With this weekend’s England Scotland fixture in mind Blind Hammer compiles a nostalgic West Ham Scottish 11.
When we consider various “Fantasy” sides or “nostalgia” West Ham’s Scottish connections are rarely mentioned. Nevertheless, over the years, some crucial Scottish performers have starred in the Claret and Blue. I decided to see if I could make an entire side up. There were three rules. They must have played for West Ham, they must be Scottish, and I must have “seen” them play, though in later years this is a metaphorical term in my case.
The task was not straightforward. The resulting side is uneven, sprinkled with brilliant performers, cheek by jowl with average, even poor players. I guess it resembles many of the real West Ham sides over the years. However, whilst perhaps a little short on quality, this side would certainly provide tough tackling, gritty opposition and in most cases give their all for the cause.
Some positions I struggled with, in particular left back, but see what you think. Any other suggestions gratefully received.
*Bobby Ferguson
Ferguson was the goalkeeper in my first ever 1968 visit to Upton Park. He was forever tainted by Brooking’s revelation that Greenwood could have signed Gordon Banks but stuck, much to Bobby Moore’s annoyance, to his “Gentleman’s agreement to sign Ferguson. Ferguson had starred for Kilmarnock who had remarkably won the Scottish League in 1966. He was a British record high transfer for a goalkeeper.
My memories of Ferguson were not uniformly bad at all. He was like Randolph a good shot stopper but also like Randolph rarely dominated his box to the extent Banks would certainly have done.
Ferguson was probably unlucky as his deficiencies with crosses was probably highlighted and compounded by our failure to recruit a dominant Centre Back to play alongside Moore. With more commanding support in the centre of defence he may have been a more confident performer. He eventually lost his place to a young Mervyn Day.
*2. Ray Stewart
One of my favourite all time West Ham Scottish players. Although he could play at right back and this is where I have placed him, he was actually far more effective in centre defence or midfield. He ends up at right back because frankly I cannot remember any other Scottish player who could fit in at right defence. I thought of using Robbie Stockdale, but his brief loan was pushing matters.
I loved the certainty of “Tonka’s” penalty kicks. His powerful pile drivers seem to burst the net. In the 1981 League Cup Final against Liverpool I was standing at the end at Wembley where he took his late equalising spot kick. With anybody else, even Mark Noble nowadays, I think, I would have been nervous. Not with Ray. With Stewart his reliability in big games was awesome and I was celebrating the goal even before the ball hit the net.
*3. Stephen Hendrie.
I was startled to read on Wikipedia that Hendrie is apparently still on the books at West Ham, despite failing to impress at loan spells at both Southend and Blackburn. His squad number is apparently 33. His path to our first team was and continues to be blocked by first Cresswell and latterly Masuaku. Hendrie breaks my rules in that I have never seen him play, as far as I am aware, he has never played for the West Ham first team at all. I believe John Lyall was Scottish and a left back but I certainly never saw him play. Consequentially this is a bit of a fudge. I would have to give Hendrie his debut. Any other left back candidates gratefully received.
*4. Neil Orr
Neil Orr started from unpromising and limited performances to become, if only for a brief time, one of the most consistent and important performers in the side. Orr was a bit of a utility player but I always thought he was best in defensive midfield. Orr was one of the unsung heroes of Lyall’s famous 1985-6 side which finished a record 3rd in the First Division. The importance he held in the side was indicated by the fact that he played 33 times during this record breaking season. He added steel and toughness to our team, was a reliable if unspectacular distributor of the ball and made us tough to beat.
*5. Christian Dailly
Christian Dailly was a bit of a slow burner for me. Rarely an outstanding performer he, nevertheless was solid and provided hard work in the centre of defence for both Roeder and Pardew. I grew increasingly fond of his performance. Roeder promoted him to club captain in 2003. Whilst he was rarely exceptional he rarely let us down. Pardew did not start him in the 2006 FA Cup final, but turned to him in the 77th minute in an attempt to protect our lead. The failure to hold on was not down to him. He tried to lead our club during difficult times and for that I am grateful to him.
*6. John Cushley
From a solid centre back to, I am afraid, one of our weakest ever performers at centre back. I remember being baffled as a young West ham fan, as to how we could pair a world class player like Bobby Moore with a moderate, at best, performer like John Cushley. Cushley was allegedly purchased to add steel to our defence in the late 60s. He was the second Scottish defensive option alongside Ferguson, purchased by Greenwood. Whatever Greenwood’s other qualities his Scottish experiments did not stand him in good stead here. Cushley could not make it in the Celtic first team so it is strange as to why Greenwood believed he could make the step up at West Ham. To my then young eyes Cushley never has the athleticism or physicality to dominate opposing forwards and he was at fault for many of the “soft goals” we conceded. I rarely remember Cushley ever beating a forward in an aerial duel. If I had an alternative Scottish right back, Ray Stewart would replace him in a heartbeat. However Cushley did occupy the centre half position for two seasons between 1968 and 1970 so is the best qualified out of a poor pool of options.
*7. Robert Snodgrass.
I hope that the best is yet to come from Snodgrass but it appears, if we are to believe the rumours, that he will be considered surplus to our midfield requirements and transferred out of the club this summer. It does seem odd to me that Snodgrass should be a high quality performer for nearly all the clubs he has played for, both in creating and scoring goals, before grinding to a halt at West Ham. His character and commitment cannot be faulted however. There is a feeling we have not seen the best of him and the reasons for this remain mysterious. It may just be that his style of play does not integrate with Bilic’s needs. It would not surprise me if he resumed a successful career away from West Ham.
*8. Jimmy Lindsay
Jimmy Lindsey was another lightweight performer in the West Ham side between 1968 and 1971. At the time it was common for Scottish Footballers to make the transition from Scotland to England to add toughness and grit to sides. However Lindsay was again uncharacteristically lacking in the athleticism and strength needed to cope with the at times savage tackling of the period. Recruited from Scottish youth football at Possilpark He did occasionally have a nice skilful touch and could find the occasional insightful pass but despite playing 38 times for the Hammers he never really made it. He seemed a boy amongst men to me. He found his level in subsequent years with spells at Watford, then a lower league side, Colchester and Hereford.
*9. Sandy Clark
I personally have fond memories of Sandy Clark although he flickered only briefly for us. He played 26 times during the 1982-3 season scoring 7 goals.
Whilst playing for Airdrieonians in 1982 he won the prestigious Scottish PFA Player of the Year award. He joins Ferguson in having an outstanding career in Scotland without quite transferring this to West Ham. Nevertheless Clark was a rumbustious typical combative Centre Forward who did not stint on effort for the cause.
The odd symmetry for West Ham is that when in 1982, Sandy Clark won the Scottish PFA Players award, the award for Young Player of the Year went to St Mirren’s Frank McAvennie.
*10. Frank McAvennie
The undoubted star in the Scottish Stable for us. McAvennie signed in 1985 for £345,000. The investment was to be fully repaid as we suddenly discovered we had a match winning goal scorer on our hands. Originally a midfielder he converted to striker due to an injury to Paul Goddard.
I remember the thrill of the excitement I felt whilst watching McAvennie that first season. I loved watching Pop Robson and of course Tony Cottee and Geoff Hurst, all of whom had longer and over time much more distinguished careers with West Ham. However McAvennie just for a short while outperformed all of them for me. At this brilliant prime he was the most lethal and natural finisher whilst one on one with a goalkeeper that I have ever seen play for us. Cottee was a mercurial threat, Hurst had lung busting runs and an awesome shot, Pop Robson combined the power of Hurst’s shots and Cottee’s poaching in his short frame, but |McAvennie bearing down on goal after breaking the offside trap was poetry in motion. For just a short while McAvennie was unplayable and lethal in and around the box and especially bearing down on the goalkeeper. During 1985-6 McAvennie rocketed to the top of the First Division Scoring Charts and finished the season with 26 goals, forming an incredible partnership with Cottee who contributed 20 goals. The odd thing was that although McAvennie was top of the goal scoring charts in the early months of that season a Television blackout of football meant that only West Ham fans were able to witness the finest football of his career. McAvennie, like Robson, was to spend 2 spells at West Ham but never for me quite recaptured the brilliance of that first season. The reality was that we could be playing badly as a team but his match winning abilities mint that we kept on pulling wins out of the bag when in previous seasons we would probably have lost or drawn. For the first time I realised why the clubs with mega resources will pay so much for a proven match winning goal scorer. They are worth literally their weight in gold.
*11. Don Hutchison
Don Hutchinson was another combative player, whose undoubted talents were allegedly diminished by incidents involving alcohol, including an incident, according to Wikipedia where he on one chaotic night ended up hiding his genitals with a Budweiser beer mat. He was nicknamed Budweiser by West Ham players after this.
Hutchinson was a rangy wide player who could also play in midfield or up front and always carried a goal threat. Sadly he played his best football away from West Ham. Like Robson and Cottee and McAvennie he had 2 spells with West Ham but the second spell was ruined by injury.
I remember the excitement his return to West ham evoked but the dreaded anterior ligament injury in his knee ruined his homecoming.
So this is my West Ham Scottish 11. It is just a bit of fun really. Post any disagreements or agreements.
COYI
David Griffith