1986–87 West Ham United F.C. season

For the 1986–87 West Ham United F.C. season in English football, West Ham United finished 15th in the league.

West Ham United

1986–87 season
Chairman	Len Cearns
Manager	John Lyall
Stadium	Boleyn Ground
First Division	15th
FA Cup	Fifth round
League Cup	Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Tony Cottee (22) All: Cottee (28)
Highest home attendance	29,807 (vs Liverpool, 6 September 1986)
Lowest home attendance	13,514 (vs Sheffield Wednesday, 24 March 1987)
Average home league attendance	20,545
Home colours

Season summary

John Lyall had made no signings during the close season, and it stayed that way until Stewart Robson was added in January. He was joined two months later by other new signings Gary Strodder, Tommy McQueen and Ireland international Liam Brady.

In this season which saw many player ravaged by injury, several academy players got their chance to play, including Kevin Keen, Paul Ince and future captain Steve Potts.

The West Ham fans were so disappointed with the team's underachievement during the season that Billy Bonds was voted Hammer of the Year, even though he only made 17 league and 7 cup appearances for the team.

Tony Cottee was the club's top scorer with 22 league goals and 28 in all competitions, but his strike partner Frank McAvennie disappointed with just seven league goals (11 in all competitions) after being the top flight's second-highest scorer the previous campaign. This was a large factor in the Hammers finishing a lowly 15th in the league, just a year after finishing third and being just four points short of their first top division title.

League table

Main article: 1986–87 Football League § First Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
13	Sheffield Wednesday	42	13	13	16	58	59	−1	52
14	Chelsea	42	13	13	16	53	64	−11	52
15	West Ham United	42	14	10	18	52	67	−15	52
16	Queens Park Rangers	42	13	11	18	48	64	−16	50
17	Newcastle United	42	12	11	19	47	65	−18	47

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored

Results

West Ham United's score comes first

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
23 August 1986	Coventry City	H	1–0	21,368	Gale
25 August 1986	Manchester United	A	3–2	43,306	McAvennie (2), Devonshire
30 August 1986	Oxford United	A	0–0	11,684
2 September 1986	Nottingham Forest	H	1–2	21,305	McAvennie
6 September 1986	Liverpool	H	2–5	29,807	Stewart (pen), Cottee
13 September 1986	Queens Park Rangers	A	3–2	19,257	Cottee (3)
20 September 1986	Luton Town	H	2–0	19,133	Parris, Gale
27 September 1986	Sheffield Wednesday	A	2–2	25,715	Martin, Orr
4 October 1986	Watford	A	2–2	17,120	Dickens, McAvennie
11 October 1986	Chelsea	H	5–3	26,859	McAvennie, Stewart (2 pen), Cottee (2)
18 October 1986	Norwich City	A	1–1	22,884	Goddard
25 October 1986	Charlton Athletic	H	1–3	24,141	Cottee
2 November 1986	Everton	H	1–0	19,094	Dickens
8 November 1986	Arsenal	A	0–0	36,084
15 November 1986	Wimbledon	A	1–0	19,094	Cottee
22 November 1986	Aston Villa	H	1–1	21,959	Cottee
30 November 1986	Newcastle United	A	0–4	22,077
6 December 1986	Southampton	H	3–1	18,111	Ince, Devonshire, Cottee (pen)
13 December 1986	Manchester City	A	1–3	19,067	Martin
20 December 1986	Queens Park Rangers	H	1–1	17,290	Cottee (pen)
26 December 1986	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–4	39,019
27 December 1986	Wimbledon	H	2–3	19,122	Cottee, Hilton
1 January 1987	Leicester City	H	4–1	16,625	Cottee (2), Dickens, McAvennie
3 January 1987	Liverpool	A	0–1	41,286
24 January 1987	Coventry City	A	3–1	14,191	Cottee (3)
7 February 1987	Oxford United	H	0–1	15,220
14 February 1987	Nottingham Forest	A	1–1	19,373	Stewart (pen)
28 February 1987	Luton Town	A	1–2	11,101	Cottee
7 March 1987	Charlton Athletic	A	1–2	10,100	Robson
14 March 1987	Norwich City	H	0–2	21,531
21 March 1987	Chelsea	A	0–1	25,386
24 March 1987	Sheffield Wednesday	H	0–2	13,514
28 March 1987	Watford	H	1–0	16,485	Parris
8 April 1987	Arsenal	H	3–1	26,174	Cottee (2; 1 pen), Brady
11 April 1987	Everton	A	0–4	35,731
14 April 1987	Manchester United	H	0–0	23,486
18 April 1987	Leicester City	A	0–2	10,434
20 April 1987	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2–1	23,971	McAvennie, Cottee (pen)
25 April 1987	Aston Villa	A	0–4	13,584
2 May 1987	Newcastle United	H	1–1	17,844	Ward
4 May 1987	Southampton	A	0–1	16,810
9 May 1987	Manchester City	H	2–0	18,413	Cottee, Brady

FA Cup

Main article: 1986–87 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	10 January 1987	Orient	A	1–1	19,225	Hilton
R3R	31 January 1987	Orient	H	4–1	19,424	Parris, Keen, McAvennie, Cottee
R4	9 February 1987	Sheffield United	H	4–0	17,194	McAvennie (2), Robson, Gale
R5	21 February 1987	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1–1		McAvennie 10'
R5R	25 February 1987	Sheffield Wednesday	H	0–2

League Cup

Main article: 1986–87 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st leg	23 September 1986	Preston North End	A	1–1	13,153	Ward
R2 2nd leg	7 October 1986	Preston North End	H	4–1 (won 5–2 on agg)	12,742	Cottee (3), Dickens
R3	29 October 1986	Watford	A	3–2	17,523	Goddard, Dickens, Ward
R4	18 November 1986	Oxford United	H	1–0	20,530	Cottee (pen)
R5	27 January 1987	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1–1	29,477	Cottee
R5R	2 February 1987	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–5	41,995

Squad

Number		Player	Position	Lge Apps	Lge Gls	FAC Apps	FAC Gls	LC Apps	LC Gls	Date Signed	Previous Club
West Ham United 1986–87 First XI
1		Phil Parkes	GK	33		5		6		February 1979	Queens Park Rangers
2		Ray Stewart	RB	23	4	3		3		September 1979	Dundee United
3		George Parris	LB	35(1)	1	5	1	6		1985	Academy
4		Tony Gale	CB	32	2	4	1	4		August 1983	Fulham
5		Billy Bonds (Captain) (Hammer of the Year)	CB	13(4)		3 (1)		1 (2)		1967	Charlton
6		Alan Devonshire	LM	20	2	3		4		October 1976	Southall
7		Mark Ward	RM	37	1	5		6	2	August 1985	Oldham Athletic
8		Frank McAvennie	CF	36	7	4	4	5		June 1985	St Mirren
9		Alan Dickens	CM	31(5)	3	2 (1)		4	2	1982	Academy
10		Tony Cottee	CF	42	22	5	1	6	5	September 1982	Academy
11		Neil Orr	CM	21(1)	1	1		4		January 1982	Morton
Important Players
11		Stewart Robson	M	18	2	3	1	2		January 1987	Arsenal
5		Alvin Martin	CB	16	2	1		3		July 1976	Academy
5		Paul Hilton	CB	15(1)	1	2	1	4 (1)		1984	Bury
2		Steve Walford	LB	13(1)		3		4 (1)		August 1983	Norwich
6		Liam Brady	M	12	2					March 1987	Ascoli
5		Gary Strodder	CB	12						March 1987	Lincoln
9		Geoff Pike	M	10(1)		4		1		September 1974	Academy
6		Kevin Keen	M	7 (6)		1 (1)	1	2		1986	Academy
6		Paul Ince	M	7 (3)	1	1				1986	Academy
Other Players
1		Tom McAlister	GK	9						1981	Bristol Rovers
3		Tommy McQueen	LB	9						March 1987	Aberdeen
2		Steve Potts	RB	8						May 1984	Academy
8		Paul Goddard	CF	3 (1)	1			1	1	1980	Queens Park Rangers
12		Eamonn Dolan	CF	0 (1)						1986	Academy