Continuing our series commemorating the 40th-anniversary of the Hammers highest-ever, top-flight finish, Club captain Alvin Martin recalls a remarkable, record-breaking 1985/86 season that also saw him net a unique hat-trick against Newcastle United…
The signatures may have faded on his prized match-ball but for Alvin Martin the memory of his unforgettable hat-trick against Newcastle United remains indelibly etched in his mind.
Four decades on, his treasured treble in the 8-1 victory over the mauled Magpies in April 1986 remains one of the iconic moments of a record-breaking campaign.
“My hat-trick gets yet more exaggerated with every season that passes!” smiles the 17-times capped England international, recalling the barmy, balmy Boleyn Ground evening, when he netted against goalkeeper Martin Thomas plus subsequent stand-in stoppers Chris Hedworth and Peter Beardsley. “It’s a footballing story that’s been passed down from father to son because it was against three different ‘keepers.
“I’ve still got the ball and know it’s the actual one from that night. Nowadays, they’ll use 20 to keep everything flowing but, back then, if the ball got booted into Row Z, everyone just waited for it to come back down from the stands.”
More of that trouncing of the Toon Army later…
After winning only one of their opening seven matches, 1985/86 looked set to be a season of strife for West Ham.
“Everyone reckoned we’d struggle,” concedes Alvin, who had misgivings over one of the manager’s summer signings, too. “I loved my training so, when John Lyall called me into his Chadwell Heath office to meet our new, little scouser, Mark Ward, I thought: ‘What a waste of valuable time.’
“Early on, Wardie looked clumsy and awkward. He’d been playing down a level at Oldham Athletic so perhaps he was trying too hard to show he wasn’t intimidated?
“Credit to Mark – I’ve never seen a player improve so fast,” nods ‘Stretch’, reflecting on what proved a bargain-bucket £225,000 transfer from Boundary Park to the Boleyn Ground. “Wardie quickly hit top-flight level and looked perfectly at home. Clearly, there was a footballer in there – he just needed polishing by West Ham United.”
There were no reservations over second summer signing Frank McAvennie, a £340,000 capture from St. Mirren.
“As soon as I saw Frank in training, I thought: ‘We’ve got a player here.’ And I was right. Quick and technical, he would score 28 goals. Inside two weeks, everyone knew Frank as a player and a person– a different type of character had certainly arrived at the Football Club!”