All-action midfielder Geoff Pike is the next player to feature in our #50GreatestHammers countdown, in association with Official Sleeve Partner Basset & Gold.
FA Cup winner Pike ranks at No42 as we continue to rank the top 50 of the near-1,000 players to have pulled on a West Ham United shirt since the Club was formed as Thames Ironworks FC in 1895.
You will have the chance to rank the top ten soon, so keep an eye on whufc.com and our official social channels for details of how you can cast your vote!
Geoff Pike
Years at West Ham United: 1974-87
Appearances: 368
Goals: 41
A feisty, whole-hearted midfield player, Geoff Pike arrived at West Ham United after spending the early part of his career with non-league Thurrock and Gidea Park Rangers.
Pike joined West Ham in 1975, playing in that year’s FA Youth Cup final defeat by Ipswich Town before making his first-team debut against Birmingham City on 6 March 1976.
In 1980, he featured in all eight ties, starting seven, as Second Division West Ham won the FA Cup by defeating top-flight Arsenal at Wembley.
The Clapton-born player made a career-high 61 appearances the following season, 1980/81, helping the Hammers win the Second Division title and reach the League Cup final.
Pike’s efforts were rewarded as he finished as runner-up to goalkeeper Phil Parkes in the Hammer of the Year voting.
The 5’9 midfielder remained a first-team regular as John Lyall’s Hammers established themselves back in the top flight in the early 1980s, and he was part of the squad which finished a record-high third in the First Division in 1985/86.
After spells with Notts County and Leyton Orient, Pike hung up his boots and has since worked as a coach and coach developer for the Football Association.