Echoes of the happy Hammers of 1986
WEST HAM’S SUPER SEASON IS EVOKING MEMORIES OF LYALL’S BAND OF BROTHERS WHO FELL JUST SHORT OF GLORY...
MOST of the records set when West Ham enjoyed their greatest season 35 years ago remain untouched.
Fans remain misty-eyed about the days when Frank McAvennie and Tony Cottee cut a swathe through opposition defences to help the club finish third in the top flight in 1986.
And yet, this year under David Moyes, West Ham are once again on the move. They are fourth, with eyes on a place in Europe and threatening to be the top club in London for the first time since John Lyall’s men chased Liverpool all the way.
As with this season, that campaign didn’t start too well. They lost three of the first four and there were warning signs in pre-season when a heavy defeat at Orient saw a member of the notorious ICF hooligan firm invade the dressing room.
‘He pushed past the manager and laid into the team,’ recalls defender Tony Gale. ‘He’s going: “You’re s*** and so are you, and you’re past it, you’ve got to pull your finger out and God knows why we signed you”.
‘John eventually got him out of the door. We were sitting there in stunned silence when John said: “He’s right, though, isn’t he?”.’
Captain Alvin Martin called a players-only meeting. After some home truths, they burst into a run of 18 league games without defeat.
They won nine in a row, inspired by McAvennie, a new £350,000 signing from St Mirren who had been about to sign for Luton until he met the chairman David Evans and took an instant dislike to him.
When the Scot found out West Ham were keen, he met Lyall at Toddington services on the M1 at 1.30am.
‘We had to keep it quiet,’ says McAvennie. ‘Luton were paying for the flights.’
He provided a feast of goals, many unseen because a broadcasting dispute meant no football was on television until December.
‘McAvennie was like a secret weapon,’ says Martin. ‘No one knew him, most people couldn’t pronounce his name.’
The Scot capitalised on his anonymity by throwing himself into a champagne lifestyle. He had an alternative view on the accolade of ‘top club in London’. Talisman Alan Devonshire was back after two years injured, while Mark Ward, a £250,000 recruit from Oldham, added tenacity in midfield.
‘Over the years, maybe we had become a bit too nice,’ adds Martin. ‘Wardy didn’t respect anybody. He was a cheeky little sod who loved to antagonise.’
As illustrated by a clash with Chelsea hard man, former Aberdeen defender, Doug Rougvie.
‘We went sliding towards the corner flag in a tangle,’ says Ward. ‘When we came to a stop, I just pushed my fingers up his nose and pulled as hard as I could. His nose almost came off. There was blood streaming out. Doug was furious. He wanted to kick lumps out of me but it was right in front of the fans and they loved it.’
Manager Lyall, who died in 2006 aged 66, was hugely popular with supporters and players alike. ‘He would have got along with David Moyes,’ says Gale. ‘They’d talk football all night long.’ Only Everton’s Gary Lineker scored more than McAvennie’s 26 league goals, a haul including the winner at QPR, having just stepped off an overnight flight from Australia following Scotland duty in a World Cup play-off match. ‘We touched down at 9.50am at Heathrow,’ says McAvennie. ‘I called John and he said: “Take a couple of days off”. I told him I wanted to play and he said: “No, you’ve been travelling all night”. I said: “Don’t worry, staying up all night has never been my problem”. I went straight to the team hotel with my boots, persuaded him to pick me, we won 1-0 and I scored the goal.’ Cottee, inspired by his new strike partner, scored 20 and was voted PFA Young Player of the Year. ‘Tony just wanted to score goals,’ laughs McAvennie. ‘If I was through on goal and the keeper came out, I’d pass it to Tony and if he was through, I’d go for the rebound.’ Cottee doesn’t disagree. ‘Frank was a team player,’ he says. ‘Everyone talks about the high press now but it’s not new. Liverpool had Ian Rush putting defenders under pressure and we had Frank. I knew I had to respond. I’d been our top scorer for two years but I was still only 20 and had to work harder.’ An FA Cup run and a winter freeze saw fixtures pile up but West Ham stormed on. They won 4-0 at Chelsea. ‘The moment when the whole country thought: “This lot aren’t bad”,’ says Ward. They fired eight past Newcastle, including a hat-trick from Martin, three goals past three different keepers. Peter Beardsley was in goal by the time his third went in from the penalty spot.
‘Ray Stewart was our penalty taker, so he picked up the ball,’ recalls Martin. ‘I didn’t care but the crowd started singing my name and more or less forced Ray into offering me the ball. We were 7-1 up and Beardsley wasn’t the most intimidating goalkeeper I’ve faced, so I took it.’
Lyall was not impressed. ‘John gave him a rollicking,’ says Gale. ‘He was like: “Well played for the hat-trick Alvin, but Ray’s the penalty taker so don’t f***ing do that again”.’
More than 31,000 fans crammed in to see West Ham fight back from behind to beat relegationthreatened Ipswich in the final home game. ‘The noisiest I’ve heard Upton Park,’ adds Gale.
‘Alan Dickens scored a great goal and Ray Stewart won it with a penalty. The crowd went mad, as did Terry Butcher, who kicked the ref’s door in. He was aggrieved about the penalty and, in fairness to Butch, it probably wasn’t a penalty but he went hunting for the referee who bolted himself in his room.’
Title hopes vanished on the final Saturday of the season. The Hammers won at West Brom but Kenny Dalglish clinched the title for Liverpool at Chelsea.
‘A rumour went around that Liverpool were 1-0 down rather than 1-0 up and our fans were jumping,’ says Gale. ‘We thought we were winning the league.’
Tears flowed. No title and no European football because of the post-Heysel ban. Two days later, they lost at Everton who crept into the runners-up spot.
‘The end of the dream,’ says Cottee. ‘We look back on how special it was but we were the best team in the country and just imagine if we’d won it to give the fans a season like Leicester had.’