In 1954 FA Cup holders West Brom were invited to Belgium to play Hungarian side Honved at the Festival of Football.
At the time Honved were seen as one of the best club sides in the world, with eight players in their first eleven playing a part in the national squad who beat England 6 – 3 and 7 – 1 in the previous 12 months.
A crowd of more than 55,000 packed into Heysel stadium to see Albion go 1 – 0 down in just 55 seconds courtesy of Puskas. The midlands side leveled soon after, and were 2 – 1 up after 16 minutes courtesy of Ronnie Allen. In the second half Albion went 3 – 1 up, Allen again involved in the pivotal move as Nicholls scored.
An injury to Ray Barlow, who the manager refused to replace, saw Albion lose all momentum, and as their defence tired, Honved piled on the pressure and ran out 5 – 3 winners.
As well as this ticket, we also have the Ronnie Allen matchworn shirt from the same game as part of the collection.
