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Irish Hammer 12:25 Wed Jul 7
For The Older Whoers - Clyde Best Interview on his Perfect Player

Really nice piece, enjoy :)


Clyde Best – My Perfect Player: ‘The nicest?

Clyde Best was one of the first black players to play in the First Division in England when he played for West Ham between 1968 and 1976. He was a fan favourite at Upton Park and was also part of the West Ham team that made history in 1972 when they became the first English Football League club to select three black players in their starting XI. He revealed to us his ideal footballer based on those he has played with and against…

Tackler – Tommy Smith

With me being of this size a lot of people didn’t take the chance to tackle me, but one player who did was Tommy Smith. I remember playing at Upton Park and Tommy came for me and I just braced and when you looked Tommy was on his backside. It’s funny because Tommy and I ended up playing together for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in America. In our era he was great at tackling but he wasn’t able to get the better of me that day.

Tommy had a reputation of being a hard guy but he was a lovely person and we got on well. I used to call him the quiet assassin because once he’d done his job he didn’t say much. But being a big person definitely helped me out a lot when people tried to tackle me.

Heading – Wyn Davies

In our time we had some great headers of the ball. Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst were very good, but I’m going to have to give it to Wyn Davies. He headed the ball harder than some people could probably kick it, that’s how powerful he was. When Wyn played for Newcastle he was unbelievable. I tried to head the ball like him, but I was nowhere near as good.

Speed – Clyde Best

You know what, I’m going to name myself for this one! I was pretty quick back in my day. I used to tell the guys in training that I’m a sprinter not a marathon runner. A lot of the guys could run all day but with me being big I used to struggle with that.


Clyde Best in action for the Hammers in 1972 (Photo: Jackson/Express/Getty Images)
I used to leave a lot of people standing with my pace, that’s how quick I was. A lot of people thought I wasn’t able to run that fast due to my physique, so a lot of them were shocked when they saw I could run. I used to work a lot on that area of my game in training.

Left foot – John Sissons

One of the best left-footers I’ve seen at West Ham. He was naturally gifted and a great finisher too. I used to watch him a lot in training to try and get some tips because I was more confident on my right foot than on my left. I used to play a lot on the left-hand side and lots of times I would just cut inside or go to the byline and strike the ball with the outside of my right foot. Me and Johnny also played together for Tampa and he was a very nice guy.

Right foot – Peter Lorimer

He used to play for Leeds and his right foot was just on another level. He was probably one of the best attacking players in that era of football. My right foot was also powerful, though. I remember my friend travelled from Bermuda to watch me play a game for West Ham and he wanted to see the stadium. So he went to see the groundsman and they started chatting and my friend told him where he was from.



Then the groundsman took him on the field and said to him, ‘You see that post up there, we’re going to go up there and I want you to feel it.’ So when my friend felt it the groundsman said it’s still shaking from Clyde! He told him I hit the post so hard that it’s still shaking today.

Engine – Billy Bonds

He had such a great work rate. He would play anywhere and for me he’s one of the best of all time. Billy would run all day and he would actually fit well in a team like Liverpool now. He was a no-nonsense person but also a great guy. I love him to death and I still speak to him every now and then.

Once Bobby left the club Billy took over the captaincy and we knew we couldn’t mess with him. I’ve only seen him turn on one player. We were playing Leeds and they had us under a lot of pressure, but we ended up beating them 1-0 that night. Billy went after Ted MacDougall and he wanted to strangle him because he felt Ted wasn’t giving it his all.

Intelligence – Sir Trevor Brooking

Sir Trevor Brooking was a great character and he knew a lot about the game. He wasn’t the fastest player so he knew in order to play in midfield he couldn’t just play one way, he had to adapt and find different ways of playing. He was also a very knowledgeable guy.

Nicest off the pitch – Bobby Moore

Most of the guys in our day were nice guys. At West Ham we all socialised and we were one big family. Bobby Moore took me under his wing around the time I was getting a lot of racial abuse. He helped me out a lot and most of the lads knew it was a difficult position to be in.

At the time Harry Redknapp said to me he didn’t know how I was able to put up with it. When I was growing up my dad always reminded me that I’m not playing for myself but for all the people in West Indies who are struggling.

Mex Martillo 4:34 Thu Jul 8
Re: For The Older Whoers - Clyde Best Interview on his Perfect Player

Bit before my time, but nice to read.
Thanks Irish

Coffee 7:17 Thu Jul 8
Re: For The Older Whoers - Clyde Best Interview on his Perfect Player

One of my heroes when growing up. Thanks for posting.

yngwies Cat 3:34 Thu Jul 8
Re: For The Older Whoers - Clyde Best Interview on his Perfect Player

Cheers Irish, great stuff

Nicey 2:39 Thu Jul 8
Re: For The Older Whoers - Clyde Best Interview on his Perfect Player

Great article

The nicey

Lato 7:34 Wed Jul 7
Re: For The Older Whoers - Clyde Best Interview on his Perfect Player

Thanks Irish

charleyfarley 5:49 Wed Jul 7
Re: For The Older Whoers - Clyde Best Interview on his Perfect Player

as always keep em coming Irish and thanks

hammerintheorient 5:25 Wed Jul 7
Re: For The Older Whoers - Clyde Best Interview on his Perfect Player

Thank you, Irish; a good read

E3 3:11 Wed Jul 7
Re: For The Older Whoers - Clyde Best Interview on his Perfect Player

Nice one Irish

Far Cough 2:44 Wed Jul 7
Re: For The Older Whoers - Clyde Best Interview on his Perfect Player

Top man Irish, thanks for that