On this day - 29 July

Anniversary

Name: Alvin Martin
Born: Liverpool, 29 July 1958
Clubs: West Ham United, Leyton Orient
International: England - 17 caps, 0 goals

Alvin Martin, who sits fifth in the list of all-time appearance makers for the Hammers, today celebrates his 57th birthday.

The Liverpool-born defender arrived at the Boleyn Ground aged 16, after he rejected the chance to join Everton on a part-time apprenticeship.

He appeared in the FA Youth Cup final of 1975 and turned pro on his eighteenth birthday, before making his first team debut in March 1978 against Aston Villa.

Martin enjoyed his most successful years alongside Billy Bonds in the centre of the Hammers defence and won FA Cup and Second Division winners' medals in successive years - 1980 and 1981.

He also completed the rare feat of scoring a hat-trick against three different goalkeepers in one game, as West Ham beat Newcastle 8-1 in April 1986.

Alvin played 598 games in total for the Club, before ending his career with a brief spell at Leyton Orient ion the 1996/97 campaign.

He would then go on to manage Southend United for a two-year period before taking up a career as a media pundit.