1975/76: Anderlecht win six-goal thriller
Tuesday 1 June 1976
e-mail
Print
Digg
Save
Former Anderlecht coach Raymond Goethals (©Getty Images)
RSC Anderlechtois 4-2 West Ham United FC
Heysel Stadium, Brussels
Few finals are exhibitions of fearless attacking football – which is why the 1976 final was an epic. Strangely, RSC Anderlechtois (only renamed RSC Anderlecht in 1984) faced no big-name opposition on their way to a first Belgian triumph, beating UFC Rapid Bucuresti, FK Borac, Wrexham AFC and BSG Sachsenring Zwickau, before entertaining West Ham United FC in a final played on their doorstep, at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels. But this is not to detract from the thrilling football played by a team which included Rob Rensenbrink, Arie Haan, François Van der Elst and Ludo Coeck – who tragically lost his life in a car crash in 1985.
Greenwood looks to youthful pastures
Ron Greenwood’s West Ham United had lost the stars of yesteryear, but Trevor Brooking remained a cultured influence in midfield while livewire forwards Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson, Bill Jennings and Pat Holland were a handful for any defence.
Belgians stuuned into reply
The crowd, mostly Anderlecht supporters, were shocked when Pat Holland gave the ‘Hammers’ a 28th minute lead. This stung the Belgian team into action and Rob Rensenbrink equalised three minutes before half-time. The second half was even more entertaining end-to-end football. François Van der Elst made it 2-1 only for Bryan Robson to level the scores after 68 minutes. Rensenbrink put Anderlecht 3-2 up five minutes later and, with the 1965 champions frantically trying to force extra-time, Van der Elst – who went on to play for the ‘Hammers’ in the 1980s – clinched an epic 4-2 win in a final which had been an advertisement for attacking football.
| RSC Anderlechtois - West Ham United FC | 4 - 2 |
| Stage | Final |
| Half-Time | 1 - 1 |
| Date | 05.05.1976 |
| Kick-Off | 20:15:00 |
| Venue | Heysel |
| City/Town | Brussels |
| Attendance | 51,296 |
| Referee | WURTZ Robert (FRA) |
| Match Report | |||||
 | 28' | HOLLAND Pat | |||
 | 32' | COECK Ludo (out) / VERCAUTEREN Frank (in) | |||
| 43' | RENSENBRINK Rob | |||
| 47' | LAMPARD Frank (out) / TAYLOR Allan (in) | |||
| 69' | ROBSON Keith | |||
| 48' | VAN DER ELST François | |||
| 73' | RENSENBRINK Rob (pen) | |||
| 88' | VAN DER ELST François | |||
| Team Line-Ups | |
| RSC Anderlechtois | West Ham United FC |
| RUITER Jan (G) | DAY Mervyn (G) |
| LOMME Michel | COLEMAN Keith |
| VAN BINST Gilbert (C) | TAYLOR Tommy |
| BROOS Hugo | BONDS Billy (C) |
| THISSEN Jean | LAMPARD Frank |
| VAN DER ELST François | HOLLAND Pat |
| HAAN Arie | McDOWELL John |
| COECK Ludo | PADDON Graham |
| DOCKX Jean | BROOKING Trevor |
| RESSEL Peter | JENNINGS William |
| RENSENBRINK Rob | ROBSON Keith |
| Used Substitutes | |
| VERCAUTEREN Frank | TAYLOR Allan |
| Head Coach | |
| CROON Hans | GREENWOOD Ron |
©uefa.com 1998-2009. All rights reserved.
