“A lifelong West Ham United fan, going into 1983, I was just a 17-year-old apprentice, who’d found himself lucky enough to be training at Chadwell Heath with my heroes,” he recalled. “As a supporter, I’d gradually made my way around the Boleyn Ground from North Bank to Chicken Run to West Side Lower, where I stood at the South Bank end analysing all the great strikers.
“As I netted frequently for the juniors, youth team and reserves, John Lyall and [Academy Director] Tony Carr would constantly encourage me, saying: ‘Just keep scoring’.
“When it came to playing Tottenham Hotspur on New Year’s Day 1983, I certainly hadn’t expected to be involved but at 1.45pm, John told me that I was making my first-team debut. I wasn’t fazed by it and, when Geoff Pike floated over the free-kick that Joe Gallagher nodded onto the crossbar on 25 minutes, I instinctively did what John and my dad Clive had always urged: ‘Follow up, follow up.’ I just raced in and headed the rebound past Ray Clemence into that South Bank goal to set us on the way to a 3-0 win. You couldn’t have scripted it.
“They didn’t cover every match back then but fortunately ITV’s ‘The Big Match’ cameras were there to record that moment. I still cringe when I look back on my post-match interview alongside Trevor Brooking but, seriously, remain forever grateful to John for giving me that opportunity. Who knows? I might not have achieved anything in my career if he hadn’t bravely picked a 17-year-old that afternoon…”
Who could make themselves a West Ham hero like Cottee when Tottenham visit London Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday 13 September?
You can be there to find out by securing your tickets HERE.