Tony Cottee admits he was ‘so frustrated’ when West Ham sold ‘phenomenal’ player

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In the space of two years, West Ham United went from genuine First Division challengers to 19th in the table, relegated after selling the two strikers who very nearly brought a league title to Upton Park. No wonder Tony Cottee lost patience.

Such was his devotion to his claret and blue heroes, Tony Cottee rejected Arsenal and Crystal Palace in order to join his beloved Hammers as a schoolboy.

And, during the iconic 1985/86 campaign, the West Ham United legend came within a whisker of doing what every wide-eyed football fanatic dreams of when watching their icons from the stands, or during Saturday evenings on the BBC.

Ultimately, they fell ever-so slightly short.

Cottee feels that West Ham could have ‘done a Leicester’ if not for the brilliance and the consistency of eventual champions Liverpool – the Reds won their final 10 matches to finish four points clear of John Lyall’s side – but it was the pace at which things collapsed from then on which really rankles.

Cottee, by his own admission, became ‘so frustrated’ as the bricks of that title-chasing team were removed. Paul Goddard left for Newcastle. Frank McAvennie, one half of one of the finest centre-forward partnerships of the era, joined his boyhood club Celtic in 1987.

Cottee would depart for Everton, meanwhile, just one year later. Thus, from 1986 to 1989, West Ham went from third in the First Division to 19th and the second-tier.

Tony Cottee opens up on Frank McAvennie’s move from West Ham United to Celtic

Cottee holds no grudges towards McAvennie. He can completely understand why the man from Glasgow jumped at the chance to join the club whose colours he wore so proudly as a child.

But as he reflects on a ‘phenomenal’ centre-forward partnership, you get the feeling that Cottee believes West Ham missed the chance to really kick on after laying the foundations for a potentially era-defining period in the club’s history.

“Frank was flying. We lost to Birmingham first game [of the 1985/86 season], second game we went to QPR and Frank scored two goals. For me, six games, no goal, and then I scored in the seventh. Once I scored, I got going,” Cottee says.

“That season, Frank was an unknown. He came down from Scotland [via St Mirren]. We certainly didn’t know who he was. We couldn’t understand a word he was saying! He thought we didn’t like him, we just couldn’t understand a word he was saying!

“We had a wonderful partnership. We only played together just over two years and scored 107 goals. It’s a phenomenal partnership. Unfortunately, Celtic came in for Frank.”

“A bit like me, if I was playing for Celtic and West Ham came in – it’s my club. Frank had it the opposite way. Celtic is his club and I understand why he went there.

“But great memories.”

While McAvennie became Celtic’s record signing at £1.25 million, Cottee would break the British record when joining Everton a year later for £2.2 million.

And while both would return to West Ham after a couple of seasons away – albeit not together – they would never come quite so close to a league title as they did in 1986.

Cottee explains how John Lyall got the Hammers firing

There is a reason why Tony Cottee is such a big El Hadji Malick Diouf fan.

He loves watching the left-back whip in those trademark crosses from the flank. As a former goal-poacher himself, Cottee would have relished the service Diouf provides these days at the London Stadium.

He remembers how Lyall would tailor training sessions around making the most of his fearsome attacking talent, with Alan Devonshire, Mark Ward and Alan Dickens tasked with providing the ammunition.

“You had Alan Dev, Wardy and Dicko. When they got the ball, John said ‘get the ball forward’. All our training sessions used to really [annoy] the defenders. Everything was designed for me and Frank,” Cottee explains.

“Get the ball forward, get it in the box, make sure me and Frank are getting service. Football is such a simple game, but you’ve got to look forward.”