Alvin Martin

Last updated

Alvin Martin
Alvin Martin, he's got no hair.jpg
Personal information
Full name Alvin Edward Martin
Date of birth (1958-07-29) 29 July 1958 (age 65)
Place of birth Walton, Liverpool, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) [1]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Everton
1974–1978 West Ham United
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1978–1996 West Ham United 469 (27)
1996–1997 Leyton Orient 17 (0)
Total486(27)
International career
1981–1986 England 17 (0)
Managerial career
1997–1999 Southend United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alvin Edward Martin (born 29 July 1958) is an English football manager, former professional footballer and pundit.

Contents

As a player, he was a defender, playing most of his footballing career for West Ham United he appeared in 598 games for them, scoring 34 goals. With the club for 21 years, and winning the 1980 FA Cup. He played in a number of Premier League seasons before leaving for Leyton Orient in 1996. He moved into football management with Southend United in 1997. He was capped 17 times England during the 1980s, Martin represented them at the 1986 World Cup.

He has since started a career in the media on radio station talkSPORT and also as a pundit on Sky Sports TV football talk shows.

Club career

Born in Walton, Liverpool, Lancashire, Martin played schools football for Bootle and Lancashire and was attached to Merseyside club Everton as a schoolboy, but left in 1974 after the Goodison Park club only offered him an apprenticeship on a part-time basis. An unsuccessful trial later that summer with Queens Park Rangers was followed the very next day by one for West Ham United, where he was awarded a contract as an apprentice 19 August 1974. [2] He appeared in the FA Youth cup final of 1975 and signed as a professional on 29 July 1976. He did not make his first team debut until 18 March 1978 as a substitute against Aston Villa. His final appearance was as an 88th-minute substitute on 5 May 1996 against Sheffield Wednesday.

Martin went on to amass nearly 600 first-team appearances for the Hammers in a successful 19-year professional career at Upton Park, in which he became one of only two players, along with Billy Bonds, to be awarded two testimonials. [3] The first was against Spurs on 21 August 1988 and the second against Chelsea on 11 November 1995. [4] It was alongside Bonds in the centre of defence that Martin – nicknamed 'Stretch' [3] – enjoyed his most rewarding years, winning the FA Cup and Second Division winners medals in successive seasons, 1980 and 1981.

Martin also achieved the rare feat of scoring a hat-trick against three different Newcastle United goalkeepers – Martin Thomas, who was then injured, and outfield players Chris Hedworth and Peter Beardsley – in a Football League First Division match in April 1986 which the Hammers won 8–1. This was among the most successful seasons the club ever saw, as it finished third in the top level, just four points behind champions Liverpool, [5] with the player contributing with 40 games and four goals.

Martin remained loyal to West Ham despite their relegation from the top flight in 1989, and helped them gain promotion two years later. The club lasted just one season before again dropping down a level, only to bounce back at the first attempt. Martin, for decades the club's longest serving player, spent three more years with the team in the Premier League before finally departing at the end of the 1995–96 season after 21 years service, aged 37. [6] After leaving West Ham, Martin had a brief spell with East London neighbours Leyton Orient.

International career

Martin was given his first England cap by Ron Greenwood against Brazil at Wembley in May 1981. Injury ruled him out of the 1982 FIFA World Cup finals in Spain, but he was playing some of the finest football of his career when the next manager, Bobby Robson, included him in his squad for the 1986 edition in Mexico: he played in the victory over Paraguay, [7] replacing the suspended Terry Fenwick, but was dropped for the next game, the quarter-final defeat by Argentina's infamous 'Hand of God'; in total, he made 17 international appearances.

Managerial career

Martin managed Southend United for two years (1997- March 1999), during which the club was relegated to League One. [8]

Media career

After retiring from management, he joined national radio station talkSPORT, while also being a regular pundit on Sky Sports TV football talk shows.

Personal life

Martin's sons, David and Joe, are also footballers. The former is a goalkeeper, whilst the latter is a defender.

Honours

West Ham
Individual

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Ham United F.C.</span> Association football club in London, England

West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, having moved from their former home, the Boleyn Ground, in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leyton Orient F.C.</span> Association football club in London, England

Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, Greater London, England, that compete in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, following promotion from EFL League Two. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professional level, and are known to their fans by their nickname "the O's". The club's home colours are all red. They have played home matches at Brisbane Road since 1937, having previously played at Millfields and Lea Bridge Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Bonds</span> English footballer (born 1946)

William Arthur Bonds is a former professional footballer and manager, who is most often associated with West Ham United with whom he spent 27 years as player and manager. He played 799 first-team games for West Ham in a career spanning 21 seasons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dean Ashton</span> English footballer

Dean Ashton is an English former professional footballer. He made over 240 appearances as a forward in the Football League and Premier League for Crewe Alexandra, Norwich City and West Ham United, and was capped by England. He was highly praised as a talented centre forward, but had a career frustrated by injury. He retired on 11 December 2009, aged 26, after failing to recover from a long-term ankle injury sustained during international duty with England.

The Academy of West Ham United F.C. is recognized as one of the most successful football academies in football history. This reputation has resulted in its nickname the Academy of Football.

Stewart Ian Robson is an English former football player and TV and radio football pundit. He played for Arsenal, West Ham United where he was their player of the season in 1988, and Coventry City. After his footballing career ended he took on a role as a TV and radio pundit for Arsenal TV until 2012, ESPN, TalkSPORT and TNT Sports. He is currently ESPN's lead color commentator for FA Cup and EFL Cup working alongside Jon Champion and Martin Tyler, and Bundesliga with Derek Rae.

The 1985–1986 season saw manager John Lyall lead West Ham United to their highest ever league finish, coming a close third behind Liverpool and Everton. They won 26 of their 42 games and finished with 84 points, two behind Everton and four behind eventual double winners Liverpool. The Hammers team of 1985–86 became known as The Boys of 86.

Leroy De Graft Rosenior is a football coach and pundit. He is a former footballer whose clubs included Fulham, Queens Park Rangers, Bristol City and West Ham United. Rosenior represented his birthplace England as a youth international, before formally switching to represent the Sierra Leone national football team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Martin (footballer, born 1986)</span> English footballer

David Edward Martin is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for National League football club Southend United. He has also played for Wimbledon, Liverpool, Accrington Stanley, Leicester City, Tranmere Rovers, Leeds United, Derby County, Milton Keynes Dons, Millwall and West Ham United and at youth international level for England U16, England U17, England U18 and England U19.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Fenton</span> English footballer (1914–1992)

Edward Benjamin Ambrose Fenton was an English football player and manager. A wing-half, he spent almost his entire playing career at West Ham United and went on to manage the club between 1950 and 1961.

Paul Brush is an English former professional footballer and coach who played in the Football League for West Ham United, Crystal Palace and Southend United. He is best known for his time with West Ham United, for whom he played from 1976 until 1985.

Paul Kevin Allen is an English former professional footballer and delegate liaison officer for the Professional Footballers' Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Stewart (Scottish footballer)</span> Scottish footballer

Raymond Struan McDonald Stewart is a Scottish former footballer, who played as a defender for Dundee United, West Ham United, St Johnstone and Stirling Albion. During his career he won the 1980 FA Cup with West Ham and played in 10 full internationals for Scotland. Nicknamed Tonka, Stewart was renowned for his shooting, which meant that he scored 70 league goals during his career. After his playing career ended he managed Livingston, Stirling Albion and Forfar Athletic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Keen</span> English footballer (born 1967)

Kevin Ian Keen is an English football coach and former player. Keen is currently the coach of West Ham United under-18 team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Taylor (footballer, born 1951)</span> English footballer and manager

Thomas Frederick Taylor is an English football manager and former footballer. As a footballer, he played as a defender. He is currently the head coach of Europa Point.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stan Earle</span> English footballer and manager

Stanley George James Earle was an English footballer who played as an inside-right in the Football League for Arsenal, West Ham United and Clapton Orient. He was capped for England at amateur and full levels.

Kevin Lock is an English former professional footballer who played as a central defender in the Football League, most notably for Fulham and West Ham United.

David Martin is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Gale</span> English footballer

Anthony Peter Gale is an English football coach, former professional footballer and television pundit for Sky Sports. He was also the chairman of non-league club Walton Casuals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul McCallum (footballer)</span> English footballer

Paul Leon Miller McCallum is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for National League side Eastleigh.

References

  1. ↑ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 388. ISBN   978-0-356-14354-5.
  2. ↑ West Ham handbooks 1986-87 and 1988/90
  3. 1 2 Atkin, Ronald (7 May 2006). "Scouser Martin's heart with the Hammers – at a stretch". The Independent . Archived from the original on 6 May 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2008.
  4. ↑ Handbooks 1988/89 and 1996/97
  5. ↑ McNulty, Phil (25 February 2004). "The hat-trick Hall of Fame". BBC Online . Retrieved 25 January 2008.
  6. ↑ Welcome to the Wonderful World of West Ham United Statistics Alvin Martin
  7. ↑ "England - Paraguay 3-0 (1-0)". Planet World Cup. 18 June 1986. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  8. ↑ Miles, Peter. "History". Southend United. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.