On 21 April 1986 the West Ham defender scored a historic treble against an injury-ravaged Newcastle in an 8-1 win at Upton Park
On 21 April 1986 West Ham welcomed Newcastle United for the 37th and, as it turned out, most memorable match of their greatest league campaign. They were fifth in the table but with genuine title pretentions, holding as they did between two and four games in hand on those above them, and had won six of their last eight matches.
Newcastle’s previous seven games had featured 30 goals at an average of 4.3 each and the Guardian’s chief football writer, David Lacey, in his report on their relatively dreary 1-1 draw at Chelsea two days earlier, had concluded that “if Newcastle’s defence repeats its sluggish performance West Ham should net a shoal of goals”. It was quite the prediction: at Upton Park, in a state of complete, injury-enforced disarray, they conceded eight.
Written by Simon Burnton
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