match they would lose 2-0 to Bolton. Brown (pictured below) and his West Ham team-mates could take solace in their first-ever promotion to the First Division at the end of that historic 1922/23 campaign though.
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