On This day: Supermac becomes a Hammer!

32 years ago to this day, West Ham completed the signing of cult hero Frank McAvennie from St. Mirren.

After strong from in Scotland over the past five seasons and being named the Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year, McAvennie moved to East London in the summer of 1985 for the then rather large sum of £340,000.

Deployed as an out-and-out striker and an attacking midfielder during his two year tenure with the club, the Scotsman went on to win the Hammers fans’ hearts. McAvennie formed a formidable partnership with fellow striker Tony Cottee, scoring 26 goals in his first season to help John Lyall’s side finish third in the English top flight, their highest ever finish.

The former SPL star was famously quoted as saying: “Then I signed for West Ham and money and girls were thrown at me and, hey, who was I to say no? Then I went on Wogan and it really took off. I was never under any illusions why it was happening. It wisnae because of my looks, it was because I was a footballer.” after his appearance on the Terry Wogan show in 1986.

A move away followed, however after short stints at both Celtic and Aston Villa, ‘Supermac’ returned to the club as their record signing for £1.25 million in March of 1989. A broken leg early into his second spell with the Hammers ruled the Scot out for nearly a whole season, but he soon found his shooting his shooting boots upon his return, going on to score 16 more goals for the club, including a memorable hat-trick on his final game for the club against Nottingham Forrest.

The striker was ranked as the club’s 15th best ever player in a recent survey.