It’s the Irons glory boy’s birthday – thanks ‘Ticker’

ClaretandHugh today takes huge pleasure in wishing the Hammers glory hero of 1964 – Mr Ronnie Boyce – the happiest 78th birthday possible.

‘Ticker’ ,as he was widely known back in those great years between 64-67, was the guy who kept  the team ‘ticking’ and was responsible for goals that featured in the greatest Irons game I have ever seen.

He was not prolific but grabbed two goals at a drenched Hillsborough in the famous 3-2 FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester United before scoring with a  decisive header at Wembley six weeks later.

Ticker was immense but always lived in the shadow of the Hammers big three – Mooro, Hursty and Martin. Those who saw him will remember him as an dynamo to a team which gave us the Cup and went on to win the Cup Winners Cup a year later.

Born just a short distance from the Boleyn Ground in East Ham in January 1943, Boyce joined West Ham as a schoolboy before making his first-team debut more than 60 years ago in October 1959 in a Southern Floodlight Cup win over – all teams – Millwall, when he was just 16.

A year later, aged 17, he started a First Division match for the first time as the Hammers thrashed Preston 5-2. It would not be the first time he haunted the Lancashire club, of course.

www,whufc reports that Ticker played  an amazing 55 matches the following season, climaxing with those goals at Hillsborough.

He had played 341 times in Claret and Blue, scoring 29 goals. In November of the same year, he was awarded a Testimonial, which saw the Hammers thrash a Manchester United team including George Best and Bobby Charlton, 5-2 at the Boleyn Ground.

He became a key member of John Lyall’s coaching staff, helping the Hammers win two further FA Cups in 1975 and 1980, and later served as both caretaker manager and chief scout, retiring in 1995.

Thanks ‘Ticker’ for my greatest memories of this fabulous football club.