1967-1988, these are the years we saw the amazing Billy Bonds wearing the famous colours of claret and blue. Ron Greenwood was the manager to sign Bonds in a deal costing the club £50,000. Bonds made 95 league appearances, scoring 1 goal whilst playing for Charlton through the years of 1964-1967.
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During his time at Charlton he built up a reputation as a “hard man”. Bonds was known for his physical strength and fitness, there were few players who were willing to go “all in” for a tackle against him, as they knew he wasn’t the type to shy away, the thing that made Bonds stand out from other defenders was the fact that when he won the ball he didn’t simply punt it up field in the hope someone latched on to the end of it, Bonds was a very intelligent player, he knew exactly what he could do with the ball at his feet, much the same as the players who played against him did.
Billy Bonds was a true professional. As were many players who played in the same era as he did. In his first three season at West Ham (1967-1970) Bonds played at right back and made a total of 134 appearances, this included a run of 124 consecutive league appearances, which was only ended by injury (not like nowadays where they’re all too tired to play or have headaches…). When Bonds returned for the start of the 1970 season Greenwood had obviously seen his presence in the league and his passion to get the ball at his feet and make driving runs forward was something he could do better in the midfield. Bonds was making an impression in the midfield and was said to be the instigator of many attacking movements made, especially in the early 1970’s.
Bonds was praised for his input during the League Cup in the 1971-72 season, unfortunately West Ham were beaten by Stoke in a replay of the Quarter Finals. Bonds was still learning his trade in midfield, until the 1973-74 season, which is by far his best goal scoring season. Making a total of 43 appearances Bonds scored 13 goals, this included a hat-trick against Chelsea FC.
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1974 was the year Bobby Moore made his move, taking on the defensive duties at Fulham FC. Bonds was given the role as captian this year and was to hold the captaincy for 10 years. During his time as captain Bonds lead his club to some memorable moments, despite a miserable season from 1974-75 West Ham found themselves in the FA Cup final against Fulham, who also had a poor season. The FA Cup was a game of two halves, the first half showed both players being cautious and tentative with the ball, rarely seeing the ball in the penalty area, other than when the defenders passed the ball back to their goalkeepers. Yet after the break West Ham looked to increase the pressure, finally making the breakthrough on the hour mark, Alan Taylor found himself 6 yards from goal with a rebounding ball coming his way, his decision was to smash it into the back of the net. 1-0. Four minutes after this Taylor scored an almost identical goal. The game was won by the Hammers 2-0 and was played in front of 100,000 people. This was Bonds first real achievement since taking over the captaincy from Bobby Moore.
Shortly before the end of the 1976-77 season Ron Greenwood pushed Bonds back into the back four as a centre half playing alongside Tommy Taylor, Bonds showed he hasn’t lost his touch in defence, constantly taking the pall from attackers and playing it out calmly. West Ham also won the FA Cup in 1980, this time against a higher profile club, Arsenal. Trevor Brooking scored the only goal in the game, on the 13th minute, scoring from a miss hit shot from Stuart Pearce which flew across the goal mouth where Brooking was waiting and scored with a header. Arsenal then tried all they could to unlock the West Ham defence and had most of the possession for the rest of the game. Yet West Ham withstood their attacks to claim a priceless victory.
After the game finished Bonds collected the trophy from the Duchess of Kent, he turned towards the West Ham fans and raised the trophy above his head to a roar of cheers, shortly after this the anthem that speaks to my heart every time I hear it, I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles was bellowed out by every West Ham fan in the stadium.
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Bonds went on to play a total of 793 games for the Hammers, scoring 48 goals, and spent 27 years with them, as player and manager. Bonds was a proven hit with the fans, winning Hammer of the Year 4 times (1971, 1974, 1975 and 1987)
We need to find ourselves a new Billy Bonds, someone who don’t care what position he is playing, he will play as well as he can, a player who doesn’t shy away from tackles and fear an injury, a player who will show the opposition he is going to run the game his way and if u want to change that then you will have to stand up and will be counted.
Here’s hoping we find another Billy Bonds.
One word noble
I AGREE WE NEED A BILLY BONDS AND I HAVE BEEN SAYING IT FOR YEARS BUT THE ANSWER IS NOT NOBLE BUT COULD BE REID.MAKE REID CAPTAIN NOW .
Even towards the end of his career he was the fittest player at the club always winning the cross country races. And the author doesn’t mention the freedom he gave his good mate , Trevor Brooking. Any opposition player foolish enough to try a reducer on Trevor received a tackle back from Billy twice as hard. No wonder Brooking had so much time on the ball !
must agree with you on that john what a blood and guts defender billy was i saw him on a few occasions reid could be the man to lead us forward
I grew up watching the team of hurst,Peters, and Moore but my overriding memories are of Bonzo crunching tackles, inspirational surging runs and sheer force of personality sometimes taking the game by the scruff of the neck . His clenched fist salute used to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. He was a one of but Reid is likehim tough, uncompromising, and calm. Could he be the next Bonzo maybe?
Simply the Guvnor. Strong, quick, hard as nails,intelligent with the ball, a born leader, and a man who bled Claret & Blue. We cant hope for anyone approaching Bonzo, but if we cross Diame and Noble, then may be we are half-way there.
I do not understand why we are continuing to court overseas players who seem intent on using West Ham , (and others), as a stepping stone for a move to a so called ‘bigger’ club. So the answer is quite simple, go back to the club that first introduced Billy Bonds to league football, Charlton Athletic, and there you will find Chris Solly who plays the game with total committment and his heart on his sleeve, just like Billy Bonds did every time he pulled on the claret and blue shirt.
There will never be another like him, and it is hopeless to make comparisons, but this lad has all the attributes that will make him a fans favourite for many years to come.
Get him in before someone else does and we come to regret it.
Well it certainly wont be Diarra hahaha