Continuing our series commemorating the 40th-anniversary of the Hammers highest-ever, top-flight finish, Club captain Alvin Martin recalls a remarkable, record-breaking 1985/86 season that also saw him net a unique hat-trick against Newcastle United…
The signatures may have faded on his prized match-ball but for Alvin Martin the memory of his unforgettable hat-trick against Newcastle United remains indelibly etched in his mind.
Four decades on, his treasured treble in the 8-1 victory over the mauled Magpies in April 1986 remains one of the iconic moments of a record-breaking campaign.
“My hat-trick gets yet more exaggerated with every season that passes!” smiles the 17-times capped England international, recalling the barmy, balmy Boleyn Ground evening, when he netted against goalkeeper Martin Thomas plus subsequent stand-in stoppers Chris Hedworth and Peter Beardsley. “It’s a footballing story that’s been passed down from father to son because it was against three different ‘keepers.
“I’ve still got the ball and know it’s the actual one from that night. Nowadays, they’ll use 20 to keep everything flowing but, back then, if the ball got booted into Row Z, everyone just waited for it to come back down from the stands.”
More of that trouncing of the Toon Army later…
After winning only one of their opening seven matches, 1985/86 looked set to be a season of strife for West Ham.
“Everyone reckoned we’d struggle,” concedes Alvin, who had misgivings over one of the manager’s summer signings, too. “I loved my training so, when John Lyall called me into his Chadwell Heath office to meet our new, little scouser, Mark Ward, I thought: ‘What a waste of valuable time.’
“Early on, Wardie looked clumsy and awkward. He’d been playing down a level at Oldham Athletic so perhaps he was trying too hard to show he wasn’t intimidated?
“Credit to Mark – I’ve never seen a player improve so fast,” nods ‘Stretch’, reflecting on what proved a bargain-bucket £225,000 transfer from Boundary Park to the Boleyn Ground. “Wardie quickly hit top-flight level and looked perfectly at home. Clearly, there was a footballer in there – he just needed polishing by West Ham United.”
There were no reservations over second summer signing Frank McAvennie, a £340,000 capture from St. Mirren.
“As soon as I saw Frank in training, I thought: ‘We’ve got a player here.’ And I was right. Quick and technical, he would score 28 goals. Inside two weeks, everyone knew Frank as a player and a person– a different type of character had certainly arrived at the Football Club!”
Going into September with that solitary win, skipper Alvin rallied Lyall’s slip-sliding squad.
“John let me arrange a players-only meeting,” confides Martin, who stands fifth in the Club’s all-time appearance charts with 596 appearances across 19 seasons down West Ham way. “With everything staying within all four walls of the training ground, some home truths were aired and that meeting helped define our season.
“Next match, we went ahead at Sheffield Wednesday before falling behind. I looked around, thinking: ‘What’s going to happen now? Will we get a response?’ We stayed strong and got a late equaliser. Our mentality had changed. We never looked back after that 2-2 draw.
“We’d Phil Parkes in goal and, as defenders, Ray Stewart, Steve Walford, George Parris, Tony Gale and myself could all play out from the back. Working hard, we’d win possession and use the ball well, while keeping things tight at the back and nicking goals up-front.”
With West Ham embarking upon a record-breaking 18-match unbeaten top-flight run from late August until Boxing Day, Alvin was recognised at international level, too, with his first England call-up for seven months.
“Mexico 86 was the elephant in the room throughout the season,” says the 67-year-old, who eventually missed the Three Lions FIFA World Cup qualifier against Romania with a niggling knee injury. “I just rolled along hoping my league performances would get me noticed for England”
Come autumn, the hurricane-like Hammers blew away all-comers during a whirlwind winning streak of nine straight victories.
“It was an enjoyable period, when we looked forward to games,” he continues. “Our fans were also travelling to matches expecting us to win - that becomes a different problem, albeit a nicer one compared to when you’re losing.”
Come February, Alvin did add to his collection of England caps, helping Bobby Robson’s side to a 2-1 friendly victory in Israel.
“It’s every player’s dream to go to a World Cup and, being in Mexico, it made everything extra-special. Some of my first football memories are from Mexico 70 with names like Moore, Hurst, Charlton, Pelé, Jairzinho, Rivelino, Carlos Alberto, Muller, Beckenbauer...”
But that dream looked like becoming a nightmare during a mad March moment that saw the normally mild-mannered Martin dismissed in a feisty finale at a heated Highbury.
“We’d battered Arsenal on their own patch but couldn’t score,” he winces. “Then, with a quarter-hour remaining they went ahead after a clear handball. A rage came over me and, having now been pushed forward, I had a silly injury-time tussle with David O’Leary, who had a go back.
“Although the press reckoned both of us should’ve gone, I was the only one sent-off. Totally out of character for both of us, we should’ve known better. David’s a lovely fella and he sent a nice letter apologising for his part in things.”
The Gunners’ captain had been forgiving but the suits at the Football Association took a dimmer view, handing remorseful Martin a two-match ban, while preventing Robson from fielding his central defender in England’s friendly against the Soviet Union despite him making the tiring trek to Tbilisi.
“It was a long journey, but I’d kept myself in the World Cup picture, training with the squad and showing Bobby what I could do.”
Back home with the Hammers, a winter wipe-out plus an extended run to the FA Cup quarter-finals resulted in the final 13 fixtures of 1985/86 being played inside 38 frantic days.
“West Ham always wanted to play well with the onus being more on the performance than the result,” admits Alvin. “But with matches piling up and little time for training, we now had to find ways to win, regardless.
“Fans looked at the table and – seeing we’d games in hand – simply added on three points for each match. If only it’d been that easy!” sighs Alvin, who beat England team-mate Peter Shilton with an unstoppable volley to secure victory over Southampton (1-0). “I loved scoring against Shilts!”
Four games later – having netted his first goal since November 1984 – Martin then bagged his unusual hat-trick against Newcastle.
With only three minutes on the clock, he blasted past Thomas to put the Hammers ahead before Stewart, Neil Orr and Glenn Roeder’s own-goal made it 4-0 at the interval.
Carrying a shoulder injury, Thomas failed to return leaving Hedworth to emerge with the gloves but, after being beaten by Alvin’s 64th-minute header, the luckless Magpies midfielder broke his collarbone tumbling onto the turf.
Billy Whitehurst then reduced the arrears and, with Beardsley now in goal, Hedworth heroically attempted to stay on the pitch.
But the pain got yet worse as Paul Goddard and McAvennie also struck before Martin completed the Magpies misery with an 88th-minute spot-kick.
“We’d won the game so early and, at 7-1, everyone was chanting my name. Ray threw me the ball and I thought: ‘Why not?’” nods Alvin, who comfortably beat England team-mate, Beardsley. “Back in the dressing room, John wasn’t best pleased because our goal difference would’ve suffered if I’d missed. I told him I wouldn’t do it again!”
Although Brian Clark achieved the same feat for third-tier AFC Bournemouth against Rotherham United in 1972, Alvin had now bagged the first-ever, top-flight hat-trick against three different goalkeepers.
“I only came out to get a loaf of bread!” cursed Newcastle’s John Bailey on a night when the Hammers emphatic 8-1 victory propelled them into third-spot with five to play.
Going into the final Saturday, three points for the second-placed Hammers at West Bromwich Albion in their penultimate match of 1985/86, coupled with a draw or defeat for leaders Liverpool at Chelsea, would have resulted in Lyall’s lads needing to overcome Everton – in third – to win the title in two days’ time.
The heartbroken Hammers – in second – duly notched a sixth-straight victory over the Baggies (3-2) but Kenny Dalglish’s decider at Stamford Bridge secured the title for the Reds.
A dog-tired defeat at Everton (1-3) then saw the Toffees snatch runners-up spot from West Ham, who still achieved that best-ever, third-place finish.
“Ahead of their time, Liverpool used a high press – they’d perfected how to play both with and without the ball,” he observes. “They’d been there, seen it and done it, which was crucial in the final reckoning. Liverpool won the league, we didn’t lose it. They were better than us. Although we’d been better than Everton, our fate had been sealed and there was a massive anti-climax at Goodison Park.
“I would’ve loved for us all to stay together for another couple seasons. Who knows what could’ve been achieved?” continues Alvin, who still regales visitors with tales of that record-breaking season while hosting tours around London Stadium. “We regularly meet-up and – 40 years on - recognise the special significance of 1985/86. It was great to captain that side.”
Exhausted at the end of his 50-match domestic campaign, there was no respite for Martin, who immediately found himself embarking upon a trans-Atlantic adventure.
“Now, focus was on Mexico 86 and I met Bobby Robson at England’s hotel hoping he’d give me a few days break. That didn’t go well (!) Maggie, my missus, had to race into London with my suitcase,” laughs Alvin, who played in the round of 16 tie against Paraguay in the iconic Azteca Stadium, where two-goal Gary Lineker and Beardsley – coincidentally his room-mate – secured England’s 3-0 victory. “We shared for six weeks and, every night, before turning the light off, I’d say: ‘Remind me Pete, out of my hat-trick, what’s your favourite goal?’
