In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 10 to 1

And so we come to it. The ten greatest players to have played for West Ham United, and I strongly suspect that you could name most of them off the top of your head.

10. Johnny Byrne (1962 - 1967)

Appearances: 206  Goals: 108 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (9) WHUFC (26) WHTID (17)

The absolute worst ranking in the clubs list as they somehow put "Budgie" at 26, despite him being arguably the most complete striker in our history. Part of the issue is presumably that he didn't play for as long as others, but few have scored with the frequency he did and with such all round excellence. Byrne was already an established international when he signed from Crystal Palace, and his influence was soon felt as he won Hammer of the Year in 1964, scoring 33 goals and leading us to the FA Cup Final.

This looks promising

When I mentioned this project to my old coach, Steve Cowley, he told me that Byrne was his favourite player growing up not just because of his ability, but also due to the impact he had on Geoff Hurst. As usual, Steve was right. Byrne showed Hurst how to be an all round forward capable of both scoring and providing, with the irony being that Hurst ended up taking the spot in England's 1966 World Cup squad that would probably otherwise have gone to Byrne. In retrospect it seems bizarre that the latter didn't make it having scored a hat trick in 1964 against Eusebio and Portugal, but he suffered a knee injury immediately before the 1965 European Cup Winners Cup Final which seems to have curtailed his season.

A larger than life character off the pitch, Byrne returned to Crystal Palace in 1967 without too much joy, as injuries and a life well lived took their toll. Footage of him is hard to find but it shows an outstanding finisher with either foot or head, and a clever link man with his team mates, which led Ron Greenwood to call him "the English Di Stefano". Google it, kids.


9. Jimmy Ruffell (1921 - 1937)

Appearances: 548  Goals: 166 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (36) WHUFC (21) WHTID (N/A)

Splendid left winger who remains fourth on our all time goalscoring list today, and sixth in the list of appearances in all competitions. Signed from the Ilford Electricity Board, Ruffell was part of a new wave of players like Vic Watson and Billy Moore who would take the club to Division 1 and also to the famous White Horse FA Cup Final of 1923.

The uneven spread of talent in those days meant that exceptional players could often be found in lower league teams, and West Ham were no different as several England internationals would appear at this time. Ruffell joined the list in 1926, although he had the misfortune to play in the same era as the great Cliff Bastin and thus was limited to just six appearances.

Nonetheless the goals kept coming and Ruffell eventually scored an astonishing 166 from his wide berth, and became our all time leading appearance maker until he was surpassed by Bobby Moore. Comparing across eras is obviously hard and fraught with danger, but I find it strange that a player this good for this long is not remembered with greater affection by the Club.


8. Phil Parkes (1979 - 1990)

Appearances: 440  Clean Sheets: 146  International: England
Other Rankings: BB (8) WHUFC (10) WHTID (10)

Of all the players listed here, I found Parkes the most difficult to write about. I saw him at the tail end of his career, when his knees were gone and his mobility lost, and it seemed hard to imagine that this player could once have commanded a world record fee for a goalkeeper. His last game was the dismal 6-0 League Cup Semi Final defeat to Oldham on Valentines Day 1990, and Parkes left for Ipswich thereafter.

However, such a final act was unfitting for a player of his stature. Remarkably, Parkes was already 28 when he signed for us and still racked up over 400 appearances. An enormous man, he combined surprising agility with fearlessness and a near faultless positional sense. He is widely regarded to have been good enough to have played for England regularly, but was kept out by the Clemence/Shilton duo who hoovered up all the available caps at the time.

Parkes was instrumental in the 1980 Cup winning run, and kept a remarkable 22 clean sheets in the promotion campaign of he following year. Even at the age of 36 and with his knees failing, Parkes was an integral part of the 1985/86 team, as his solidity kept us in the hunt all season. He was also unquestionably beloved by his team mates.

Despite the excellent claims of Ted Hufton, few would argue that Parkes was anything other than our greatest ever keeper.


7. Alan Devonshire (1976 - 1990)

Appearances: 448  Goals: 32 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (7) WHUFC (5) WHTID (7)

The winger who could run through a puddle and not leave a ripple. It is hard to imagine that the club have ever spent a better £5,000 than that which was laid out to bring Devonshire to East London from Southall in 1976.

The skinny, quicksilver winger would go on to man the left side of our midfield for the next fifteen years and do it so well that there will undeniably be some of you who think he could be even higher on this list. Devonshire won the Hammer of the Year in 1979 and the first of eight England caps the following year. He probably should have won more.

Never a great goalscorer, he took over a year to bag his first goal, but the genius of Devonshire was more in his ability to create for others. It is amazing to see how many goals of that era began with a jinking Devonshire run on the left flank, and there are probably none more famous than the 1980 cup final winning goal as an example.

Despite knee injuries in the two years prior, Devonshire was back in full flow in 1985/86 and was the main creative drive behind our title push, capped with a virtuoso performance and goal in the 4-0 win at Chelsea. Sadly he was never fully fit again after that and eventually moved to Watford in 1990 shortly before retirement. As naturally talented a player as there has ever been at West Ham.


6. Martin Peters (1962 - 1970)

Appearances: 364  Goals: 100 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (6) WHUFC (6) WHTID (8)

The junior partner of our iconic World Cup winning trio, although there are plenty around who felt that the excellent Peters was every bit as worthy of acclaim as the Moore and Hurst.

Versatile enough to have played every position for the first team, Peters eventually nailed down a midfield role that would showcase his intelligent runs and perceptive passing. By the time he moved to Spurs in 1970 he was one of the best in the world in his position, and would win over sixty caps for England.

Top ten player, bottom ten hair

Peters was famously dropped for the 1964 FA Cup Final, but recovered to play in the European Cup Winners Cup Final the following year, and then forced his way into the World Cup squad for 1966. As a goalscoring midfielder he was pre-eminent, and scored 75 goals in the four seasons between 1965 and 1969. In joining Spurs he became the first British player to ever be valued at over £200,000, and Peters should probably be included in the best all time English XI.


5. Geoff Hurst (1958 - 1972)

Appearances: 503  Goals: 249 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (5) WHUFC (4) WHTID (4)

Remarkably, Geoff Hurst began life as a midfielder and was very nearly the bait in the deal which brought Johnny Byrne to Upton Park. As it was, Hurst was pushed further forward to partner with and learn from Byrne and eventually became West Ham's greatest post war goalscorer.

After just one goal in his first 39 games, his break through season came in 1963/64 when he scored 26 goals, including one in the FA Cup Final. He maintained that prolific rate of scoring throughout the decade, with a brief detour as he became the first man to score a hat trick in a World Cup Final. As I feel like I have written about so many players on this list, he was equally adept with his head or feet, and scored all manner of goals on his way to second on our all time list behind Vic Watson.

Hurst moved to Stoke in 1972, and as with others there is a palpable sense of "what if" when I look at his career. Quite how Greenwood never engineered a better league campaign out of these players is a bit of a mystery.


4. Vic Watson (1920 - 1935)

Appearances: 505  Goals: 326 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (4) WHUFC (7) WHTID (N/A)

A goalscorer of mythic proportions, Watson's record is unlikely to ever be surpassed for the simple reason that anyone scoring goals so prolifically in this era would be gone before you could say the word "Galactico".

Arriving in the Second Division team of the early Twenties, Watson soon fired West Ham into the top flight, where he continued scoring goals at an absurd rate for years. His bravura year came in 1929/1930 when he scored 50 goals in all competitions and Watson smashed four hat tricks. At this stage Watson was essentially playing FIFA in cheat mode.

Remarkably he was only capped five times for England, scoring four goals, as he had to play second fiddle to the brilliant Everton striker Dixie Dean. Watson scored a remarkable twenty two goals against Leeds in his career, including six in an 8-2 win over them in 1929. Just to highlight that old football was mad, we lost the return fixture 4-1.

Watson remained with West Ham until 1935 when he moved to Southampton. It is very hard to imagine we will ever see his like again.


3. Billy Bonds (1967 - 1988)

Appearances: 799  Goals: 61 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (1) WHUFC (2) WHTID (5)

For many this will be sacrilege as, for them, Billy Bonds is West Ham, but I feel I must point out that we have reached a point in proceedings where the difference between the players is negligible.

A man of endless running and relentless determination, Bonds played until the age of 41 and forged a legacy that will echo around the club for decades to come. It would be a very unworldly West Ham youngster that didn't know who "six foot two, eyes of blue" was sung about.

He signed originally from Charlton, and would be so good that he won his first Hammer of the Year award in 1971 and his fourth in 1987. Looking back, the one great sadness is that he missed the entirety of the 1985/86 season with injury. One wonders how much his legendary fitness and will to win would have helped in that late season fixture pile up that denied us the title, even allowing for the fact that Bonds had officially retired by then.

Bonds began life as a right back, before moving infield to partner Trevor Brooking in midfield. The idea that he just kicked people and just did Brooking's running is a myth, as Bonds used his physicality and underrated passing to become a highly regarded player in his own right. The midfield trio that he formed with Brooking and Graham Paddon strikes me as being among the best the club have ever had.

Later in his career, Bonds also played at centre half and it is a testament to his brilliance that he could fit into an all time West Ham XI playing in any of his three positions.

Criminally overlooked at international level, he was an unused substitute for a game against Italy in 1977, and missed a full debut in 1981 when he broke two ribs and had to withdraw from the team to play Brazil. He remains one of the best uncapped Englishmen ever.

Bonds returned to the club as manager in 1990, beginning a four year stint of mixed success that ended with a Borgia-like turn of events that saw his not-for-much-longer best mate, Harry Redknapp, end up with the job. It was a shabby end for a man who remains revered by West Ham fans.


2. Trevor Brooking (1967 - 1984)

Appearances: 643  Goals: 102 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (3) WHUFC (3) WHTID (2)

By choosing Brooking over Bonds, I suppose I reveal my preference for the cavalier over the roundhead. It should be acknowledged that Brooking could not have done the things he did without Bonds there to give him the licence, but let us all also acknowledge the remarkable things he did.

I think Brooking was a wondrous player. He was deceptively big, but what stands out is his grace and composure amid the helter skelter madness that was football in the Seventies, where pitches were terrible and tackling was fine so long as you left the limb attached.

Brooking was a beautiful passer with either foot, and as well as being a great goal scorer he was a scorer of great goals. One need only look at the second leg of the 1976 European Cup Winners Cup semi final at home to Eintracht Frankfurt for a demonstration of his poise and high class finishing.

As with so many others listed here, he demonstrated admirable longevity in playing for as long as he did, before retiring in 1984 when it seemed like he could have easily gone on. For the aesthete, Brooking was everything a footballer was supposed to be, and to watch him play in midfield was to see an artist stood before a blank canvas. That looked like Ypres.

If I could go back and watch just one player on this list who I never saw play in the flesh, at the peak of their powers, I would choose Brooking.


1. Bobby Moore (1958 - 1974)

Appearances: 647  Goals: 27 International: England

Other Rankings: BB (2) WHUFC (1) WHTID (1)

The easiest decision of the lot, and the person who needs the fewest words written about him. While I understand the emotional pull of Bonds and Brooking, to my mind it's not even really a debate about who is our greatest ever player.

Of the thousand or so men to have played for our club, only one - Moore - could be reasonably considered in any discussion about the greatest ever player at his position in history. Whether he was better than Scirea, Beckenbauer, Maldini or Baresi is up for debate, but there is no doubt he belongs in that discussion. In that sense he is unique among West Ham, and indeed England, footballers.

Diverting slightly, I think there is a slightly odd, reverential tone that has sprung up around Moore at West Ham, primarily because the Club feel a sort of institutional guilt about how he was treated after he left. As such, he has now transcended being a mere player and at this point exists as a type of deity, whose name is invoked whenever the Club want to let us know they haven't forgotten the past. Unlike others on this list, I can't imagine Moore's legend ever fading away.

The sad thing is, they never put a decent team around him when they had the chance, and as such he was denied the league honours he deserved. Despite that, there is nothing much more to be said that hasn't already been said a million times elsewhere.

The greatest.

And there you have it. That's my list, or at least it is for today. Please feel free to tell where I have got it wrong, and who I have missed out. I am sure there are plenty. For ease of reference and abuse, here it is in full:

	The H List
1	Bobby Moore
2	Trevor Brooking
3	Billy Bonds
4	Vic Watson
5	Geoff Hurst
6	Martin Peters
7	Alan Devonshire
8	Phil Parkes
9	Jimmy Ruffell
10	Johnny Byrne
11	Frank Lampard Sr
12	Tony Cottee
13	Syd Puddefoot
14	Alvin Martin
15	Steve Potts
16	Julian Dicks
17	Ronnie Boyce
18	Len Goulden
19	Scott Parker
20	Ted Hufton
21	Paolo Di Canio
22	Mark Noble
23	Trevor Sinclair
24	Ray Stewart
25	Clyde Best
26	Ian Bishop
27	Bryan Robson
28	Ken Brown
29	Ludek Miklosko
30	Danny Shea
31	Joe Cole
32	Graham Paddon
33	Geoff Pike
34	John Dick
35	Pat Holland
36	Ernie Gregory
37	Rio Ferdinand
38	Noel Cantwell
39	Jim Barrett Sr
40	John Bond
41	David Cross
42	Malcolm Musgrove
43	Tony Gale
44	George Foreman
45	Frank McAvennie
46	Eyal Berkovic
47	Frank Lampard Jr
48	Jack Tresadern
49	Dimitri Payet
50	Vic Keeble

The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 50 to 41
The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 40 to 31
The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 30 to 21
The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 20 to 11

In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 20 to 11

20. Ted Hufton (1915 - 1932)

Appearances: 456 Clean Sheets: 113 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (29) WHUFC (49) WHTID (N/A)

Brilliant goalkeeper from between the wars who actually ended up here as a result of being injured during World War 1 and then guesting for the club while convalescing. This eventually led to him transferring from Sheffield United for the hefty sum of £350.

Sports casual

Hufton soon emerged as one of the best keepers in the country, despite playing for a Second Division side. He also attained a reputation as a penalty expert by saving eleven of the first eighteen he faced in his first two seasons. My immediate thought upon reading that was that our defenders apparently didn't take many prisoners back then. 

By 1923 a fine team had been assembled and they were duly promoted to Division 1, as well as reaching the FA Cup Final. In front of Hufton were the excellent Jack Tresadern and George Kay, while the famous trio of Billy Moore, Vic Watson and Jimmy Ruffell scored 54 goals between them that year. Hufton was considered every bit as good, and was eventually rewarded with an England cap in 1924 after missing out the previous season through injury. Because West Ham. 

Thereafter he remained an integral part of that excellent side, who retained their top flight status all the way through the decade, before eventually moving on in 1932. Impossible as it is to compare across eras, Hufton should absolutely be in any discussion about West Ham's greatest ever keeper. 

19. Scott Parker (2007 - 2012)

Appearances: 129 Goals: 12 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (28) WHUFC (41) WHTID (25)

I'm prepared for a bit of a fight here, primarily because Parker wasn't with us that long, but I haven't found many who were so continuously excellent during their time at the club. Joining during the Icelandic splurge of 2007, he initially suffered some injury problems before returning to win Hammer of the Year for the next three seasons. He then managed the unheard of feat of being voted Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers Association as a Hammer. Only Bobby Moore achieved this while a West Ham player, and Parker's was even more remarkable as he did it in a relegated team.

Sadly his spell coincided with a the banking recession and a prolonged period of asset stripping by the creditors of our former Icelandic owners. Only West Ham could have the best midfielder in the country and surround him with a cast of unknown signings from Italy, two blokes from the Red Lion and Benni McCarthy.

Parker joined Spurs after a few early season appearances in the Championship, which seems to have soured the memories that many fans have for him. I don't understand this - his was a brilliant West Ham career amid a slurry of dross. It was hardly his fault that the club was so fundamentally broken in his time here. His stellar form continued right the way through to the 2012 European Championship when he was a starter as England were knocked out by Andrea Pirlo and Italy.

As ever seems to be the case with West Ham, we had the right player but just at the wrong time.


18. Len Goulden (1933 - 1945)

Appearances: 450 Goals: 130 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (N/A) WHUFC (24) WHTID (N/A)

If Graham Paddon was the best West Ham player that I'd never heard of, then I might wager that Len Goulden is the best West Ham player you've never heard of. Jack Helliar and Tony Hogg explicitly state in their Who's Who of West Ham that Goulden "would inevitably figure highly" on any list of this nature. And that's good enough for me.

West Ham do Peaky Blinders

Goulden was a brilliant inside left who linked closely with Jimmy Ruffell to offer most of West Ham's creative threat during his time. Despite playing primarily in the Second Division he was good enough to play regularly for England, and was even a member of the famous 1938 team who ignominiously gave the Nazi salute before their match in Berlin.

He played regularly for the club during World War 2 but was chased by Chelsea after hostilities and was eventually allowed to leave to pursue his Division 1 ambitions for a fee of £5,000. Like Parker, Goulden would undeniably have had a better time with a better team to play in.


17. Ronnie Boyce (1959 - 1973)

Appearances: 341 Goals: 29 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (12) WHUFC (23) WHTID (37)

A fine player from an era that produced many of them, Boyce was something of an unknown to me before this project, and indeed I remembered him more as a coach than a player. As with so many though, I discovered a very good player lurking behind the numbers.

Not as talented as his more illustrious team mates, he was nonetheless indispensable as a result of his prodigious work rate and willingness to run constantly. Famously scored a last minute winner in the 1964 FA Cup Final to give us a 3-2 win over Preston North End, after a typically lung busting back post run, having already scored twice to see off the Manchester United of Best, Law and Charlton in the semi final. Not bad for a local lad.

His career stretched on until the early 1970's, at which point he joined the coaching staff and even had a short stint as caretaker manager in 1990 before Billy Bonds took over.

16. Julian Dicks (1988 - 1999)

Appearances: 326 Goals: 65 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (14) WHUFC (12) WHTID (9)

Most descriptions of Dicks would talk of a tough tackling left back, and while that is true it does rather underplay his considerable ability as a footballer. Quick and direct, he had a lovely left foot and was one of the rare players able to control a game from the full back position. His first stint with the club saw him sent off four times, before moving to Liverpool in exchange for David Burrows and Mike Marsh.

The greatest football photograph ever taken

He returned not long after, chastened and more mature after an unsuccessful stint at Anfield and soon established himself again as our best player. He would win Hammer of the Year on four occasions and legend has it he would have played for England if he'd only been prepared to grow his hair longer. Naturally.

Dicks established a connection with fans as a resulted of his thoroughly committed performances, brilliant left foot, uncanny eye for goal and a willingness to play on after serious knee injuries. There can have been few better strikers of the ball to have ever played for us. Sadly, the end of his career saw a swift demise as he could no longer run properly, and he moved on in 1999. He returned as Slaven Bilic's assistant in 2015, although it was hard to know exactly what his role was. Teenage me is distraught that he is not in the Top Ten.


15. Steve Potts (1985 - 2001)

Appearances: 506 Goals: 1 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (22) WHUFC (32) WHTID (N/A)

If Dicks was thunder then Potts was serene sunshine. Small of stature he may have been, but Potts was West Ham's classiest defender since Tony Gale, and the backbone of the Nineties teams who eventually clawed their way to being an established Premier League side.

He started as a right back and struggled to cement a place in the side with Ray Stewart ahead of him. It wasn't until he moved inside to a centre back role that he truly found his groove, as his near total lack of attacking ability was rendered largely irrelevant by his supreme reading of the game. Potts played at a time when it was customary to have two strikers up front with one being a target man and the other a smaller, nippier finisher and he excelled in nullifying that role. As such, his partnerships with Marc Rieper and Slaven Bilic were the main strength of the mid Nineties West Ham sides and he was duly rewarded with two Hammer of the Year awards and two runner up trophies too.

Potts eventually lost his place to the emerging Rio Ferdinand, and played his final game in 2001. He sits seventh in the all time list of games played for the club, and isn't out of place amongst such legends. He remains at the Club in a coaching capacity, or at least that's what it says here - I'm not actually convinced there is anybody alive in our Academy.


14. Syd Puddefoot (1913 - 1933)

Appearances: 308 Goals: 207 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (13) WHUFC (20) WHTID (N/A)

Another early legend, who again had a career disrupted by war but still scored at prodigious rate whenever called upon. He started initially in the Southern League and then continued scoring freely in the Wartime Combination leagues, including a Carlton Colesque 51 goals in his last 49 games.

West Ham then stepped up to Division 2 after the war and he continued his fine form, which saw him earn his first England call ups. With his star on the rise, Puddefoot was hugely sought after by the top clubs and so naturally joined Falkirk for a world record of £5,000. As weird a move as that might sound, Puddefoot had actually spent time in Scotland during his war service and as such was highly regarded there. It is also true that football north of the border was at least the equal of the top English leagues at the time.

In true West Ham fashion, Puddefoot returned in 1931 in a failed attempt to keep us in the top flight, before moving on at the end of the following season. He remains 8th in our list of all time top scorers, a mere 206 ahead of Steve Potts.


13. Alvin Martin (1978 - 1996)

Appearances: 596 Goals: 34 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (11) WHUFC (8) WHTID (13)

Tremendous centre half who came through the youth system despite hailing from Liverpool. Martin was a physically imposing centre half who allied his aerial ability with an astute reading of the game and decent ball playing skills. He missed out on the 1982 World Cup through injury but made it into the Mexico '86 squad where he played in the Round of 16 game against Paraguay and then presumably thanked his lucky stars that he avoided Maradona in the next round.

He's got no hair but we don't care - wait

Although a defender, Martin was good for a few goals a season, and once achieved the unlikely feat of scoring a hat trick past three different keepers, in an 8-1 win over Newcastle in 1986. He displayed remarkable longevity to play on until the 1996 season, where he actually featured alongside Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard Jr. By that stage his mobility was roughly on par with Nelson's Column but that shouldn't detract from the magnificence of his overall career.


12. Tony Cottee (1983 - 1996)

Appearances: 336 Goals: 146 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (10) WHUFC (14) WHTID (11)

The best of the modern goalscorers. Cottee was a diminutive but lightning quick striker who had the priceless ability to score goals from nothing. In many ways he wasn't dissimilar to Gary Lineker in that he wasn't necessarily a truly all round player in the vein of Johnny Byrne or Geoff Hurst, but his ability to sniff out chances and finish them was invaluable, and a key part of the 1985/86 season.

His partnership that year with Frank McAvennie was electrifying, with the Scot playing a slightly withdrawn role and seemingly acting as a second striker in supply of Cottee. With his pace and movement, Cottee was difficult to mark, which in turn created space for oncoming runners such as McAvennie and Alan Devonshire to exploit. Considering the pitches and tackling of the era, it is testament to his toughness that he stayed largely fit through that period, and he ended up as Hammer of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year.

Cottee eventually got a deserved England call up shortly before leaving to join Everton in 1988. In fairly typical fashion he returned to the club for a second stint years later, and bizarrely got himself sent off on debut at Liverpool. He redeemed himself the following week with a winner at home to Aston Villa, and his goals would be a crucial factor in keeping us up over the next two seasons. Although that lightning first step had long since gone, he was still a deadly finisher and remains 5th in the list of our all time scorers. Pleasingly, he still seems as in love with the club as the day he scored on debut against Spurs as a 17 year old.


11. Frank Lampard Sr (1967 - 1985)

Appearances: 670 Goals: 22 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (16) WHUFC (9) WHTID (26)

Having watched several hours of YouTube clips in support of this piece I have decided to confess that I cannot tell whether Frank Lampard was left or right footed, such was his ability. From what I gather, he played primarily at left back and yet scored screamers with his right foot. I am going to go out on a limb and say that he was a pretty good player.

I'm dreaming of a Frank Lampard

The sheer length of Lampard's service is staggering and I was slightly surprised to find him second only to Billy Bonds in terms of appearances made. He was a regular from the 1969/70 season onwards and never played fewer than 30 games until the 1983/84 campaign. During that time he picked up two England caps, seven years apart, as well as two FA Cup winners medals and a runner up trophy from the 1976 European Cup Winners Cup Final defeat to Anderlecht. In that game he made a rare error to gift the Belgians an equaliser, and let them back into the game. He also somehow injured himself in the process, which really is top class West Hamming.

He redeemed himself five years later with his iconic FA Cup semi final goal against Everton at Elland Road, and his general calling card was one of extreme reliability and high octane full back play. After retiring, Lampard joined his brother in law Harry Redknapp as coach of the first team, and he helped to bring through Rio Ferdinand and his son, Frank Jr. After the latter left Upton Park under a cloud, Lampard Sr pretty much turned his back on the club in disgust at the treatment his son received. So, well done everyone involved there.


The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 50 to 41
The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 40 to 31
The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 30 to 21
The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 10 to 1

In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 30 to 21

30. Danny Shea (1907 - 1920)

Appearances: 217 Goals: 122 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (N/A) WHUFC (N/A) WHTID (N/A)

Another player whose career is hard to judge due to the disruption of war and the slightly odd nature of professional football in its nascent form. Shea was a local player who was discovered playing pub football and soon progressed to the first team where he was widely acknowledged as one of the finest inside forwards of his era.

A brilliant and regular goalscorer throughout his career, he was the Hammers main goal threat in the period after Harry Stapley finished his career and before the outstanding group of Syd Puddefoot, Vic Watson, Billy Moore and Jimmy Ruffell appeared. He was sold in 1913 to Blackburn for a record fee of £2,000 and was good enough to go on and win England caps after playing at the highest level. He then returned to West Ham as a wartime guest player when he was again prolific, before finally transferring back for a second, and largely unsuccessful stint with us in 1920. Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before.

In all of my research for this piece I determined that Shea might just be the least appreciated great player in our history.

29. Ludek Miklosko (1990 - 1997)

Appearances: 373 Clean Sheets: 125 International: Czechoslovakia
Other Rankings: BB (26) WHUFC (22) WHTID (14)

The bouncing Czech. It was no easy feat to replace the great Phil Parkes, but Ludek Miklosko was more than up to the task. A huge, wiry man he combined magnificent agility with no little bravery and a booming kick that regularly turned defence into something resembling attack.

Out of shot - Andy Cole, weeping

His form in the 1990/1991 promotion season was so good that he was a unanimous Hammer of the Year and was widely considered to be heading to Manchester United before they decided on Peter Schmeichel instead, with West Ham having been uncharacteristically reluctant to sell their star man. There was a sumptuous irony to this when, in 1995, Miklosko almost single handedly denied them the title on the last day of the season at Upton Park, with a string of fine saves.

His form waned towards the end of his time, and a couple of high profile mistakes meant he lost his place, but few players have retained as much affection in the hearts of long term supporters. His name is still sung at each game today, although I do question how close Moscow actually is to the Czech Republic. A player who transcended the team in which he played, and who would have graced any West Ham side in any era. At his best, he was that good.


28. Ken Brown Sr (1953 - 1967)

Appearances: 474 Goals: 4 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (23) WHUFC (18) WHTID (44)

Another astonishingly long serving defender from the Fifties, and also yet another plucked from the fertile feeding grounds of East London and Essex. I originally had him much lower before I realised just how good he was and for how long. Brown made his debut in 1953 and was talented enough to still be playing in a European Cup Winners Cup Final in 1965. That is some incredible longevity.

A rock solid centre half for the length of his career, Brown picked up a solitary England cap in 1959 against Northern Ireland, which was huge local news at the time as no Hammer had been capped since Len Goulden in 1939. So pleased were the club that the entire playing and ground staff went to watch him play. Later, his son Kenny also represented the club with some distinction in the Nineties.


27. Bryan Robson (1971 - 1979)

Appearances: 255 Goals: 104 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (21) WHUFC (19) WHTID (21)

A little like David Cross, Bryan "Pop" Robson is a name you hear whispered on the breeze if you are of a certain age, and yet probably don't know why. The answer lies primarily in the 1972/73 season when Robson won the Division 1 Golden Boot with a 28 goal haul, and somehow still didn't get an England call up from Alf Ramsey. Upon reflection now, it seems impossible to understand how this could have happened, but that lack of wider recognition probably explains Robson's lower profile with younger fans. It is probably also relevant that he isn't even the most famous Bryan Robson to have played professional football.

Always nice to see cigarettes on the advertising hoardings

His career was oddly circuitous for such a prolific striker, but perhaps his diminutive stature played against him in that sense. With that being said, he was a phenomenal header of the ball, and a brilliantly instinctive finisher with either foot. His greatest gift seems to have been a magical ability to find space in the most crowded of areas.

As it was, he left for Sunderland in 1974 before returning for a second spell in 1976, meaning he missed the two cup finals in between - an unfortunate set of events. Unlike so many others, his return was pretty successful as he continued to score regularly right up until his departure at the end of the 1978/79 season. I have little doubt that some fans of a certain age will be aghast to see him outside of the top twenty on this list.


26. Ian Bishop (1989 - 1998)

Appearances: 304 Goals: 17 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (N/A) WHUFC (46) WHTID (49)

If I have one quibble with the list produced by Blowing Bubbles, it is their failure to include Ian Bishop. I have written extensively about Bishop here  so I confess to some bias, but as a stylish, elegant central midfielder I can think of few better in my time watching the club.

With his long hair and tendency to overplay at times, Bishop was often mistaken for a soft touch, but anyone who watched him play in the Second Division and then in the Premier League will know that wasn't the case. At his best he was a classy, two footed passing midfielder who chipped in with the occasional spectacular goal and he was a worthy captain of the 1991 promoted side.

As my article above notes, Bishop was also subjected to a huge amount of innuendo and malicious rumour about his sexuality, which seemed largely to derive from his hair. He was and remains a hero of mine.

25. Clyde Best (1969 - 1976)

Appearances: 221 Goals: 58 International: Bermuda
Other Rankings: BB (31) WHUFC (47) WHTID (46)

If life was tough for Bishop then it must have been almost intolerable for Clyde Best. He arrived as an 17 year old from Bermuda and in true West Ham fashion, nobody was there to meet him. He would soon make his debut against Arsenal amid a backdrop of racism and physical threats, including one particularly awful promise to blind him with acid if he played the following day. It seems inconceivable now but what Best endured was horrific, constant and debilitating.

While some have suggested that he never fully realised his talents, it has to be put into the context of playing in such circumstances, at such a young age and in such alien conditions. A teenage Best is said to have been bemused the first time he ever saw English snow, for example. What helped him endure was a perfect temperament, remarkable physicality for his age and a supportive and progressive manager in Ron Greenwood. Fearsome in the air, and better with his feet than he was given credit for, Best would score 23 goals in the 1971/72 season to establish himself as an elite striker, outscoring both Geoff Hurst and Pop Robson.

But Best was a player of greatness in all sorts of ways, and paved the path for the numerous brilliant black footballers who followed him. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that without players like him we would never have had the pleasure of seeing the likes of Rio Ferdinand or Trevor Sinclair in claret and blue.

Significantly, he was also part of the West Ham team who beat Spurs on 1 April 1972 while fielding three black players - Ade Coker and Clive Charles also played. This was a first for an English club and yet somehow West Ham have allowed West Brom to garner the public acclaim for this, even though they did this later. While people argue over removing the World Cup statue from Green Street, I would much rather the club do something to immortalise that particular achievement.

My only hesitation in writing this piece was around John Charles, who was actually the first black player to play for us. Charles wasn't as high profile but was also an excellent full back and seems to me to have been just as culturally significant as Best. Perhaps some older readers can enlighten me as to why they have such a different profile.


24. Ray Stewart (1979 - 1991)

Appearances: 432 Goals: 84 International: Scotland
Other Rankings: BB (24) WHUFC (17) WHTID (22)

Yet another very good, long serving full back who arrived as Britain's most expensive teenager and departed a club legend. Stewart was signed by John Lyall for a record £430,000 but he would repay that in spades over a glittering career that would include the FA Cup Final of 1980, the League Cup Final of 1981 and the third place finish in 1985/86.

Along the way, Stewart would earn himself a reputation for fearsome ball striking and nerveless penalty taking. Among many famous efforts were the last minute winner in the FA Cup quarter final of 1980, and the added time Cup final penalty at Wembley to salvage a draw against Liverpool the following season. He also scored a very late twice taken penalty against Ipswich on my first trip to Upton Park, which moved us into second in 1986 and convinced us briefly that we were going to win the league.

Like so many, the end of his spell was marred by injury and anyone who saw him in the Nineties saw a pale shadow of the high tempo, defensively sound version he had previously been. He also earned several Scottish caps when they gave them to high class footballers and not just the first eleven blokes to turn up.


23. Trevor Sinclair (1997 - 2003)

Appearances: 206 Goals: 38 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (N/A) WHUFC (48) WHTID (40)

Another player about whom I have written previously and a key part of the excellent turn of the century side assembled by Harry Redknapp. Sinclair arrived from QPR in a wildly one sided swap deal that sent Iain Dowie and Keith Rowland the other way, and was soon banging in goals all over the place as he settled immediately. Over time he would eventually establish himself as a genuine winger, and even played as a wing back for a while when Redknapp eventually bought so many attacking players that he just started coming up with formations that included fewer defenders.

Sinclair was a great team man, and his versatility and unselfish attitude made him popular with team mates and fans. He also had an eye for the spectacular goal as evidenced by this obscenely underrated effort against Derby.

While Sinclair was held in high esteem locally, he struggled for a wider national appeal until he eventually forced his way into the England World Cup squad of 2002. For a man who managed just 12 caps, he couldn't have timed them much better and he duly played his part in a decent England run that ended in a quarter final defeat to Brazil. For his skill and athleticism, and a keen eye for goal, I rate Sinclair as one of our modern greats and a fine heir to Clyde Best in terms of black players to appear for the club. Another hero.


22. Mark Noble (2004 - present)

Appearances: 437* Goals: 51* International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (20) WHUFC (15) WHTID (N/A)

From one to another. From his introduction as a fresh faced teenager under Alan Pardew, to his latest incarnation as an enduring veteran captain, Noble has been a steadfast presence in the centre of our midfield. In a world of ever changing landscapes, he has been a man of constant steadiness and remarkably similar haircuts.

Notice the lack of pitch invaders. All dealt with.

After becoming the youngest ever reserve team player at the age of 15, he played well for Pardew in the promotion season of 2005, but truly established himself as a first teamer during the Great Escape of 2007. This marked the first of a number of times when Noble would raise his game when surrounded by elite players. It isn't a coincidence to me that his best seasons have come when Carlos Tevez, Scott Parker and Dimitri Payet were around to help him.

As the years have rolled by his legs have slowed, but he has maintained a continued level of performance and has been continually picked by a succession of managers. He has probably suffered a little because he has never been a pure playmaker like Brooking or Bishop and never had a physical presence like Bonds. Instead he has been gradually converted to a deep lying midfielder charged with starting moves rather than shaping them, while continuing the club's tradition of having high quality penalty takers. He was Hammer of the Year in 2012 and 2014, and runner up in 2005 which is a testament to his longevity. He might have won a couple more too but for Scott Parker's incredible run of form before that.

It isn't easy to play for so long at the highest level and I've always wondered if part of the problem for Noble has been how heavily he is invested in West Ham. The kid who walked to games from his house in Beckton seems to have lived and died with the teams results in the same way as we all do. And as we can attest, it's exhausting. This came to a head last year when he ended up manhandling a pitch invader during the Burnley debacle, and seemed to be almost worn down by the continued drama that surrounds the club.

No matter what happens from here, and whether he survives the Pellegrini era, he has been a tremendous servant to the club and a much underrated player both by West Ham fans and the wider footballing public. He should change his hair.


21. Paolo di Canio (1999 - 2003)

Appearances: 141 Goals: 51 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (17) WHUFC (11) WHTID (3)

Gulp. I can see the pitchforks from here.

I should start by saying that Di Canio was a wonderful player. When he was in the mood he was a champagne footballer in a beer tavern. Not blessed with great pace or any particular physical attributes, he instead relied on incredible close control and dribbling ability and was our most consistent source of goals and assists for his five year stint with us.

He arrived in 1999 and galvanised Harry Redknapp's excellent team to a 5th place finish. Essentially replacing Ian Wright, he started up profitable partnerships with first Paolo Wanchope and then Frederic Kanoute, and enjoyed a particularly good link with Trevor Sinclair that saw the latter score plenty of goals as a late arriving winger.

But as Di Canio's influence grew so too did the team seem to wane around him. Redknapp essentially geared the side totally toward him, which would have been potentially fine but for his unfortunate habit of missing tricky away games that he didn't fancy. In his five seasons at West Ham, he made one away league appearance each at Manchester United, Liverpool and Leeds, and never played once at Newcastle. It is one thing to build your team around a player - it is another altogether if that player doesn't always want to be in the team. What most fans dismissed as Paolo being mad, mostly struck me as a self centred streak that damaged the team and impinged on the development of players like Joe Cole and Frank Lampard Jr.

For all that, when he was playing, we were generally free flowing and fun to watch. Di Canio scored famous wonder goals at Chelsea and at home to Arsenal, and scored one of the greatest goals in Premier League history with his scissor kick against Wimbledon. It remains the single best goal I have ever seen, and is a salutary reminder that he was a player who could lift you out of the gloom and into the night sky.

There is no denying that he was an iconic player and a huge fan favourite but I could not justify placing him any higher given that element of his play. The ironic thing is that he really suffers here as a result of me knowing so much about him. Had he played in 1930 he'd probably be in the top ten. Or quite possibly a Mussolini black shirt. It's hard to know.



The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 50 to 41
The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 40 to 31
The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 20 to 11
The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 10 to 1

In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 40 to 31

40. John Bond (1952 - 1965)

Appearances: 449 Goals: 39 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (30) WHUFC (33) WHTID (N/A)

A high class full back whose partnership with Noel Cantwell was a mainstay of the Fifties side. Bond was good enough to continue playing right the way through until 1965, including an appearance in the victorious 1964 FA Cup Final side, and he racked up a decent number of goals as a result of his penalty and free kick taking prowess.

Nice action

Unusually he was able to play up front as well as in defence, and scored a hat trick against Chelsea in 1960. Something of a dead ball specialist he was apparently known as "Muffin" because of his ability to kick like a mule. No, me either.

Despite playing in the earlier rounds he missed out on the European Cup Winners Cup Final of 1965 and left shortly thereafter, before embarking on a successful managerial career.


39. Jim Barrett Sr (1925 - 1945)

Appearances: 553 Goals: 70 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (N/A) WHUFC (31) WHTID (N/A)

A remarkable, iconic figure from the early days of the club and the next great to emerge after the 1923 Cup Final side. Barrett played in all manner of positions and scored a decent number of goals while doing so. Typically a defender, as one might have expected from a man who went by the nickname "Big Jim", he was dangerous from set pieces and in the air.

Barrett was capped by England in 1928 against Northern Ireland and promptly got injured after four minutes, making his the then shortest international career in history. If that isn't the most West Ham thing of all time then I don't know what is.


38. Noel Cantwell (1952 - 1960)

Appearances: 278 Goals: 12 International: Ireland
Other Rankings: BB (N/A) WHUFC (40) WHTID (45)

Yet another high class defender from the Fifties, and the other half of the outstanding full back partnership with John Bond that characterised the era. Cantwell was one of a number of Irishmen who played at West Ham at the time, but he was unquestionably the best. Unusually attacking for the era, he was a key member of the promoted side of 1958 and once again after promotion.

After suffering an injury he would lose his place to a young fellow by the name of John Lyall and was sold shortly thereafter to Manchester United, with the fee being a record £29,500 for a full back. Cantwell went on to become an instrumental figure in rebuilding the Old Trafford side after the Munich air crash, and it's difficult not to think that he was allowed to leave Upton Park too soon.


37. Rio Ferdinand (1995 - 2001)

Appearances: 158 Goals: 2 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (34) WHUFC (27) WHTID (18)

And the stylish defenders just keep coming. Ferdinand was talked about around Upton Park long before he made his debut, as tales of his youthful excellence began to convince fans that the long dormant Academy might have actually been revived under Harry Redknapp and Tony Carr.

Neil Ruddock just out of shot

Although he made some early errors, Ferdinand soon established himself as an unusually accomplished ball player and was quickly the mainstay at the heart of the defence. Alongside him was a revolving door of centre halves as he played with Slaven Bilic, Marc Rieper, Neil Ruddock, Steve Potts, Igor Stimac and David Unsworth which would have exposed him to quite a few different styles of play, at least.

For all the talk of his development after leaving Upton Park, Ferdinand was Hammer of the Year in 1998, and was selected to go to the World Cup shortly after. He was an elite defender even then. Sadly, by 2001 the Club was once again in need of money and Redknapp had seemingly lost his way in the transfer market and off the field. Ferdinand was sold to Leeds, for £18m, which it turned out they were paying on credit card. It mattered not as they soon flogged him on to Manchester United for £30m. I am not bitter about this.

Redknapp, meanwhile, managed to waste every penny he was given, and the Club used the rest to rebuild the West Stand. Fans referred to it as the Rio Ferdistand, which was pretty funny, but the reality was that his departure precipitated the end of Redknapp's reign and eventually saw us relegated two years later.

When West Ham collapse, we do it in style.


36. Ernie Gregory (1946 - 1959)

Appearances: 488 Clean Sheets: 89 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (15) WHUFC (25) WHTID (27)

Long serving goalkeeper whose connection with the Club far exceeds even his outstanding performances on the field. After his retirement in 1960, Gregory remained with the Club in various capacities, including coaching and administration which sadly ended with a slightly soured relationship at the end. By that point, Gregory had been with West Ham for over fifty years.

Aside from his longevity, Gregory was an excellent keeper although I have him below several others in this list purely because he spent much of his time playing in the Second Division and Wartime leagues. Gregory is perhaps the first player on this list who deserves the accolade 'great" because of the totality of his contribution to West Ham.


35. Pat Holland (1969 - 1981)

Appearances: 304 Goals: 32 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (N/A) WHUFC (37) WHTID (N/A)

Perhaps the first player on this list who I had heard of but never really considered as a great player in any sense at all. Unlike, say, Tresadern or Barrett, Pat Holland was a name I recognised but simply assumed was a bit part player from the Seventies. How wrong I was.

Goalscorers in European Finals. We haven't had many. 

In keeping with my own misconceptions, Holland was probably an under appreciated part of the Seventies side, and it took him a number of years to firmly establish himself in the first team. He made his debut in 1969 but eventually cemented his place in the 1972/73 season. This meant he was a member of the FA Cup winning side of 1975 and the European Cup Winners Cup runners up the following year. Indeed, Holland scored the opening goal of that final, when it looked like we might actually beat the classy Anderlecht team.

Holland played on until 1981 but injured himself scoring a crucial goal at Notts County and never played again. He did, however, have the consolation of presenting me with a Player of the Year award a few years later at a Gidea Park Rangers presentation ceremony. He was introduced as a Spurs scout, which might have contributed to my misguided ideas about him.


34. John Dick (1953 - 1962)

Appearances: 367 Goals: 177 International: Scotland
Other Rankings: BB (35) WHUFC (13) WHTID (43)

A player who I think I might return to in a few years and feel that I short changed. Dick was a tall, highly skilled goalscoring inside left who drove West Ham to promotion in the late Fifties, and became the first Hammer to represent Scotland when he played against England at Wembley in 1959. He is only really rated this low because he spent as much time in Division 2 as he did in the top tier.

That said, Dick's partnership with Vic Keeble was tremendous as the two rattled in bagfuls of goals in both Division 1 and 2, with his probable highlight being a hat trick over then giants Wolves to take us top of the league in November 1959. We ended up 12th because West Ham.

He left the club for Brentford in 1962, with the brilliant Johnny Byrne and Geoff Hurst arriving to replace him and Keeble. It is slightly blowing my mind how many good players we had in this era and yet did nothing with. The publicans of East London have a lot to answer for.


33. Geoff Pike (1976 - 1987)

Appearances: 368 Goals: 41 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (N/A) WHUFC (42) WHTID (N/A)

Greatness comes in all forms and Geoff Pike is a player who I think best epitomises quiet greatness. Whether he truly deserves to be above players like John Dick and Rio Ferdinand is for me to ponder, but his longevity in a hard working midfield role is notable and he was a key part of FA Cup winning side of 1980 and the promotion winning team of 1981.

Just give it to Brooking, Pikey

No less an authority than Trevor Brooking described Pike's all action style of play as integral to his own, because it allowed him the freedom to play his game. In such situations can greatness go unnoticed, but Pike wouldn't have played for as long as he did without being of real use to the team. He strikes me as being similar to Steve Lomas in that his unsung work did much to allow the artisans around him to flourish, but others have described him as closer to Michael Carrick due to the understated excellence of his passing,

Pike is also scorer of the greatest headed goal of all time. Don't message me. It's true.


32. Graham Paddon (1973 - 1976)

Appearances: 152 Goals: 15 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (38) WHUFC (N/A) WHTID (48)

Perhaps the greatest joy of this exercise for me has been the discovery of players who I literally knew nothing about. In that sense, Graham Paddon might just be the best player that I never knew existed. Joining from Norwich in 1973 his career got off to the most West Ham start possible when, prior to the move, nobody remembered to go and meet him at Liverpool Street to negotiate his terms. Plus ca change, and all that.

He soon joined, and his silky left footed midfield play was an outstanding complement to Brooking. In a time of agricultural defending and pitches, he oozed class and always seemed to have time when others were frantic. Paddon was a symphony musician in a rock'n'roll world.

His highlight was probably the glorious thirty yard strike to open the scoring in the 1976 European Cup Winners Cup Semi Final against Eintracht Frankfurt. Indeed, as West Ham fans often whisper in hushed tones about the brilliance of the Anderlecht side who beat us in the final, I do wonder if there is a corner of some Frankfurt website where they speak reverentially of the graceful West Ham midfield of Brooking and Paddon. There should be.

31. Joe Cole (1998 - 2014)

Appearances: 187 Goals: 18 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (37) WHUFC (30) WHTID (19)

Oh Joe. The one that got away. I could handle Ferdinand and Lampard, but I wasn't prepared to lose Joe Cole. He was the generational talent, and the player who I was convinced was going to take the team of the Noughties to the promised land. As it was he arrived in a blaze of unnecessary hype - mostly endorsed by the club - , and probably failed to live up to it, purely because of how ludicrous were the expectations upon his shoulders. 

The dreaded second stint

It probably didn't help Cole that he had to break into a team dominated by the Italian Paolo di Canio, who was so central to the team and their style of play, that it left little room for the youngster. He eventually found a home in the centre of midfield where he was outstanding and where I thought he could have stayed. Sadly, this was in 2003 and West Ham were busy getting relegated with a team full of internationals. Cole deservedly won Hammer of the Year, but was never going to stick around and duly joined Chelsea where Jose Mourinho moulded him into a winger who tracked back. A sad waste, I thought. 

As happened with so many others, Cole couldn't resist a return and duly came back in 2013. His second debut against Manchester United in the FA Cup was electrifying as he set up two goals, but the lightning soon escaped from the bottle and he left after just two seasons, stricken by injuries and without the spark of pace that had once made him so exciting. It's hard to call Joe Cole a wasted talent because he achieved so much, but he really did once seem like the kind of player who could have bent the game to his will. Of all our mistakes over the years, losing him to Chelsea is high upon the list. 


The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 50 to 41
The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 30 to 21
The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 20 to 11
The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 10 to 1

In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 50 to 41

In narrowing down a list of over one thousand names to just fifty, it is inevitable that I will make some mistakes and certainly there is not a huge amount to choose between those in this section, and those who I have ranked immediately outside this list. In order to try and give some context, here are those players who just missed out:

John Sissons (1963-1970), Andy Malcolm (1953-1961), Manuel Lanzini (2015 - present), Phil Woosnam (1958-1962), Michael Carrick (1999-2004), Harry Hooper (1951-1956), Dean Ashton (2006-2008), Peter Brabrook (1962-1968), Vivian Gibbins (1923-1932), Winston Reid (2010 - present), John Charles (1963-1969)


50. Vic Keeble (1957 - 1960)

Appearances: 84 Goals: 51 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (N/A) WHUFC (29) WHTID (16)

Were it not for injury there is little doubt that Keeble would be higher on this list. Having signed from Newcastle in 1957 he immediately formed a lethal partnership with Johnny Dick, and fired the Irons to promotion as champions of Division 2. The pair were so good that they carried on in the same vein in Division 1, and we were briefly top of the league in September after a 3-2 win over Manchester United, before eventually finishing sixth. We also beat Spurs home and away in back to back games on Christmas and Boxing Day, in case you're wondering how mad football fixtures used to be. Keeble scored in both matches, naturally.

Let's be honest - he wasn't saving that. Keeble secures promotion at Middlesbrough, 1958

After a decade of toil for the Club in the second tier, Keeble was a huge part of promotion and the subsequent setting of foundations for the success of the Sixties, and deserves to be remembered fondly as a centre forward of some renown. He was sadly forced to retire in 1960.


49. Dimitri Payet (2015 - 2017)

Appearances: 60 Goals: 15 International: France
Other Rankings: BB (18) WHUFC (34) WHTID (N/A)

A possibly controversial choice, or perhaps perfectly understandable now that the dust has settled. Arrived from Marseille in 2015 and was immediately sensational. Playing wide left for Slaven Bilic's band of disorganised lunatics, he was good enough to get us dreaming of a Champions League place, and but for some highly questionable refereeing he might indeed have got us there. Became famous for his wonderful free kicks, but he was also outrageously gifted on the ball and at the end of the 2015/16 season was one of the best players at that summer's European Championship. He also took home the Hammer of the Year award, which is probably more important.

In hindsight we should have cashed in on him then and taken the rumoured £50m that Real Madrid were dangling. As it was, we kept him, he became disenchanted when the club returned to its usual state of chaos and incompetence and Payet eventually went on strike so he could be sold back to Marseille. As happens at all normal clubs.

His star didn't burn for long, but few have ever shone brighter in Claret and Blue.


48. Jack Tresadern (1914 - 1924)

Appearances: 186 Goals: 6 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (N/A) WHUFC (N/A) WHTID (N/A)

Oh, hello. Football hipster alert.

Well, yes and no. Tresadern was in the side elected to the Football League in 1919, and was part of the team which reached the famous "White Horse" FA Cup Final in 1923. In fact, Tresadern was controversially caught up in the crowd after taking a throw in, which left a gap from which Bolton scored their opening goal in that Final, and now I am annoyed about a decision made in a game of football played nearly a century ago.

Considered a fairly robust player, which by the standards of the time probably meant he carried a musket, Tresadern was widely admired as a pre-eminent left half, and was good enough to play for England despite spending most of his career in the Second Division. In the end, I decided that West Ham haven't had enough successful teams that I could leave out one of the best players from our earliest finalists.


47. Frank Lampard Jr (1996 - 2001)

Appearances: 187 Goals: 38 International: England
Other Rankings: BB (N/A) WHUFC (39) WHTID (N/A)

Another who caused me to think long and hard, primarily because so much of his success came at Chelsea. But to ignore Lampard's formative years would be wrong, as he debuted in 1996 as a teenager and gradually imposed himself in the side before becoming a key part of the 1999 team who would finish fifth, win the Intertoto Cup and be first on Match of the Day every week because of their allergic reaction to defending. Lampard's defining moment at West Ham might even have come when he scored in that famous Intertoto win in Metz.

Worth it just for Metz

There is a lot of water under the bridge here because of the way he left and his subsequent attitude towards the club, but Lampard was a fine goalscoring midfielder who was much better for us than many fans seem to remember and who suffered far less abuse than he seems to remember. If I could reset the clock on any one relationship between the supporters and a player, it would be him. He and his father should be feted as heroes at West Ham.


46. Eyal Berkovic (1997 - 1999)

Appearances: 79 Goals: 12 International: Israel
Other Rankings: BB (N/A) WHUFC (N/A) WHTID (28)

Even as I write this, I am wondering how I could include a player who did nothing defensively and generally disappeared at the first hint of physicality. And yet Berkovic was the fulcrum of that bonkers 1999 team who finished fifth with a negative goal difference and generally were the maddest team around. Impossible to beat at home, and highly likely to concede four in the return game, Berkovic is probably the best epitome of the duality of that side.

Harry Redknapp essentially set the team up around him and he responded by becoming the best playmaker seen at Upton Park for many years. He had no real pace and thought tackling was for others, but he was highly skilled, an underrated finisher and could pick a final pass like no other. He played for just two seasons, and eventually left after John Hartson literally tried to kick his head in during a training session. West Ham, ladies and gentlemen.


45. Frank McAvennie (1985 - 1992)

Appearances:190 Goals: 60 International: Scotland
Other Rankings: BB (19) WHUFC (16) WHTID (15)

I can hear the gasps from here. Frankie Mac, beloved wild man of the Boys of '86 has been a top twenty pick in every other poll, and remains a terrace hero even today when there are no terraces, only scaffold and popcorn.

Signed from St Mirren in 1985, the Scotsman was originally a midfielder but was pushed up front by John Lyall and repaid him with 28 goals in that now legendary season, in which he also finished as runner up in the Hammer of the Year voting. Matching a prodigious work rate on the pitch with a Herculean appetite for debauchery off it, McAvennie was very much a man of his time. The problem is that as far as I recall, his best work was really restricted to that season. He would score just 11 the following campaign before moving to Celtic where he struggled to regain the form that had nearly carried us to a title.

One Mac-ah-ven- EEEEE

McAvennie then followed the well worn path back to West Ham in 1989 - a distressingly high number of those on this list have had multiple stints with the club - where he managed just ten games before Chris Kamara attempted to amputate his leg in a game at Stoke. McAvennie was never the same after this and although he was an important squad player in the side which gained promotion under Billy Bonds in 1991, he gradually drifted away. He did, however, sign off in fine fashion with a marvellous second half hat trick against Forest in the last match of the 1991/92 season.

This seemed a fitting farewell for a man who was always box office, and in his pomp felt like a lightning strike in human form, wearing the tightest shorts imaginable on a grown man.


44. George Foreman (1939 - 1946)

Appearances: 234 Goals: 188 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (N/A) WHUFC (N/A) WHTID (N/A)

I strongly suspect that you have never heard of Alec George Foreman, and I don't blame you. His official playing record for West Ham lists him as having appeared in six games and scored just one goal. However, when I started looking into the wartime records for the club, Foreman immediately jumped out. In an admittedly jumbled set of competitions and amid a clearly diluted talent pool, Foreman scored a startling 188 goals at a rate of nearly one a game.

We can quibble about the standard, for sure, but once I made the decision to take wartime football into account it was impossible to leave him out. He was the leading striker for the team who won the 1940 Wartime FA Cup, and scored no fewer than thirteen hat tricks during his time leading the line for the wartime Hammers.

Curiously he left the club immediately after the war finished, which perhaps suggests that he wasn't up to playing at an elite level. He therefore joined Spurs.


43. Tony Gale (1984 - 1994)

Appearances: 368 Goals: 7 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (33) WHUFC (35) WHTID (31)

Another Boy of '86, although the reality is that most of that team make this list. Gale will be better known these days to younger readers as the jovial co-commentator on most illegal streams, but he was actually a very good centre half in his day. Arriving from Fulham in 1984 he soon settled in as a long term partner for Alvin Martin and continued a tradition of ball playing centre halves in Claret and Blue who should probably have got a look in for England but didn't.

The shorts though

Whilst he earned a reputation as a stylish, footballing defender, Gale coped fairly well with the physical stuff, and indeed his most famous moment might have been the 1991 FA Cup Semi Final when he was ludicrously sent off by Keith Hackett for a "professional foul" when on the half way line. We would go on to lose 4-0 while Villa Park shook to the sustained strains of "Billy Bonds Claret and Blue Army" as our fans sang their way through more heartbreak. My dad maintains to this day that he has never heard anything like it.

I always felt rather sorry for Gale that he should be remembered for that episode, when his brilliant curling free kick in the famous 4-1 1988 League Cup win over Liverpool seems far more fitting.


42. Malcolm Musgrove (1954 - 1962)

Appearances: 317 Goals: 98 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (N/A) WHUFC (N/A) WHTID (N/A)

For most of the Fifties West Ham were a second tier side, and much of their threat came from men who don't get much airtime these days. John Dick, Malcolm Musgrove and Harry Hooper were a more than handy triumvirate, with the former two being a key part of the team who landed promotion in 1958. While Hooper was perhaps the most acclaimed of the two wingers, being named as a reserve for the England 1954 World Cup squad, it was Musgrove who stayed longer and left the deeper footprint.

Second only to the astonishing Jimmy Ruffell in terms of goals scored by wingers, Musgrove was direct and physical and actually improved his output after promotion. He bagged 20 goals in the 1959/60 season and generally offered an unparalleled goal threat from wide areas. He was rewarded for his efforts with the 1960 Hammer of the Year award and a place in this list. He can't complain.


41. David Cross (1977 - 1982)

Appearances: 224 Goals: 97 International: N/A
Other Rankings: BB (N/A) WHUFC (28) WHTID (33)

I will confess that the initial appeal of David Cross wasn't obvious to me. Indeed I pondered whether he or Dean Ashton were worthy of this spot, before deciding that a man with his reputation deserved further investigation. Still, I had never seen him play, and at first glance his statistics don't make obviously great reading. He was clearly a fine player but his West Ham career was spent primarily in the Second Division. But not all of a footballer's gifts are revealed in spreadsheets or goal charts.

Four!

Cross, almost more than any other player, seems to inspire a reverence in West Ham fans of near mythic proportions. Perhaps it was the manic physicality that earned him the nickname "Psycho" or the did-that-really-happen feat of scoring all four goals in a 4-0 win at Spurs. Either way, he is a man who led the line fearlessly and despite being our then record buy when he arrived from West Bromwich Albion, remains one of the best purchases the Club have made.

Older fans can no doubt fill me in, but it seems to me that here was a player who was lethal in the air and more than capable with the ball at his feet. Leading the line on his own in a time when defenders were still able to clatter forwards at will speaks to his physical courage and strength. I am converted. Psycho reigns.


The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 40 to 31
The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 30 to 21
The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 20 to 11
The H List - In Retro - The Fifty Greatest Hammers - 10 to 1