The rivalry between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur has endured for well over a century.
The first meeting between these two London clubs, separated by just a handful of miles of the English capital, was played in the Southern League First Division back in 1899.
Since then, the two have met well over 200 times in all competitions.
However, on one Monday afternoon in December 1930, the rivalry was cast aside as the two faced one another in a fundraising match that received Royal approval.
His Royal Highness Edward, Prince of Wales, was the guest of honour at the Boleyn Ground for a game ‘devoted to the funds’ to build an Earl Haig Memorial Hall to serve as the Headquarters of the East Ham branch of the Royal British Legion. Earl Haig was Douglas Haig, a Scottish Army commander who led the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front from late 1915 until the end of the First World War. He had died in 1928, and the hall had been built in his honour that year and opened in January 1929 for the Royal British Legion.
Played on Monday 8 December 1930, the match was unfortunately played in ‘very inclement weather’, according to a report published the following Friday in the West Ham and South Essex Mail, meaning a ‘comparatively small number of spectators (were) present, despite the magnetic attraction of our popular Prince’.
HRH The Prince of Wales did indeed attend the match, as did an estimated 10,000 spectators.
However, with the light already fading and no floodlights in place at that time – it would be the early 1950s before they were installed at the Boleyn Ground – he did not arrive in time to take the ceremonial kick-off, as had been planned.
Regardless, His Royal Highness took his seat in the stand during the first half and was ‘an interested spectator’, before being introduced to the teams on the ‘very soft’ pitch at half-time, shaking hands with all the players individually.
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