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
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#559
RAY HOUGHTON
Born: 9 January 1962, Castlemilk, Glasgow, Scotland
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
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#577
PAUL INCE
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#578
STEWART ROBSON
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#579
LIAM BRADY
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#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
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Second Debut
FRANK McAVENNIE
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