The name of the lifelong West Ham United fan will forever be etched in club folklore thanks to his 2005 Championship play-off final winner that earned a return to the promised land of the Premiership.

Ironically, Zamora had been on the Boleyn Ground books as a schoolboy but he had to go via Bristol Rovers, Bath City, Brighton and Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur before making a return to east London.

Back in September 1999, the Barking-born striker had made the first of six substitute appearances for Bristol Rovers against Birmingham in the League Cup second round, and after subsequent loan spells at Bath and Brighton - where he hit six goals in half-a-dozen games - he joined the Seagulls for £100,000 in August 2000.

'Zamo' was destined to become a cult-hero down on the south coast, where he struck an incredible 77 goals in 130 league and cup games as table-topping Albion won successive titles on their way to the Championship, thanks to their 30-goal per season marksman.

The prolific striker also won the first of six England U-21 caps against Portugal in April 2002, and even though dive-bombing Brighton then made an instant return to the third-tier at the end of the 2002/03 campaign, Zamora had still managed 14 goals.

That was the cue for a £1.5m move to Tottenham Hotspur in summer 2003 but curiously, he was given only six Premiership starts by the north London club and his only goal in 18 outings came during the League Cup victory over West Ham.

Despite having to move back down to the Championship, the chance to join his boyhood heroes was a dream come true for the striker who reportedly cost £750,000 as Jermain Defoe headed to White Hart Lane for £7m in January 2004.

And things got even better as Zamora made a scoring debut at Bradford City in February 2004 on his way to scoring five times in 20 league and cup outings that climaxed with a heartbreaking defeat by Crystal Palace in the play-off final at the Millennium Stadium.

But just 12 months later, a much-happier Zamora was back at Cardiff, where his winner against Preston North End in the 2005 play-off final proved a fitting climax to the season for a striker who, after netting just seven Championship goals, had struggled all year to recapture the scoring form that had earned him such rave reviews.

That said, his return to form could not have come at a better time, for he had also just scored three goals against Ipswich Town in the two-legged semi-finals before hitting that lucrative Millennium Stadium decider.

Despite starting the Premiership campaign as third-choice behind Marlon Harewood and Teddy Sheringham, Zamora responded in admirable fashion, taking his chance whenever it came and, after netting ten goals in 42 league and cup outings, he marked the end of the 2005/06 campaign with another trip to Cardiff and a substitute appearance against Liverpool in the FA Cup final.

Zamora started the 2006/07 season in fantastic style with five goals in the opening four games but as the club struggled at the wrong end of the table, he only managed to add another half-dozen strikes to that tally during a further 33 outings.