Now this is kind of spooky. I set out to go through our greatest ever players, and list them in order, irrespective of the positions they played in. There was no reason, therefore, why we should not end up with ten midfielders and a right back in the top 11, or two keepers, three forwards, two midfielders and four left backs. But our first 10 so far have made up the basis of a 4-4-2 team: Parkes, Stewart, (player to be named) Moore, Lampard; Peters, Bonds, Brooking, Devonshire; Cottee & Hurst. How freaky would it be if number 11 in the list were to be a centre half therefore, a towering bruiser of a centre back to compliment the much more subtle Bobby Moore? Honestly, this wasn't planned, but my number 11, to wear the number 5 shirt, is Alvin Martin!
Now naming Alvin in the team doesn't come easy to me because he and Mervyn Day were responsible for disillusioning me and destroying my concept of heroes committed to the club's cause. Let us go then, you and I, when the evening is spread out against the sky like Ashton etherised upon a table...to January 31st, 1978. The first team are playing in the FA Cup at QPR but your blogger is on the terraces at the old Dell, watching West Ham's stiffs playing Southampton reserves. In goal is Day, dropped from the first team to be replaced by the now veteran Bobby Ferguson, and at right back is a gangly young Alvin Martin who has yet to make his debut but who has been in the first team squad and is being talked about as "one for the future" and another from the "West Ham production line". And your blogger is on the terrace, behind Day's goal, little red tranny radio (that's what they were called, it wasn't dressed in stockings!) glued to the ear, listening, in those days, to Radio 2, trying to pick up news on how we are doing at Loftus Road. For the record, West Ham reserves went down 2-0 to Southampton and, at the end of the game, after successfully defending a corner, Day and Martin turned to me (yes me!) in my West Ham scarf and Martin asked, "Do you know our result in the Cup?" I replied, "We lost 6-1!" and awaited the look of dejection on the faces of two West Ham soldiers...but instead both beamed forth a huge big smile! Sod the team, sod the club, sod the fans, this was their chance to get into the first team!
So picking Martin involves overcoming a massive prejudice, not least because he is a Scouser and so, along with Stewart, one of only two foreigners in the top 11! But, at the end of the day, I have to concede he deserves it! Alvin's career started in that 1977-78 season and stretched all the way through to 95/96, taking in 593 starts in total (with another 7 as sub) and including 34 goals in the right net. He was Hammer of the Year three times, in 80, 82 and 83 and won an FA Cup winners medal. In that great year of 85-86, Alvin only missed two league games as we so nearly did the impossible of winning the title!
Alvin also picked up 17 England caps showing that he was genuine class. Of course he lacked the finesse of Bobby Moore but that wasn't his job. England won the World Cup in 66 with Jack Charlton alongside Moore and Martin was in the same sort of mould. He hit opposing forwards hard, would head the ball clear all day and all night and did not believe in taking prisoners. He would walk in to our present team and the name of James Collins would not be considered worthy of a mention. Upson or Martin to play alongside Moore? No contest in my opinion!
Alvin also has another claim to fame that I was on hand to witness. How many centre backs have ever scored a hat-trick? Well on April 21, 1986 Alvin did it, bagging three goals in an 8-1 victory over 10 man Newcastle, who finished the game with Peter Beardsley, all five feet nothing of him, in goal. What a great night that was! And if only we had read the runes, for who scored an own goal at Upton Park that wonderful night? One Glenn Roeder! God was trying to tell us something!
So let's slot Martin into that team: Parkes; Stewart, Martin, Moore, Lampard; Peters, Bonds, Brooking, Devonshire; Hurst & Cottee. Not a bad side is it? And how genuinely spooky is it that, without cheating, my top 11 players make up a complete team? One other thing worthy of note perhaps - they are all Brits. Does that say something about the commitment of overseas players to the cause? It may be even worse than Martin's and Day's!
Great choice I was also there to see Alvin's hat trick, against three different keepers, a real quiz night teaser a true giant of the game and also for sticking one on Ince (a brit totally committed to himself unlike the foreigner you don't like who was totally committed to the cause to the extent he offered to sign 2 contracts 1 if we stayed up and another in the event of releagation. Turned down by Terry Brown who doubled his own salary so he could say when we were relegated that he would halve his salary a man with West Ham truly held dear and another brit)
ReplyDeleteFrom a fully committed foreign fan By the way I doubt we'll ever have anyone who is committed to anything but the money ever again
Th foreigner comment was tongue in cheek Deane but it is interesting that none have made it in so far. But then, what have West Ham won with an overseas player in the team?
ReplyDeleteI was on the North Bank that night and, as I remember it, most of the goals went in at the other end. Where were you? I know Beardsley ended up in goal, do you remember who the first replacement keeper was? Roeder by any chance?
I was in the chicken run (blessed was the chicken run,never been the same for me since they put seats in there)Strange how memories do you in I seem to remember the goals going in at the North Bank end. The substitute keeper before Beardsley was their other? centre half Hedworth and for the record the half time score was 4-0 We obviously remember one half each
ReplyDeleteOh and not getting all upset on the race thing this time was merely also a jape
I also personally think the highest ranked foreigner for me would be Frankie van der Elst
Van der Elst? That takes us back! What about Clyde Best? Or Miklosko? Or Paulo? Or Kanute? Or Tevez? Or Bilic? Or Ilunga? Or Repka? Or Behrami? In three years time, it might be Diamanti! There haven't been many good ones when you start to think about it! Who have I forgotten from that little brain storm? It aint going to be Song or either of the Cameras!
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