West Ham's highest ever league finish was during the 1985-1986 season, coming a close third behind the Merseyside giants of Liverpool and Everton. West Ham finished with 84 points; 2 behind Everton and 4 behind eventual double winners Liverpool. West Ham won 26 of their 42 games.
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The most notable changes to the West Ham side for the 1985-86 season were midfielder Mark Ward from Oldham Athletic and Scotland striker Frank McAvennie from St Mirren.
McAvennie's debut came on the opening day of the season when he came on for injured striker Paul Goddard in a 1-0 defeat by Birmingham City at St Andrew's. He quickly established himself as first choice strike partner to Tony Cottee, who was in his third full season as a regular player despite only being 21.
It was a slow start to the season for the Hammers, who managed just one win from their first five games (a 3-1 home win over London rivals Queen's Park Rangers) and ended August in 17th place in a table led by Manchester United, who had a 100% record. [1]
Things got better for the Hammers in September, as they completed the month unbeaten in the league, drawing with Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester City, and beating Leicester City 3-0 and Nottingham Forest 4-2 at Upton Park. As an added bonus, they began their Football League Cup quest on a winning note by winning 3-0 at home to Swansea City in the second round first leg. The Hammers ended September in 13th place. [2]
October was another successful month at Upton Park, as the Hammers eliminated Swansea City from the League Cup and also managed league successes over Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Ipswich Town which helped them climb to seventh in the league by the end of the month. However, it was looking as though the league title would be won by Manchester United (ahead of nearest challengers Liverpool by 10 points) and a massive 15 points ahead of the Hammers. [5]
Disappointment came in the League Cup with a third round exit against Manchester United.
The Hammers muscled in on the title challenge by winning all five of their games in November, starting with a 1-0 win over defending champions Everton and ending in a 4-0 demolition of relegation threatened West Bromwich Albion. Frank McAvennie was now the Football League's highest goalscorer with 17 First Division goals. Manchester United were still top of the league when November ended, but their lead over Liverpool had been cut to two points, and the Hammers were now third placed and just five points off the top of the table - raising hopes that the league title would arrive at the club at long last. [6]
December was a mixed month for the Hammers, who managed wins over Queen's Park Rangers and Birmingham City but could only manage a goalless draw at Luton Town and were beaten 1-0 by Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on Boxing Day. They were still third in the league as 1985 drew to a close, level on points with second placed Liverpool and a mere four points adrift of a Manchester United side whose title bid appeared to be slowly falling apart after a blistering start to the season. [7]
1986 began on a high note for the Hammers, who eliminated neighbours Charlton Athletic from the FA Cup in the third round before winning 1-0 at Leicester City in the league the following weekend. However, their title hopes suffered a major blow in the next game on 18 January when they lost 3-1 to Liverpool at Anfield and now found themselves fifth in the league and seven points behind leaders Manchester United, though with a game in hand. [8]
The month ended with a goalless home draw with struggling Ipswich Town in the FA Cup fourth round.
It was West Ham's 2-1 win over Manchester United on 2 February which proved to be the turning point in the title race, as Ron Atkinson's side fell off the top of the table for the first time and saw Everton go top. Then came the FA Cup replay against Ipswich Town at Portman Road, which ended in another goalless draw and forced a second replay at Upton Park, which the Hammers won 1-0 in extra time. Due to severe weather, however, there was no more action that month for the Hammers.
The long absence from action saw West Ham go head to head with Manchester United in the double race as they contested the FA Cup fifth round. The first match at Upton Park ended in a 1-1 draw, but the Hammers won the replay 2-0 at Old Trafford. However, the double dream died in the quarter-finals three days later when West Ham were beaten 2-1 by Sheffield Wednesday.
The league title dream also appeared to be dying when the Hammers lost their next two league games, but ended the month on a high by avenging Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 before demolishing Chelsea 4-0 at Stamford Bridge (making a huge dent to their title ambitions) and ending the month with a 2-1 home win over a lacklusture Tottenham Hotspur side whose manager Peter Shreeves was under growing pressure after a disappointing season had seen West Ham's local rivals fail to make a serious challenge for a major honour for perhaps the first time in the 1980s.
As March ended, the title challenge was firmly back on track - the Hammers were fifth in the league and 10 points adrift of leaders Liverpool, but had the advantage of five games in hand. [9]
April 1986 was one of the most memorable months in the history of West Ham United Football Club.
It began on a disappointing note with a 2-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest, but the Hammers showed no sign of tiredness and went into overdrive by winning eight of their next nine games (including an 8-1 demolition of Newcastle United in which Alvin Martin joined the small group of defenders to score a hat-trick) which saw them end the month in third place - four points behind leaders Liverpool but with a game in hand - there was still a chance of title glory. [10]
The penultimate game of the season saw the Hammers beat doomed West Bromwich Albion 3-2 in the Black Country, but on the same day Liverpool sealed the title and the final day of the season would be a race for second place between the Hammers and Everton. [11]
Ironically, the fixture computer at the start of the season had selected a visit to Goodison Park to take on Everton on the final day of the campaign, but few people could have imaged the previous summer that the game would prove to be the contest for second place in the final table. The contest was won by Everton, who triumphed 3-1 over the Hammers.
Everton's prolific striker Gary Lineker also defeated Frank McAvennie in the contest for the title as First Division leading goalscorer, with Lineker on 30 goals and McAvennie on 26.
There would be no chance of a UEFA Cup challenge the following season, as UEFA voted for the ban on English clubs in European competitions (imposed the previous year in the wake of the Heysel disaster when 39 spectators died as a result of rioting by Liverpool fans at the European Cup final) to continue for a second season.
On a more positive note, West Ham held onto their key players Alvin Martin, Tony Cottee and Frank McAvennie for the 1986-87 season, despite a growing trend for the league's top players to move abroad in order to be able to play in European competitions following the ban on English clubs. Summer 1986 saw Manchester United lose Mark Hughes to FC Barcelona of Spain, where he was joined by Everton's Gary Lineker, while Ian Rush agreed to sign for Juventus of Italy after the 1986-87 season was over and Norwich City goalkeeper Chris Woods joined Ipswich Town defender Terry Butcher north of the border with Glasgow Rangers.
| No. | Player | Position | Lge Apps |
Lge Gls |
FAC Apps |
FAC Gls |
LC Apps |
LC Gls |
Total Apps |
Total Gls |
Date Signed | Previous Club | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Ham United F.C. 1985-86 First XI (Most appearances) | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Phil Parkes | GK | 42 | 7 | 3 | 52 | - | February 1979 | Queens Park Rangers | ||||
| 2 | Ray Stewart | RB | 39 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 48 | 10 | September 1979 | Dundee United | |
| 3 | Steve Walford | LB | 27 | 3 | 3 | 33 | - | August 1983 | Norwich | ||||
| 4 | Tony Gale | CB | 42 | 7 | 3 | 52 | - | August 1983 | Fulham | ||||
| 5 | Alvin Martin (Captain) | CB | 40 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 50 | 4 | July 1976 | Academy | |||
| 6 | Alan Devonshire | LM | 38 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 47 | 3 | October 1976 | Southall | |||
| 7 | Mark Ward | RM | 42 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 52 | 3 | August 1985 | Oldham Athletic | |||
| 8 | Frank McAvennie | CF | 41 | 26 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 51 | 28 | June 1985 | St. Mirren | |
| 9 | Alan Dickens | CM | 40 (1) | 4 | 7 | 3 | 50 (1) | 4 | 1982 | Academy | |||
| 10 | Tony Cottee (H.O.Y.) | CF | 41 (1) | 20 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 51 (1) | 26 | September 1982 | Academy | |
| 11 | Neil Orr | CM | 33 (3) | 2 | 1 (1) | 3 | 37 (4) | 2 | January 1982 | Morton | |||
| Players with 10+ appearances | |||||||||||||
| 3 | George Parris | LB | 23 (3) | 1 | 7 | 0 (2) | 30 (5) | 1 | 1985 | Academy | |||
| 11 | Geoff Pike | CM | 10 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 1 | September 1974 | Academy | ||||
| Other players with appearances | |||||||||||||
| 8 | Paul Goddard | CF | 1 (5) | 1 | 0 (1) | 1 (6) | 1 | August 1980 | Queens Park Rangers | ||||
| 5 | Paul Hilton | CB | 2 | 2 | - | 1984 | Bury | ||||||
| 10 | Greg Campbell | CF | 1 (2) | 1 (2) | - | 1984 | Academy | ||||||
| 12 | Bobby Barnes | CF | 0 (1) | 0 (1) | - | 1980 | Academy | ||||||
| 12 | Steve Potts | RB | 0 (1) | 0 (1) | - | May 1984 | Academy | ||||||
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