A bit of 1970 Hammers nostalgia

Thanks to my pal Swansea-supporting Huw for passing on The West Ham United Football Book No 3, which he found in a charity shop for £2.50. It was published in 1970 and is edited by Dennis Irving. Irving, we learn, has claret and blue wallpaper in his office and has dubbed the Hammers "the Gay Deceivers", a phrase which might have a slightly different context today.

It's certainly nostalgic reading. There's a chapter on "Ron Greenwood seeks his missing link" (which he never found after the glory years) and a piece on a promising young youth coach called "Johnny Lyall". 

With hindsight it's all a little over-optimistic. There's a puff piece on new star signing Peter Eustace (I remember a cry of "Useless Eustace!" at one of my earliest games) and another chapter entitled "Bobby Howe, the second Dave Mackay, says his trainer" (he certainly wasn't). Then there's the chapter on new signing Jimmy Greaves, which predicts he might well get 20 goals in the next campaign. He was of course a functioning alcoholic by this stage and retired at the end of the following season.