Imps 2-1 West Ham, 11 December 1954
1954. Winifred Atwell is at number one with Let’s Have Another Party, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea starring Kirk Douglas, is about to take the box offices by storm, and the Imps beat West Ham in the league at Sincil Bank for the last time to date.
The big news was around the crowd, which I find amusing. The last time we played West Ham, we couldn’t get enough people in the ground! The reporter of the day, N.H.B, asked where the missing 4,000 supporters were. The West Ham game attracted 11,100 supporters, far fewer than the 15,394 that watched us beat Bury on the opening day of the season. It was also below the club’s break-even. The day before, the Imps turned down £25,000 (£564,000 with inflation) for Andy Graver. If only there had been social media, perhaps some support could have been drummed up.
Still, those that did attend saw City get a much-needed victory, the first since November 13th. However, they must have wondered if those staying away had the right idea, as Harry Hooper, an England B international, slipped a ball to John Dick (latterly a Scottish international) for the first goal.
The Imps got level on 25 minutes through Don Dykes. Dykes was a local boy who joined the club from Metheringham, and he evaded ‘half-hearted’ tackles and found himself on the edge of the West Ham area. As a right back, he was described as ‘rather surprised’ to find himself there, but he took advantage and smashed a shot past the keeper to level proceedings.
City then struggled to impose themselves on the game, despite keeping the visitors quiet. The lack of finish was looking likely to ‘present West Ham with a point which, on the run of the game, they did not deserve’. Perhaps there was an element of fortune as the keeper, George Taylor, was carried off. Taylor, a former Gainsborough Trinity keeper, was replaced by Dixon, an outfield player.
It was during this spell the Imps got the winner. Brian Birch, the scorer in the previous win against the Hammers, saw a Roy Finch run and threaded the ball through neatly. He squared for Graver, who needed no second invite to put the ball into the back of the net. It was enough to seal the win. It was not enough to keep Andy Graver at the club – Leicester upped their bid to £27,000, and he left before the next home game.
The season finished with the Imps in 16th, West Ham eighth, ten points or five wins ahead. Graver was back quickly, for a cut-price £14,000, although oddly, the West Ham game the next season, a 1-1 draw in October, drew 11078 supporters – it also proved to be Graver’s last of the season as he moved once again, this time to Stoke City for a ‘large’ fee, reported to be £10,000.