The West Ham United official website has recently been running a countdown of the 50 Greatest Hammers. The club are asking supporters to vote on the top ten after a panel of supporters and players ranked club legends. Players positioned from 50 to 11 are as follows:
50. Bobby Zamora
49. Ted Hufton
48. Trevor Sinclair
47. Clyde Best
46. Ian Bishop
45. Brian Dear
44. Steve Lomas
43. Michael Carrick
42. Geoff Pike
41. Scott Parker
40. Noel Cantwell
39. Frank Lampard Junior
38. Alan Sealey
37. Pat Holland
36. Carlos Tevez
35. Tony Gale
34. Dimitri Payet
33. John Bond
32. Steve Potts
31. Jim Barrett Senior
30. Joe Cole
29. Vic Keeble
28. David Cross
27. Rio Ferdinand
26. Johnny ‘Budgie’ Byrne
25. Ernie Gregory
24. Len Goulden
23. Ronnie Boyce
22. Ludek Miklosko
21. Jimmy Ruffell
20. Syd Puddefoot
19. Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson
18. Ken Brown
17. Ray Stewart
16. Frank McAvennie
15. Mark Noble
14. Tony Cottee
13. John Dick
12. Julian Dicks
11. Paolo Di Canio
The top ten, to be judged by a wider supporter vote, consists of (in alphabetical order):
Billy Bonds
Sir Trevor Brooking
Alan Devonshire
Sir Geoff Hurst
Frank Lampard Senior
Alvin Martin
Bobby Moore
Phil Parkes
Martin Peters
Vic Watson
To cast your vote and put the top ten into your rank order, click here.
Speaking personally, I think I’d have found a spot in my top 50 for Danny Shea, who scored 186 goals in 290 appearances for the club between 1907 and 1913, possibly in place of Brian Dear, while Robert Green would replace Steve Lomas in my list. Scott Parker and Johnny ‘Budgie’ Byrne would also feature higher in my top 50.
How would you rank order the top ten? Would any player in the club’s top 50 not make your list and, if so, who would you replace them with?