Alvin Martin is one of West Ham United's all-time greats, a true pro respected by fans and players alike. Alvin, born in Liverpool on July 29, 1958, was rejected by his local club Everton before joining West Ham United straight from school. West Ham United Football Club are a professional English football club based in East London. ... Liverpool waterfront by night, as seen from the Wirral. ... July 29 is the 210th day (211th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 155 days remaining. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Everton Football Club are an English football club from the city of Liverpool, founded in 1878. ...

He went on to amass 586 first team appearances for the Hammers in a successful 19-year career at Upton Park, in which he became one of only two players (Billy Bonds is the other) to be awarded two testimonials. A one club man is a term used to describe a football player who has played his entire professional career with only one club. ... The Boleyn Ground is the official name of the football stadium of West Ham United F.C.; however, it is much more often called Upton Park after the area of London in which it is located. ... Billy Bonds (b. ... A testimonial match, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, notably football (soccer) and especially in England, where a club puts on a match in honor of a player for service to the club. ...

It was alongside Bonzo in the centre of defence that Alvin - nicknamed ’Stretch’ - enjoyed his most rewarding years, winning the FA Cup and Second Division winners medals in successive seasons at the start of the 80s. The FA Cup - this is the fourth trophy, in use since 1992, and identical in design to the third trophy introduced in 1911. ... From the 1992-93 to the 2003-04 season, the Football League Second Division was the second-highest division of The Football League and the third-highest division in the overall English football league system. ...

As a player Alvin was very comfortable in possession of the ball and deserved to win more than 17 England caps as one of the most accomplished defenders in the British game. First international Scotland 0 - 0 England (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Largest win Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Northern Ireland; 18 February 1882) Worst defeat Hungary 7 - 1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) World Cup Appearances 12 (First in 1950) Best result Winners, 1966 European Championship Appearances 7 (First...

Alvin was given his first England cap by Ron Greenwood, who brought him to West Ham as a 14-year-old, against Brazil at Wembley in May 1981. Injury ruled him out of the World Cup finals in Spain in 1982, but he was playing some of the finest football of his career when the next England manager, Bobby Robson, included Alvin in his 1986 squad for the finals in Mexico. Ron Greenwood was manager of the English national football team from 1977 until 1982. ... Old Wembley Stadium (1923-2000) Wembley Stadium is a football stadium in Wembley, London, England, which is currently being rebuilt. ... The 1982 Football World Cup was held in Spain. ... Sir Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson CBE, known as Sir Bobby Robson (born February 18, 1933) is a football manager and former football player. ... The 1986 Football World Cup was held in Mexico from May 31 to June 29. ...

He played admirably in the victory over Paraguay but was surprisingly dropped for the next game, the quarter-final defeat by Argentina’s infamous ’Hand of God’. First international Uruguay 2 - 3 Argentina (Montevideo, Uruguay; 16 May 1901) Largest win Argentina 12 - 0 Ecuador (Montevideo, Uruguay; 22 January 1942) Worst defeat Czechoslovakia 6 - 1 Argentina (Helsingborg, Sweden; 15 June 1958) Uruguay 5 - 0 Argentina (Guayaquil, Ecuador; 16 December 1959) Argentina 0 - 5 Colombia (Buenos Aires, Argentina; 5... The Hand of God goal was scored by Diego Maradona in the quarter-final match of the 1986 FIFA World Cup between England and Argentina, played on 22 June 1986 in Mexico Citys Estadio Azteca. ...

After leaving the Hammers, Alvin had a brief spell with East London neighbours Leyton Orient, before managing Southend United for two years. Leyton Orient F.C. are an English football team currently playing in League Two of the Football League. ... Southend United Football Club are an English football team which play the 2005-06 season in Football League One. ...

After retiring from football management Alvin joined London based radio station talkSPORT and is also a regular pundit on Sky Sports TV football talk shows. talkSPORT is a national commercial sports radio station based in London broadcasting to the United Kingdom. ... Sky Sports is a group of 5 channels - Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports 2, Sky Sports 3, Sky Sports Xtra, and Sky Sports News - operated by British Sky Broadcasting, mainly for their Sky Digital platform. ...