Which Belgian club beat West Ham United 4-2 in the 1976 European Cup Winners' Cup final in Brussels?

Anderlecht's Night of Glory in Brussels

On the evening of 5 May 1976, Brussels hosted one of the most one-sided European finals of the decade. Anderlecht, playing in front of a passionate home crowd at the Heysel Stadium, dismantled West Ham United with a performance that felt almost unfair — ending 4–2 in the Belgian club's favour and securing their first major European trophy.

Home Advantage Like No Other

The final was played at Heysel, which was essentially Anderlecht's backyard. While UEFA technically designated it a neutral venue, the atmosphere was anything but neutral. Belgian fans packed the stands, and Anderlecht fed off that energy from the first whistle. Playing a European final in your own capital city is a rare and extraordinary advantage, and Anderlecht used every bit of it.

Rob Rensenbrink: The Man Who Tore West Ham Apart

The star of the night was Dutch winger Rob Rensenbrink, one of the most electrifying players in Europe at the time. Graceful, direct, and ice-cold in front of goal, Rensenbrink tortured the West Ham defence throughout the match. He was the creative heartbeat of an Anderlecht side that also featured fellow Dutchman Arie Haan, giving the Belgian club a distinctly Dutch flavour during an era when Total Football was reshaping the game across the continent.

West Ham — then managed by John Lyall after the legendary Ron Greenwood stepped upstairs — were not a pushover. They had beaten some strong sides to reach the final and had talented players including Trevor Brooking and Pat Holland. But on the night, they simply could not cope with Anderlecht's pace, movement, and clinical finishing.

A Big Decade for Belgian Football

The mid-1970s were a genuinely golden era for Belgian club football. Club Brugge were competing regularly in Europe and would reach the European Cup final just two years later in 1978. Standard Liège were a formidable domestic force. And RWD Molenbeek briefly punched above their weight on the continental stage. But it was Anderlecht who claimed the silverware that night in 1976, cementing their status as Belgium's most successful club at European level.

What It Meant for Anderlecht

This Cup Winners' Cup triumph was no flash in the pan. Anderlecht went on to retain the trophy the following year in 1977, beating Austria Wien in the final — making them back-to-back Cup Winners' Cup champions. That run of success placed them firmly among the elite clubs in European football during that period.

For West Ham, the defeat was a bitter pill. They remain one of the very few English clubs to have reached a major European final and lost, and that night in Brussels is an uncomfortable footnote in their history. For Anderlecht, it was the start of something special.