David Cross signed for West Ham in December 1977 for a club record fee of 180,000 pounds from West Brom. A week later he made his debut for the Hammers against his former club in a 1-0 defeat. At the time it seemed a strange signing for then manager John Lyall as the Cross style was somewhat alien to what was considered the “West Ham way”. The no nonsense physical style and fearsome presence of David Cross was soon to earn him the nickname of “Psycho” from the Upton Park faithful. Over the following five years he was to score 99 goals in 228 appearances for the club.
Whilst strikers today are often asked to play a lone role up front, it came as a huge surprise for Psycho to be told just minutes before the FA Cup Final in 1980 that he was expected to play as a lone striker that day. It was a formation that was very unconventional to West Ham and quite unexpected. His normal striker partner Stuart Pearson was to play in a more reserved role in front of the midfield quartet. He later admitted to be shocked and somewhat disappointed at the request at the time, but he went on to play his heart out and admitted that John Lyall’s tactical nous on the day had been pivotal in beating Arsenal 1-0 and winning the cup. Earlier that season Psycho had noticed that whenever he saw a pig in a field on the travels to an away game he would either score or the Hammers would win. It became an ongoing joke between him and physio Rob Jenkins and eventually Rob bought Psycho a miniature silver pig for him as a good luck charm. Psycho carried the pig in his hand for the full 90 minutes of the FA Cup Final!
In later years the silver pig got lost along the way, so a replica was created and Dave’s children Bobby and Kate regarded it as a good luck charm as well. Bobby passed it onto his sister who was playing cricket for England in the West Indies. She had the pig with her when she took four wickets for 51, taking the top order apart.
Psycho twice scored four goals in a game for West Ham and one of those times was against Spurs in 1981. How could the man not be a legend of the club for that feat alone? The third goal came off his shin but the build up alone was worthy of being a contender for the goal of the season. Psycho left the Hammers in 1982 and during his eighteen year career as a professional footballer he was transferred twelve times. Whilst Psycho was a bit of a journeyman in the game, he made twice as many appearances for West Ham than any other club. During his five years at West Ham he certainly became a fan favourite.