Tony Cottee Debut at Upton Park 1st January 1983
Tony Cottee was born on 11th Just 1965 in Forest Gate, London. One of the most prolific goal scorers in English football during the 80s and 90s, scoring 293 goals in 712 games, in all competitions.
Playing on his debut aged 17, Cottee scores past Spurs and England goalkeeper Ray Clemence on 1st January 1983 in the English League One match at Upton Park.
Cottee went on to play 8 games that season, scoring 5 goals. Cottee secured a regular first team place in the following season scoring 18 goals – still on 18 years old. But, in 1984-85 season, Cottee scared 17 First Division goals and by the age of 20 had already managed 37 league goals.
Cottee went to his first match at Upton Park as a boy with his dad to in March 1972 to watch the Hammers beat Nottingham Forest 4-2, with Pop Robson scoring 2 goals. Cottee himself describes this as his ‘rite of passage’ and he has been connected to the club for almost 50 years.
Talking about his debut, Cottee describes how only the year before he was watching the team play from the stands and by the New Year he was in the first team playing with Martin and Devo – something he just couldn’t believe at the time!
For Cottee, and many others who have played for the club or followed the Hammers, Upton Park holds so many special memories and scoring “in a 3-0 victory against the old enemy. It couldn’t get much better than that.”
I love this photo, not only because its of Cottee scoring against Clemence in goal for Spurs, but its such a perfect shot, capturing the moment the ball leaves Cottee’s head, but a perfect rule of thirds composition. Depth of field is spot on with the crowd blurred in the background – but you can still make out some fans standing with their hands up in the air in celebration. The frame of the goal posts, the structure of the stand and the players creating a triangulated dynamic that leads your eye around the scene.
