WEST HAM UNITED
theyflysohigh : Steve Marsh
FOOTBALL PROGRAMMES &
Memorabilia through the Decade
A Pictorial History
John Lyall
#554
TOM McALISTER
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#555
FRANCOIS Van der ELST
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#556
NEIL ORR
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#557
GEORGE COWIE
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#558
EVERALD LA RONDE
Born: 24 January 1963, Forest Gate, London
Signed: Apprentice January 1981
Debut: 17 April 1982, Coventry City (A)
Last game: 15 May 1982,
Wolverhampton Wanderers (A)
Appearances: 6/1
Goals: 0
Transferred: AFC Bournemouth
Date: September 1983
Born in Forest Gate in 1963, Everald La Ronde joined the West Ham United ground-staff after captaining his Newham Schools side to the English Trophy. The promising young defender kicked-off his Hammers’ career on 19 August 1978 at the Keble College ground against Oxford United in a South East Counties League (Division Two) 3-2 win, by the end of the campaign for the Juniors, he picked up both a League and Cup winners’ medal and signed apprentice forms on 12 May 1979.
La Ronde appeared to have a bright future at Upton Park, signing his first professional contract in January 1981 and captained the Irons on a stunning run through the FA Youth Cup in 1980/81, and today is one of just four Academy of Football graduates to have had the honour of leading West Ham United to FA Youth Cup glory. The defender was part of a side that also included future first-team players Alan Dickens, Paul Allen, Keith McPherson and Bobby Barnes that brushed aside Slough Town, Barking, Swansea City, Cardiff City, Queens Park Rangers and Manchester City, scoring 28 goals in seven matches, to set up a 2-1 aggregate final win over Tottenham Hotspur.
The 19-year-old made his first team debut against Coventry City in a First Division fixture on 17 April 1982, coming on as a substitute for Alvin Martin who had broken his collarbone and missed out on going to the World Cup Finals in Spain. La Ronde kept his place in the starting eleven for the remaining six games of the campaign before joining up with former Hammer Harry Redknapp at AFC Bournemouth in September 1983. Arguably his most notable game for the ‘Cherries’ came on 7 January 1984 when he was part of the team which knocked Manchester United out of the FA Cup.
After an injury hit period amounting to 24 games on the south coast he completed a loan spell with Peterborough United in 1985 before injuries forced him into the lower leagues with Wealdstone and later retirement from playing the game. He later took up a coaching role in Saudi Arabia. Incidentally, Everald’s elder brother Anthony also turned professional with the Hammers, but never played a first-team game.
#559
RAY HOUGHTON
Born: 9 January 1962, Castlemilk, Glasgow
Signed: Junior
Professional: 5 July 1979
Debut: 1 May 1982, Arsenal (A)
Appearances: 1
Goals: 0
Transferred: Fulham
Date: 7 July 1982
Fee: Free Transfer
Born in Castlemilk, in a district of Glasgow, Houghton began his football career south of the border on the ground-staff with West Ham United. He made his initial Claret and Blue appearance for the Juniors on 7 October 1978 in a South East Counties League (Division Two) fixture at Chadwell Heath against Peterborough United and scored in a 4-0 win.
The budding midfielder progressed through the Upton Park ranks and signed professional forms as a 17 year-old on 5 July 1979. However, the excellent form shown by both Trevor Brooking and Alan Deveonshire who were in front of him in the pecking order, the youngster never had a realistic chance of breaking into the starting eleven. After 3 years at Upton Park, Houghton made just a fleeting first team debut against Arsenal as a 30 minute substitute at Highbury on 1 May 1982; the Hammers reluctantly allowed the talented young Scot to join Fulham on 7 July 1982.
It was at Craven Cottage that his name grew as a young, hardworking ballplayer and going on to make 129 League appearances, scoring 16 goals. On 13 September 1985, Oxford United paid £147,000 to bring him to the Manor Ground, where he most notably scored the second goal in the Yellows 3-0 League Cup final victory over Queens Park Rangers at Wembley.
Although born in Glasgow, he was capped for the Republic of Ireland in 1986 through family qualifications. At the start of the 1987/88 season, Oxford were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool, who then offered £825,000 for his services.
After 202 appearances and 38 goals in 5 successful years at Liverpool, including winning 2 League championships, 2 FA Cup winners medals and Charity Shield, and on the international stage representing Ireland at the 1990 World Cup Finals in Italy.
Houghton joined Aston Villa for £900,000 at the start of the 1992/93 season and played a total of 117 times for Villa, scoring 11 goals and picking up a Football League Cup winners medal.
He later played for Crystal Palace (1995-1997), Reading (1997-199) and wound down his playing career at Stevenage Borough in the Conference, making just three appearances before he retired from the game on 31 May 2000. Houghton now works as a pundit on the game.
#560
ALEXANDER 'Sandy' CLARK
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#561
JOE GALLAGHER
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#562
ALAN DICKENS
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#563
TONY COTTEE
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#654
DAVE SWINDLEHURST
Born: 6 January 1956, Edgware, London
Signed: Derby County
Date: 21 March 1983
Fee: £200,000
Debut: 26 March 1983, Norwich City (A)
Last game: 27 April 1985, Luton town (H)
Appearances: 61/10
Goals: 18
Transferred: Sunderland
Date: 12 August 1985
A striker in the Geoff Hurst – David Cross mould, his signing for a substantial fee from Derby County did much to minimise the effect of the latter's departure from the Boleyn Ground.
Born in Edgware, where he played for the borough school team, Swindlehurst nearly signed for the Hammers as a youngster before going on to make a name for himself at Crystal Palace. The striker was also a member of the same Eagles Colts team as Alan Devonshire in the early Seventies, their reunion in East London proved a fruitful one after a gap of some ten years.
It was after scoring 81 goals in 278 appearances for Crystal Palace that he moved to Derby County for a then-record fee of $410,000 in April 1980. A similar scoring ratio for the Rams impressed Hammers’ manager John Lyall sufficiently for him to splash out £200,000 to bring him to Upton Park on 21 March 1983.
Swindlehurst made his West Ham debut in the First Division clash in a 1-1 draw against Norwich City at Carrow Road on 26 March 1983. A series of injuries kept him out of first-team contention, and he was eventually transferred to Sunderland on 12 August 1985. After a spell in Cyprus with Anorthosis Famagusta, Swindlehurst returned to London to play for Wimbledon, but only managed two appearances. He later played for Colchester United and on loan at Peterborough United.
After spells playing a managing at non-League Bromley and Molesey, he rejoined former club Crystal Palace to take up a coaching role within the youth academy. Swindlehurst joined Crawley Town as assistant manager in 2003 before finally taking the manager’s job at Isthmian League side Whyteleafe in December 2006, and remained there until the end of the following season.
#565 =
STEVE WALFORD
Born: 5 January 1958, Highgate, London
Signed: Norwich City
Date: 22 August 1983
Fee: £165,000
Debut: 27 August 1983, Birmingham City (H)
Last game: 7 March 1987, Charlton Athletic (A)
Appearances: 145/2
Goals: 4
Transferred: Released at wend of contract
Date: 30 June 1989 –
later joins Lai Sun (Hong Kong)
Previously on the Upton Park ground-staff as a junior, the centre half broke into League Football with Tottenham Hotspur in 1975/76. At Spurs, he made only two appearances and followed manager Terry Neil to Arsenal in 1977 in a deal worth £25,000. He gained experience in all defensive and midfield roles in his 77 outings with the Gunners before moving to Norwich City for £175,000 in 1981 where he made 108 appearances for the Canaries.
A £165,000 buy from the Suffolk club at the beginning of the 1983-84 season, Walford settled in well at left-back, making his Hammers debut along with Steve Whitton in the 4-0 thrashing of Birmingham City at Upton Park on 27 August 1983. A very economical player, he uses the ball with telling effect.
Spent the summer of 1987 battling to overcome a knee injury, after a successful operation he joined Huddersfield Town, on a two month loan period, clocking up 12 appearances. Walford did the Terriers proud, although they were unable to sign him outright. The following season saw short loan spells with Gillingham and West Bromwich Albion.
"Wally" four-year stay and 115 appearances at Upton Park were brought to an end when he was allowed to leave on a free transfer in the summer of 1989 to persuade his career in Hong Kong with Lai Sun before returning to England to play for Wycombe Wanderers under Martin O’Neill.
After a brief spell at Wealdstone, Walford returned to Wycombe to become O'Neill's assistant, in maintaining a lenghty working partnership with the Northern Irishman ever since working under O'Neill at Norwich City, Leicester City, Celtic, Aston Villa and Sunderland.
On 5 November 2013, he joined O'Neill's coaching staff after he was appointed manager of Republic of Ireland national football team. On 18 September 2015, he returned to club football after being appointed as the Assistant Manager to Neil Lennon at Bolton Wanderers but lasted just seven months following the club's relegation from the Championship.
#565 =
STEVE WHITTON
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#567
WARREN DONALD
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#568
PAUL HILTON
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#569
TONY GALE
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#570
GREG CAMPBELL
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#571
STEVE POTTS
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#572 =
KEITH McPHERSON
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GEORGE PARRIS
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#574 =
MARK WARD
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#574 =
FRANK McAVENNIE
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#576
KEVIN KEEN
Born: 25 February 1967,
Amersham, Buckinghamshire
Apprentice: 1 July 1983
Professional: 6 March 1984
Debut: 6 September 1986, Liverpool (H)
Last game: 8 May 1993, Cambridge United (H)
Appearances: 237/41
Goals: 30
Transferred: Wolverhampton Wanderers
Date: 7 July 1993
Fee: £600,000
International:
England Under-16 (11 caps),
England Under-18 (4 caps),
England Youth (3 caps)
Current Lead Professional Development Phase Coach at West Ham United, Kevin Keen has worked for the Club in a varity of roles for over 20 years, a flying winger in his playing days who made 278 first-team appearances for the Hammers between 1986 and 1993.
Born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, Kevin Keen made his debut for then non-league Wycombe Wanderers under the management of his father Mike, a former player himself, at the age of 15 in September 1982.
Keen joined the Upton Park ground-staff as an apprentice on 1 July 1983, and was capped by England at schoolboy and youth levels before turning professional on 6 March 1984. ‘Keeney’ made his first-team debut against reigning champions Liverpool at Upton Park on 6 September 1986, aged 19. On 31 January 1987, he scored his first Hammers’ goal against Orient in the FA Cup.
Injuries to Alan Devonshire and Liam Brady presented the winger with an extended run in the first team, quickly becoming a firm favourite with the fans. Pacy, if still somewhat lightweight, Keen excited the crowds with his surging runs down the right wing, equally effective on the left where he takes on defenders and gets in crosses and shots. He was rewarded on the 5 December 1987 when he scored his first-ever League goal against Southampton and subsequent performances that month earned him the Barclays Young Eagle Award.
Keen was twice promoted while playing for West Ham, to the First Division in 1990/91, then to the Premier League in 1992/93, and also reached the semi-finals of both domestic cup competitions.
In 1993, after being voted Hammer of the Year runner-up, Keen joined Wolverhampton Wanderers for £600,000 on 7 July, then moved to Stoke City in 1995, playing over 250 games for the two clubs in total, before ending his career with Macclesfield Town in the old Third Division (now Legaue Two).
After a short spell as caretaker manager at Macclesfield, Keen returned to West Ham in 2002 as Assistant Academy Manager. He was promoted to reserve-team manager, then first-team coach under Alan Pardew in 2006, before a short stint as caretaker manager prior to Alan Curbishley’s arrival, when returned to his role as reserve-team manager.
In September 2008, following Curbishley’s departure, Keen took charge of the first team in a Premier League fixture at West Bromwich. He did likewise following Avram Grant’s departure in May 2011, for a home game with Sunderland.
Later that summer, Keen moved to Liverpool as a first-team coach under manager Kenny Dalglish. In 2013, he joined former West Ham coaching colleague Steve Clarke as the Scotsman’s assistant manager at West Bromwich Albion, then took roles as Head of Academy Coaching at Fulham and Clarke’s assistant manager at Reading in December 2014.
Keen took his first permanent managerial role at Colchester United in December 2015, spending six months at the Essex club before joining Pardew’s backroom staff at Crystal Palace. In summer 2017, he moved to Indian Premier League side Atletico de Kolkata, where he assisted former West Ham player Teddy Sheringham, before returning to England in January 2018 to assist another former Hammer, Chris Powell, at Southend United.
Keen returned to West Ham again in June 2019, and now serves in his current role as Lead Professional Development Phase Coach. Under his leadership, the Under-18s finished second in U18 Premier League South in both 2019/20 and 2021/22, then won the title in 2022/23. Weeks later, Keen’s team won the FA Youth Cup, defeating Arsenal 5-1 in the final at Emirates Stadium.
#577
PAUL INCE
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#578
STEWART ROBSON
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#579
LIAM BRADY
Born: 13 February 1956, Dublin, Ireland
Signed: Ascoli (Italy)
Date: 12 March 1987
Fee: £100,000
Debut: 14 March 1987, Norwich City (H)
Last game: 5 May 1990,
Wolverhampton Wanderers (H)
Appearances: 106/13
Goals: 10
International: Eire (11 caps),
Inter-League (1 cap)
Born, 13 February 1956 in Dublin, the precociously talented attacking midfielder excelled for the leading St Kevin’s Boys Club as a schoolboy before crossing the Irish Sea to join Arsenal at the age of 15 in 1971 and was regarded as one of the Republic of Ireland’s greatest ever players, winning 72 caps in an illustrious career.
The Gunners offered him an apprenticeship, and two years later, aged 17 and seven months, his long and outstanding career was up and running on 6 October 1973 when his made his first-team debut for the north London club, as a sub, in a 1-0 First Division win over Birmingham City.
A left-footed playmaker with outstanding technical ability and vision, Brady spent nine years at Highbury, winning Arsenal’s Player of the Year award three times, lifting the FA Cup twice in 1978 and 1979 and missed out on a consecutive hat-trick of winner’s medals in the 1980 Final to West Ham United. Brady’s afternoon was spoilt when a solitary headed goal by Trevor Brooking after 13 minutes saw the Second Division Hammers lift the famous trophy for the only the third time in their history.
That season, having beaten Juventus over two legs in the semi-finals, Arsenal reached the European Cup Winners’ Cup final, losing to the Spanish side Valencia on penalties. The midfielder’s performance in the tie against the Italian giants was so impressive they signed him in the 1980 close season. Brady scored 59 goals in his 307 appearances for Arsenal. He kicked of his career in Italy with back-to-back Serie A titles before moving on to Sampdoria, Internazionale and Ascoli.
John Lyall persuaded “Chippy” a reference to his weakness for chips returned to the Football League and signed for the West Ham United on 12 March 1987 for £100,000. Brady made his debut against Norwich City at Upton Park in a 0-2 reverse on the 14 March 1987. Despite Brady’s presence, the Hammers struggled, losing their first three games with him in the starting XI, but a home win over Watford was followed by a maiden goal in Claret and Blue in a memorable 3-1 victory over his former club Arsenal at the Boleyn Ground.
Although in the twilight of his career, he was still an accomplished player and the Upton Park faithful marvelled at his skill, the gifted midfielder made his intentions known at the start of the 1989/90 League campaign that it was going to be his last before retiring.
Brady made a fairy-tale ending to his 17-year playing career in the very final minute, by jinking past two defenders and unleashing a 20-yard drive into the net against Wolverhampton Wanderers to draw the curtain down on 119 West Ham appearances, scoring 10 goals and awarded 11 Eire caps as a Hammer.
After a year out of the game he took the football world by surprise when he was appointed manager of Glasgow Celtic Football Club in the summer of 1991. He later persuaded Hammers’ starlet Stuart Slater to join him in a deal worth £1.5 million to the east Londoners.
Brady's stay in Scotland was short-lived and he returned south to manage Brighton & Hove Albion between 1993 and 1995. He rejoined Arsenal in July 1996, as Head of Youth Development and Academy Director and held the position until May 2014.
#580
GARY STRODDER
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#581
TOMMY McQUEEN
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#582
EAMONN DOLAN
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#583
STUART SLATER
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#584
LEROY ROSENIOR
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#585
JULIAN DICKS
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#586
DAVID KELLY
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#587
ALLEN McKNIGHT
Born: 27 January 1964, Antrim, Northern Ireland
Signed: Glasgow Celtic
Date: 12 July 1988
Fee: £250,000
Debut: 10 September 1988, Wimbledon (A)
Last game: 19 December 1990, Luton Town (A)
Appearances: 36
Goals: 0
Transferred: Airdrieonians (Scotland)
Date: August 1991
International: Northern Ireland (4 caps),
Northern Ireland Under-23 (1 cap)
Allen McKnight played youth football for Crumlin Boys, Crumlin Recreation and local Antrim Irish League B Division side Chimney Corner Football Club. The promising goalkeeper began his senior career with Irish club Distillery in 1984 and over the following two seasons he chalked up 68 appearances for the Dublin side. He crossing the Irish Sea to sign for Glasgow Celtic in August 1986 and was loaned out to Albion Rovers without playing a game to gain more experience of the Scottish game. He made a total 36 appearances for the Rovers before returning to Parkhead as second-choice goalkeeper behind Pat Bonner.
McKnight grabbed his chance with both hands when Bonner was side-lined with a virus. Making his debut in the 5-1 win away to Dumbarton on 26 August 1987 he went on to record 12 appearances including three ‘Old Firm’ derbies and won a Scottish Cup Final medal in May 1988 with a 2-1 win against Dundee United at Hampden Park before Bonner regained his first team place.
McKnight left Parkhead and signed for John Lyall’s West Ham United on 12 July 1988 for a fee of £250,000. A training ground injury to first-choice ‘keeper Tom McAlister gave the Irishman the opportunity to make his Hammers debut on 10 September 1988 in a 1-0 win against Wimbledon at Plough Lane.
Already an international with Northern Ireland, and four days after his debut he was awarded his 7th international cap against the Republic of Ireland in a World Cup qualifier which ended in a 0-0 draw at Windsor Park, Belfast.
McKnight recorded 23 league games in his first season and a further 3 international caps, but still the Antrim born player found it difficult to adjust to English football. The keeper was harshly dubbed "McKnightmare" by the fans after his performance in the 3-0 defeat by Luton Town in the League Cup semi-final at Upton Park. His last league outing came on 23 May 1989, a 5-1 Anfield defeat to Liverpool which saw West Ham relegated to the Second Division.
Unable to maintain a starting eleven place after the Hammers’ relegation, he had to wait eighteen months for his last-ever game, also a 5-1 defeat, away to Luton Town in the Full Members Cup.
After leaving the Boleyn Ground in August 1991 he had a short spell with Airdrieonians, Rotherham United, Walsall and then later going to Hong Kong to play for South China Athletic Association before returning to England to play for non-League Collier Row & Romford.
Second Debut
FRANK McAVENNIE
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Hughie