John Angus Lyall (24 February 1940 – 18 April 2006) was an English footballer and manager primarily known for his 34 years at West Ham United.

Watched by the club's manager, Ted Fenton, and chief scout Wally St Pier, Lyall was offered a place at West Ham United aged fifteen.

[8] In January 1964 after making 36 appearances in all competitions, aged 23, he was diagnosed with an inoperable, generally disarranged knee and retired from playing professional football.

Long serving Trevor Brooking and Frank Lampard both retired and Billy Bonds was struggling with the effects of first team football.

[13] Lyall again attempted to rebuild the team, bringing Frank McAvennie from St Mirren and Mark Ward from Oldham Athletic.

However, they were unable to compete in the UEFA Cup because of the ban on English teams from European competition arising from the previous year's Heysel Disaster.

[14] Their replacements combined with the additions of Tommy McQueen, Gary Strodder, David Kelly, Allen McKnight, Liam Brady, Julian Dicks and the return of McAvennie in March 1989 failed to save West Ham from relegation in May 1989.

The following season, 1993–94, brought a similar pattern; a good start followed by a slump – Ipswich finished 19th in the final table and were only saved from relegation by Sheffield United's late 3–2 defeat at Chelsea.

[18] When West Ham played Middlesbrough in the FA Cup Semi-final on 23 April 2006 at Villa Park, a one-minute silence was held in Lyall's honour, although after only a few seconds the West Ham fans started a chant of "Johnny Lyall's Claret and Blue Army" in tribute to their most successful ever manager.

[19] On 5 December 2007, it was announced that the Heritage Foundation charity would be erecting a blue plaque in Lyall's memory at West Ham's Upton Park ground on 20 January 2008.