SCORING AGAINST An OUTFIELD KEEPER. TWICE!

West Ham legend Alvin Martin didn’t score many goals, but his hat-trick in an 8-1 win over Newcastle in 1986 was against three keepers – two of them outfielders…

A HAT-TRICK AGAINST THREE DIFFERENT KEEPERS? HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT?

To be honest, I had no idea I had scored past three different keepers until a local journalist told me after the game – now I probably get asked about that hat-trick more than anything else that happened in my career! It was just a perfect storm. Newcastle started with Martin Thomas – an actual goalkeeper – in goal, but he must have started the game carrying some kind of injury. It was back in the days when teams were only allowed to have one outfield substitute – so Newcastle were always up against it.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR GOALS, THEN...

My first goal was a little tap-in. Thomas had to go off at half-time and the goals then started raining in for us. The second keeper was a guy called Chris Hedworth, who normally played as a centre-back. I managed to score a header past him after an hour, which I think made it 5-0.

AND THEN CAME YOUR BIG MOMENT…

The third goal was probably the most famous. I don’t know what happened to Chris, but he had also gone off and Peter Beardsley had gone in goal to cap off their night. We got a penalty right at the end of the game. We were 7-1 up and the whole stadium was shouting for me to step up and take it. Ray Stewart, who used to take all of our penalties, came over and asked me if I fancied it. ‘Of course I do,’ I said, so he gave me the ball. The crowd were going mad. I put it to Peter’s right and that was that. As far as hat-tricks go, it wasn’t the best, but I didn’t care about that. It was the only hat-trick I scored.

DID YOU DO THINGS ANY DIFFERENTLY IN THE KNOWLEDGE THE MAN BETWEEN THE STICKS WASN’T ACTUALLY A KEEPER?

I suppose my attitude was that it didn’t matter who was in goal. I wasn’t running up to take that penalty kick thinking about Beardsley between the posts – I wanted to make sure that the ball found the net.

COULD YOU ENVISAGE THAT KIND OF THING EVER HAPPENING AGAIN THESE DAYS?

Well, it really just went to show just how difficult it was for clubs back then when a goalkeeper had to go off. I remember Julian Dicks did it for us once. He was brilliant in training – throwing himself everywhere – so we actually thought he could do a decent job in a game. It’s the basic things that are hard for an outfield player, as they’re not used to doing them.