Southend's Cliffs Pavilion was packed with West Ham fans last night as the 1980 FA Cup Final squad rolled into town.
The entire squad - bar midfielder Geoff Pike and full back Frank Lampard, who was said to be too ill to appear - attended the event at the seaside resort's seafront venue to share stories from their respective careers and that memorable Cup run.Embed from Getty Images
And it was an evening thoroughly enjoyed by the hundreds of Hammers fans who attended to watch the show before meeting ands greeting the likes of Paul Allen, Phil Parkes and David Cross, who stayed behind to chat to fans.
"I took my Dad along and we had a great evening," said KUMB member bab_whu. "Despite being too young to have seen us lift the Cup, or to have even seen any of the 1980 squad play I personally had a fantastic night."
Great night at West Ham 1980 FACUP winners night at the cliffs great to see the old boy #COYI pic.twitter.com/mse1j9dNfx
— Stuart (@Stuartwlls) October 11, 2018
"Bloody brilliant night!" wrote fellow KUMB member Col Hammer. "It seems like they all get on really well still. Hats off to Tony Gale, he really is good at these nights, and translating for Tonka was top class!
"A top, top night which I would recommend to anyone in the future, regardless of age, as the stories are just fantastic."
The evening ended with Billy Bonds ceremoniously lifting the FA Cup for one final time - to rapturous appluse from the audience.
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