On New Year’s Day 2026, incredibly, it will be 43 years since a baby-faced 17-year-old named Tony Cottee scored on his West Ham United debut against local rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Born in Forest Gate, just up Green Street from the Boleyn Ground, Cottee had joined the Hammers as a schoolboy and quickly caught the eye with his razor-sharp penalty box movement and clinical finishing.
The young striker scored twice in a 6-0 FA Youth Cup second-round thrashing of Folkestone Town on 30 November 1982, then a hat-trick in a 7-1 third-round thumping of Crystal Palace a fortnight later.
With Alan Devonshire and then Paul Goddard ruled out with injuries, December 1982 saw manager John Lyall turned his mind to the Academy of Football for reinforcements.
Eighteen-year-old midfielder Alan Dickens scored on his debut in a 2-1 First Division win at Notts County the week before Christmas, then Lyall handed Cottee his senior bow for a much higher profile fixture at home to Spurs a fortnight later.
Wearing the No8 shirt, Cottee played alongside Scot Sandy Clark and Belgian François Van der Elst in attack at the Boleyn Ground.
Spurs were without the experienced Graham Roberts, meaning the untested Giorgio Mazzen partnered Gary O’Reilly at the heart of their defence, and Cottee and his new teammates made the visitors pay dearly for his absence.
Just 25 minutes had gone when Geoff Pike delivered a free-kick, Joe Gallagher headed past Ray Clemence and against the Tottenham crossbar, and the teenage predator raced in to put the ball into the unguarded net.
It was the first of 146 goals Cottee would score in 336 appearances in Claret and Blue across two spells, ranking him fifth in the Club’s all-time charts below only Vic Watson, Sir Geoff Hurst, John Dick and Jimmy Ruffell.
A penalty from Ray Stewart and a goal from Pike midway through the second half made the final score 3-0 and over four decades on, the now 60-year Cottee looks back on his unforgettable debut with pride and delight.
“A lifelong West Ham United fan, going into 1983, I was just a 17-year-old apprentice, who’d found himself lucky enough to be training at Chadwell Heath with my heroes,” he recalled. “As a supporter, I’d gradually made my way around the Boleyn Ground from North Bank to Chicken Run to West Side Lower, where I stood at the South Bank end analysing all the great strikers.
“As I netted frequently for the juniors, youth team and reserves, John Lyall and [Academy Director] Tony Carr would constantly encourage me, saying: ‘Just keep scoring’.
“When it came to playing Tottenham Hotspur on New Year’s Day 1983, I certainly hadn’t expected to be involved but at 1.45pm, John told me that I was making my first-team debut. I wasn’t fazed by it and, when Geoff Pike floated over the free-kick that Joe Gallagher nodded onto the crossbar on 25 minutes, I instinctively did what John and my dad Clive had always urged: ‘Follow up, follow up.’ I just raced in and headed the rebound past Ray Clemence into that South Bank goal to set us on the way to a 3-0 win. You couldn’t have scripted it.
“They didn’t cover every match back then but fortunately ITV’s ‘The Big Match’ cameras were there to record that moment. I still cringe when I look back on my post-match interview alongside Trevor Brooking but, seriously, remain forever grateful to John for giving me that opportunity. Who knows? I might not have achieved anything in my career if he hadn’t bravely picked a 17-year-old that afternoon…”
Who could make themselves a West Ham hero like Cottee when Tottenham visit London Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday 13 September?
You can be there to find out by securing your tickets HERE.
