Why we loved him

[Darlo Debs]

"Julian Dicks - ""Playing in Upton Park, for those fans, I still think about it every day, without fail. I have photos of Upton Park in my house, and every six months or so, I go back to drive around the area because it was a massive part of my life and I miss it. It might sound crazy, but that’s how I feel about it, that’s how much it mattered to me... I gave 100% in every game, and as a fan that’s all you want to see, someone who cares for the club, cares for the shirt, and cares for them. I did that. People work all week to pay for their match ticket, so all you had to do is give your best. West Ham’s fans have been with me through thick and thin, and whatever happened, never turned on me. Sometimes I overstepped the mark but I cared, and the supporters knew it."" Just thought I'd pop.this on for when you are having an I.miss the the good old days moment."

[Nobody]

Re: Why we loved him Nobody did it better...

[Gary Strodders shank]

"The injury he sustained and that ultimately ended his career despite the groundbreaking op and comeback was more than likely attributable not only to his fearless no holds barred tackling buy possibly lack of professionalism in terms of warm ups and injury management as you can well imagine him turning out when having a minor knock or playing on on a game when he should of come off. Julian will always be a hero and once on the pitch would literally run through brick walls for the club and fans, very much one of a very small number of players who would do that. I knew Stuart Pearce locally and in his early non league days and he had most of the same attributes as Dicksy but always had his head screwed on and was a great professional although in my opinion Dicksy had the more natural ability."

[Darlo Debs]

Peewee you are a filthpot

[bruuuno]

"Although dicks the better player, in a 50/50 my money is on Pearce as I suspect he had a bit more focus. What a privilege to grow up watching dicks aka the terminator, uniquely West Ham. I always felt very confident when he took pens, I think he had a good record?"

[Eastside surge]

"If my memory is correct his comeback game after he went to Liverpool was against arsenal and I remember reading the match report on the Sunday and the guy wrote how west ham fans were just waiting for him to hit someone with a crunching tackle. He wrote something along the lines of "" and on the fifteen minute mark in swooped the angel of death "" Made me chuckle anyway"

[Pee Wee]

"Not one bullying ‘Debs talking about her love of dicks’ post? Site, dogs etc"

[mallard]

"Was watching The Macari/Bonds era videos on YouTube and his free-kicks were phenomenal! Also knew how to take a penalty, the one against Peter Schmeichel was superb, just belted the fucker! Definitely deserves to be in the top 5, all time West Ham players for his commitment alone."

[Grumpster]

"Will always be my all time favourite and helped that when meeting him he was a decent bloke. Any 50/50 between him and Pearce in their prime would have resulted in a sore leg apiece with both absolutely loving it and no loser or winner. Proper footballers and men and I loved Pearce as well, absolute legend of the English game. Not I have to watch little poofs like Bellingham and Paqueta pretending to have been shot."

[isolated hammer]

"Russ of the BML; Excellent piece you wrote there buddy. Wish I had been at that game, had to watch it on the t.v. When I got in and switched the TV on, we were 1-0 down. The neighbours hated me that night. Was a special night indeed."

[Russ of the BML]

"The Spurs 4-3 is one of my most memorable. Awful weather. Gale force winds. Rain lashing down. We were soaked when we all bundled into the South Bank. Really intense atmosphere. Just felt like something special was happening. With players like Bishop, Harston, Moncur, Hughes...Proper men. Lead by Dicks. You just sensed they were never ever going to lose that game. Spurs had a decent side, technically good, with Teddy, Anderton, Iverson and Howells pulling the strings. But the weather and the atmosphere was a leveller. Dicks covered every blade of grass that night. A truly inspirational performance. Stretched every ounce of his stamina that night. Flying into tackles, headers and galloping upfield with the ball. An absolute colossus. When we got that penalty you knew he wouldn't miss. Alot of players may have sunk with the weight. But he just hammered it home like he was in training. A true West Ham legend. And in my personal top 5 of all time."

[Manuel]

"Has WHO wisdom now decided that Stuart Pearce wasn't a hard player. Haha, seriously, fucking take a day off."

[GoalLazio]

What a player - one of our best ever. I personally couldn't give a fuck about Stuart Pearce.

[isolated hammer]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=xSZJBl9n7TE&si=cx9tNluXIrfDtAfd

[wd40]

"Recall at Leicester City David Kelly playing for them came over to the touch line to collet the ball and got a lot of abuse from us he responded by rubbing his fingers together and laughing stating he got some money I must presume . Us lot all went metal up out of seats calling him a cսnt etc Inside 5 minutes Dicks made a tackle on him with such force it made a noise like a thud or bang (can hear it now if I close my eyes ) Kelly went down like a man who been hit with bullet in the forehead with Dicks looking over at us for a brief second after it , For ever in his debt for this one single bit of action."

[isolated hammer]

Dicuss all day long. Pearce gets a broken leg in one challenge but is back playing two weeks later. Both on a par with each other in terms of grit and determination. But SP was quite extraordinary really. Two broken legs in the same season and he still played in the last game. Outrageous really.

[South Woodhammer]

"It never happened but the balls there to be won , both players are fully committed to a 50/50 tackle , both go flying in … who wins it Julian Dicks or Stuart Pearce ?"

[hammer205]

The Terminator!! What an absolutely fantastic player. Similar age as myself. As some have said it felt like he carried the club and team throughout. A player that would win you a game from LEFT BACK single handedly. Opposition players would pass the ball back or kick it out of touch when they saw him coming near him!! You would often hear the whole ground go ooohhh!! When he went in for a challenge as they were wincing too! It’s often said by the 85/86 team had he played then we would have won the league. There’s no real higher compliment than that LEGEND

[isolated hammer]

One of my fondest memories of Dicksy was the 4-3 win over Spurs on a Monday night. Could hardly talk the next day at work. Great game inspired by a great man.

[chim chim cha boo]

"There have been players in the past who showed much more commitment than Dicks, a player who could only really be made by West Ham. I guess that's why we love him. Terrible trainer, used to fuck off early with no explanation, turned up at training on a Harley with no insurance, wouldn't warm up and drank 3 litres of Pepsi before a game. A proper chippy, angry cսnt who loved kicking opposition players and stamping on their heads. An absolute loose cannon who could single -handedly lose you a game with his completely over the top aggression. I loved him!"

[Manuel]

"Nice to read that, I never heard him speak like that before. Collins says similar things, their whole life and who they are changed forever when they come to us. Dicks is comfortably one of our most popular (and best) ever players, he was an absolute fucking hero, it seemed as if he was carrying the whole club at some points, can be forgotten sometimes."

[Darlo Debs]

Thanks Mex He's one of my all time favourite Hammers Thought we could all do with something to make us smile...everything feels a bit shit atm.

[Darlo Debs]

Thanks Mex He's one of my all time favourite Hammers Thought we could all do with something to make us smile...everything feels a bit shit atm.

[Gary Strodders shank]

A true cult hero who gave us some great performances and many memories. He had the natural ability to be a truly great player but in my opinion lacked the necessary discipline and professionalism to achieve that status.. Having said that if he did have the above attributes he probably wouldn't of been our Julian.

[Mex Martillo]

Yep fantastic player and not a bad keeper. His commitment was inspiring. We have been lucky to have had a few defenders with that commitment and fight. It is a West Ham way as the support encourages that. Nice post Debs.

[icwhs]

"Fantastic player and leader, and an even nicer person. He wrote the foreword for my book, a real West Ham legend (not a “twitter” legend like Declan)"