Ultimate Hammer: Bonds embodied the claret and blue

Stalwart who captained the club to two FA Cup wins and made a record 799 appearances has died at 79

- Jonathan Wilson

Some players embody a club but few have ever embodied their side more than Billy Bonds, who died yesterday at the age of 79.

He was not a oneclub man but by the time he finally retired, at the age of 41, in 1988, he felt like one, having racked up a record 799 appearances for West Ham. Just as significantly, he had lifted the FA Cup twice as captain.

There was applause at the London Stadium yesterday as a montage was shown on the big screens. It featured a number of spectacular long-range strikes because it's easier to show somebody scoring goals than preventing them, and still harder to somehow sum up leadership.

But there were plenty of shots of him looking steely: six foot two with eyes of blue, as the song had it; and if the reality was a couple of inches shorter, who cared? He made up for it with his aura. A minute's applause was observed with impeccable reverence, before the present captain Jarrod Bowen laid a Bonds 4 shirt in front of the North Stand. The fourth minute was met with a standing ovation.