Billy Bonds was signed by Ron Greenwood from Charlton Athletic for a fee of £49,500 in May 1967, and made his first appearance for West Ham United in a testimonial match for Ken Brown the same month, making his league debut against Sheffield Wednesday at The Boleyn Ground on the opening day of the 1967-68 season. A player for West Ham for over 20 years, Bonds captained West Ham United to two Wembley FA Cup victories, the 2-0 win against Fulham in 1975 and the 1-0 victory against Arsenal in 1980. Before playing his last game for West Ham at Southampton in April 1988 at the age of 41, Bonds made a club record 799 appearances for West Ham, and scored 61 goals, including a hat-trick against Chelsea in a 3-0 victory at The Boleyn Ground in March 1974, a season when he finished as West Ham’s leading goalscorer in the league. Billy Bonds was Hammer of the Year on 4 occasions, 1971, 1974, 1975 and 1987, and Manager of West Ham between February 1990 and August 1994.