Top FIVE West Ham Captains

West Ham’s greatest ever captain? Being a teenager in the last decade the only stand out captains for me would be Steve Lomas or Lucas Neill or maybe even Paulo Di Canio who led the team with passion. Although, prior to my recollection I’m well aware that has definitely been better skippers who have led the team since West Ham United F.C began in http 1805 then as the Thames Ironworks. So without further ado, here are my top five greatest captains to have ruled the Hammers.

 

1. Bobby Moore

Bobby is without doubt the all time best player to represent the hammers and is an obvious choice to be crowned West Ham’s best ever captain. Bobby Moore helped West Ham to be taken seriously and lead them all the way; he played with pure grace and a fierce tackle and has also been voted England’s best ever national captain hence a statue of him being stood outside the new Wembley. Something about Moore makes him stand out from the rest? Perhaps in 1964, when he won the FA Cup as West Ham defeated Preston North End 3–2 in the final at Wembley. Or maybe the year later, 1965, Moore was skipper when West Ham triumphed in the European Cup Winners Cup where we beat 1860 Munich 2–0 courtesy of 2 goals from Alan Sealey. Who can forget the ‘66’ World Cup? Well we all know what happened there, West Ham defeated West Germany in the final courtesy of their leader Bobby Moore and the goal scorers Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters (also West Ham legends.) Moore has been described as, “a West Ham Legend, a gentleman who took the game by storm” and by Pele as, “greatest defender that he had ever played against.” An all time great and 100% the best ever player to captain West Ham.

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2. Billy Bonds

Who is the second greatest West Ham captain of all time? Billy Bonds, an inspirational skipper to for West Ham United. Billy Bonds was a West Ham legend, a hard man on and off the pitch. Bonzo was the traditional English defender, famously strong in the tackle and passionate, although untraditionally he added flair to his defensive role which after time led him to become a fans favourite. Bonds was also clever and a over capable player with the ball (Bonds began his career as a midfielder.) Despite unusually never representing England Billy Bonds has been voted on of the best cult heroes of his generation and rightly so. Bonds’ never say die attitude was made abundantly clear in 663 appearances for West Ham his authority on the pitch was referred to by many of his fellow players and his dedication to the club eventually led to West Ham achieving success. With Bonds at the back and as captain the Hammers won the FA Cup in the1975 and 1980.

3. Alvin Martin

Liverpudlian Alvin Martin was West Ham’s club captain from the 84/85 season to when he played his last match in 1996.He’d learnt his trade from arguably the Hammers greatest captain, Billy Bonds. He slotted into defence next to Bonzo after making his debut in 1978. The new partnership of youth and experience worked perfectly over the next few seasons, where, of course, the Irons won the FA Cup in 1980, the 2nd Division Championship a year later, and then some comfortable mid table finishes once back in the big time. Succeeding Bonds’ decision to relinquish the captaincy before the start of the 84/85 season, Alvin was the natural successor. He was extremely comfortable on the ball, a great leader with a heart of a lion. Even though the team flirted with relegation in his first season as captain, the 85/86 saw Alvin almost lead the Hammers to an unlikely first ever league championship. They pushed (ironically) both scouser clubs until the last Saturday of the season, when Liverpool won the league at Stamford Bridge. A 3rd place finish was scant reward for a heroic effort, made all the more galling, as English clubs were banned from Europe following the Heysel disaster in 1985.Unfortunately the board did not build on the success of that amazing season, and the Hammers meandered in mid table for a couple of seasons, until heartbreaking relegation in 1989.Alvin, however, stayed loyal and did not hand in a transfer request, even when the board sacked his mentor John Lyall. Over the next few seasons, Alvin struggled with a variety of injuries that restricted his appearances significantly. In fact he missed both promotion seasons of 1991 and 1993.Thankfully, though, the fans saw a triumphant return from our favourite ever scouser in the newly formed Premier League (albeit it with a lot less hair). Over the next couple of years, Alvin showed us just how good he had always been with some masterful performances, that showed that what he had lost in pace, he had more than made up with positional knowledge and experience. These last few years were truly an Indian summer that cemented Alvin’s place in the annals of legendary Hammers captains. His almost 20 years as a first team regular will almost certainly never be seen again in the modern era.

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4. Julian Dicks

The Terminator, Julian Dicks like Alvin Martin and Bonzo was a force not to be reckoned with. Dicks’ position was full back where his tenacity combined with his pure and utter strength and bulldog like appearance make him a fear to face for a winger. Dicks’ presence alone scared the opposition and maybe even his own players. Dicks was definitely an influential captain to play under. The West Ham faithful loved his attitude and his no nonsense approach quickly helped him to become a hammers hero. Dicks’ most noticeable impact as a captain for West Ham came in the1996/97 season; they fought the drop from top flight football, his brilliant performances included scoring twice in a fierce London derby against Tottenham Hotspur at the Boleyn Ground in which West Ham won 4–3 which ultimately made Julian Dicks a West Ham legend. Dicks was surprisingly was one of the greatest English penalty takers ever, the Terminator famously smashed his penalties leaving the goalies without a chance in saving them.

 

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5. Nigel Reo Coker

Nigel Reo Coker’s inclusion amongst the greats is perhaps controversial but he was 4 minutes away from being a West Ham legend and being the first black captain to lift the FA Cup. It was the 2006 FA Cup final and prior to a late Koncheskey goal West Ham was winning, we were 4 minutes away from being victorious. As painful it is to say West Ham managed to lose the final after a Steven Gerrard thunderbolt and a shocking penalty shootout defeat. The previous year West Ham had won the Playoffs and had been promoted to the Premier League and Reo Coker was the skipper for that particular match as well. Although after the FA Cup loss Reo Coker fell out with West Ham and his performances helped to lose the West Hams fans blessing as well. Nigel Reo Coker was 240 seconds away from being a West Ham hero. More recently Lucas Neill has perhaps been the best captain for the hammers due to his clear vocal strength and he gave the team spurt of stability on the pitch amongst some inexperienced players. Kevin Nolan seems to have underperformed this season since his switch from Newcastle in the summer, although there is no doubt that Nolan is not a physical player but sometimes he uses this attribute to his own faults i.e. his two footed tackle in the 9^th minute against Millwall at the weekend which he got sent off for, led the hammers to playing their rivals with 9 outfield players for the remaining 80 minutes.

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