The Boys of 86

[5] 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.

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".

[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.

[23][22] 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.