The Boys of 86

The Boys of 86 are the West Ham United team of the 1985–86 season.

Tony Cottee, scorer of 20 league goals in 1985-86

The West Ham team from this season achieved their highest ever position in the Football League, third in the First Division. They were challenging for the title throughout the season which has been described as West Ham's greatest ever season. With one game remaining they were second in the league eventually finishing third behind champions, Liverpool[1] and Everton.[2][3][4] The season is often used as a comparison for more modern West Ham United teams.[5]

Background
Phil Parkes played in goal for every game of the 85-86 season.

Managed by John Lyall, West Ham had finished 16th in the previous season but additions of Frank McAvennie and Mark Ward[6] combined with the partnership of McAvennie and Tony Cottee and the captaincy of Alvin Martin[7] made West Ham genuine title challengers.[8]

The season had started badly with one win from the first seven games. By the autumn the club had gone on a record 18 games undefeated including nine successive victories and by Christmas of 1985 they were described by journalist Joe Melling of the Daily Express as the "best team in the land". After three defeats in four games and a period when fixtures were badly affected by weather West Ham were 7th. However a 4-0 away win at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge,[9] an 8-1 win against Newcastle United, in which Alvin Martin scored a hat-trick against three different goalkeepers,[10] and a period when four games were played in one week, had West Ham four points behind Liverpool with a game in hand. The title was eventually won by Liverpool after Kenny Dalglish scored in a 1-0 victory over Chelsea in the last but one game of the season.[11] In a final game of the season an exhausted West Ham team lost to Everton at Goodison Park to take third place.[12]

Team member Tony Gale, who would later go on to win a Premier League title with Blackburn Rovers, said of the season, "I will never forget those days as long as I live. That was a dream team....wonderful to play in and wonderful to watch".[13] McAvennie scored 26 league goals in the season with Cottee contributing 20. Nine players appeared in 38 or more games and only 17 outfield players were used all season, the importance of a "settled side" being given for the team's good performance.[14][15][16]

List of the Boys of 86

Charity work

Since 1986, members of the team have regrouped to raise funds for charities such as for Great Ormond Street Hospital.[23][22]

Book and DVD

In 2005 a book, Boys of '86: The Untold Story of West Ham United's Greatest-Ever Season, by Tony McDonald and Danny Francis, was published.[2] In 2011 a DVD was released telling the story of the season.[7]

References
  1. "Champions". www.lfchistory.net. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  2. Tony McDonald; Danny Francis (1 July 2005). Boys of '86: The Untold Story of West Ham United's Greatest-Ever Season. Mainstream Publishing Company, Limited. ISBN 978-1-84018-864-6.
  3. "1st Division 1986-86". www.westhamstats.info. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  4. "West Ham United results 1985-86". www.statto.com. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  5. "Can Big Sam's West Ham boys be better than the Lyall class of '86?". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  6. "Mark Ward: From No 7 to prisoner number NM6982". The Independent. 16 November 2005. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  7. "It's the 25th anniversary of West Ham's best League season and the Boys of 86 will be proud of the Hammers". Visionsport.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  8. "The forgotten story of ... the 1985-86 First Division season". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  9. "Six of the best — Chelsea". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  10. "The hat-trick hall of fame". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  11. "All of the results on Saturday 3rd May 1986". www.statto.com. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  12. "Everton v West Ham United on 5th May 1986". www.statto.com. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  13. Ben Sharratt; Kirk Blows (1 April 2011). Bring Me the Head of Trevor Brooking: Three Decades of East End Soap Opera at West Ham United. Mainstream Publishing. pp. 49–. ISBN 978-1-84596-901-1.
  14. Ward, Adam (2001). The Official History of West Ham United. London: Hamlyn. p. 125. ISBN 060060442X.
  15. "Boys of 86 Events". www.boysof86.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  16. Ken Ferris (1 March 2013). Football Fanatic: A Record Breaking Journey Through English Football. Mainstream Publishing. pp. 21–. ISBN 978-1-78057-801-9.
  17. "Boys of 86 About us". www.boysof86.co..uk. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  18. "Frank McAvennie — Sporting and Celebrity speakers". www.speakers4u.co.uk. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  19. Ben Sharratt; Kirk Blows (7 December 2012). Claret and Blue Blood: Pumping Life into West Ham United. Mainstream Publishing. pp. 80–. ISBN 978-1-78057-764-7.
  20. "Alan Dickens". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  21. Steve Bacon; Kirk Blows (16 August 2012). There's Only One Stevie Bacon: My Life Watching West Ham Through a Camera Lens. Biteback Publishing. pp. 1828–. ISBN 978-1-84954-459-7.
  22. "Legends roll back the years". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  23. "Boys of 86 Back in Action". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
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