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EX Magazine is published quarterly by Football World. Publishers: Tony McDonald & Susie MuirEditor: Tony McDonald Editorial Assistants: Terry Connelly, Tim Crane, Terry Roper Advertising: Susie Muir & Peter Perry Website manager: Jack McDonald Address: Football World, 103 Douglas Road, Hornchurch, Essex, RM11 1AW, England. Telephone: 01708 744 333 Email: editorial@ex-hammers.com  The full line-up reads, standing left to right: George McDonald, Tony McDonald (EX mag Publisher/Editor), Ken Brown, Joe Kirkup, Alan Dickie, Jim Standen, John Bond, Jack Burkett, Martin Peters, Terry Connelly (EX mag) and Tim Crane (EX mag). Seated: Eddie Bovington, Peter Brabrook, Brian Dear, Ron Boyce and John Sissons. Front: Jack McDonald and Alan Cassettari. WELCOME TO EX! The only retro magazine dedicated to one English football club began life in November 2002. Publisher/Editor Tony McDonald, a self-confessed football cynic, admits it was the rampant self-indulgence of the overpaid and underrated modern footballer that proved the inspiration for EX magazine. Sick of reading or listening to banal interviews with current players (and not just those at West Ham) who have nothing of interest to say and who are low on genuine talent but very big on ego, we thought it would be nice to track down and interview people some long forgotten who really did have lots of interesting things to say about their time at West Ham. Ex-players (hence the mag's title) who genuinely cared for football, fully appreciated the benefits the game had brought them and also the club who gave them their chance to shine as professional footballers. In some cases, the former Hammers we talk to were paid only the maximum wage, or they earned a pittance compared to the ridiculously over-paid and over-hyped players who have been cosseted aboard the Premier League gravy train in recent years. Most of the former players you will read about in EX played simply for the love of the game money was never a motivating factor for them. As for agents, they did not even exist. And the great thing is, these men most of them once stars in their own right but some now unrecognisable if you happened to pass them in the street were just as keen to talk to us as we were eager to interview and reminisce with them! Most of them were genuinely flattered even to be remembered. Many of them invited us into their own homes to talk. This in itself is a refreshing departure from the culture of celebrity and Œbling’ favoured by today's pampered prima donnas. Producing EX to date has been very much a team effort, a labour of love for all of us involved. It certainly would not have got off the ground without the help and enthusiastic efforts of my good friend and fellow West Ham supporter Terry Connelly, who has been a trusted ally to many ex-Hammers over a long period many of whom he first met in the course of obtaining their autographs as a kid. Knowledgeable TC has been watching the best and worst of West Ham for more than 50 years and is far better qualified than most fans to pass judgement on the merits (or otherwise) of the players who have worn the shirt during this lengthy period. Another great mate of mine and Terry's, Tim Crane, who writes the memorabilia column in each issue of EX as well as contributing other features and interviews, has also been with us all the way since we launched. A keen historian and incurable football romantic, Tim's enthusiasm for all things West Ham United past knows no bounds and he is the proud possessor of the most impressive West Ham trade card collection in existence! In 2006, Terry Roper became a very welcome addition to the EX editorial team and, again, a more enthusiastic Hammers devotee you could not find. Danny Francis (who travelled to Rome to interview Paolo Di Canio), Tony Hogg, Steve Blowers, Stuart Allen, John Helliar and John Northcutt have also played their part and, like the three T's, have done so enthusiastically and without financial reward. I can't thank them enough for their support. For us it has been an absolute pleasure to sit down with so many one-time West Ham favourites, many of them big names in their day, and recall the good times (and the bad) they experienced at Upton Park and after they left the club. By virtue of the fact that they are ex-players, the people interviewed on the following pages have been able to speak very freely and candidly about their careers, the players they played with and the managers they played under, without fear of upsetting their old employers. At times their honesty is compelling. And the fact that EX is published independently of the club means we don’t have to tow the party line in the same way that the official publications inevitably do. The magazine has been warmly welcomed by many people inside the club and by those with past West Ham connections. A number of ex-players (and one former director) have themselves since become subscribers to the mag! Undoubtedly the proudest moment in respect of EX was the celebration dinner we organised, in May 2005, to mark the 40th anniversary of the European Cup Winners’ Cup victory. Dismayed that the club had no plans to honour the survivors of the greatest night in Hammers’ history, we took the bull by the horns and put on a four-course reunion dinner at the International Hotel in London Docklands, jointly hosted by Martin Peters and Tony Cottee. We invited every surviving member of both the 1964 FA Cup and 1965 ECWC-winning teams, together with their wives and partners, and paid for their overnight accommodation. We also footed the bill for John Sissons to fly in from South Africa, Jim Standen from California and Joe Kirkup from France. Of the players, only Sir Geoff Hurst couldn't make what turned out to be an unforgettable occasion. Stephanie Moore (another avid EX reader) was sorry that a prior engagement meant she was unable to attend, Ron Greenwood was too unwell to make it, but it was a delight to welcome along Barbara and Anthony Sealey, wife and son of the late Alan Sealey, the two-goal Wembley hero of '65. It wasn’t intended to be a profit-making venture, but some 200 supporters attended and you couldn't have put a price on the sheer joy the evening brought to the former players and their families, as well as everybody else present. For one more night, 40 years after what was for most the finest achievement of their career, they were feted stars again just as they deserved to be. We were all honoured to be in their presence on this special occasion but such is the genuine warmth, humility and gratitude of these guys that they were the ones who felt most honoured of all. The pleasure the anniversary dinner gave the ex-players, was worth every late night spent toiling over a computer keyboard and every home match day my partner Susie and I spent shouting on street corners around the Boleyn Ground in our efforts to flog the bloody magazine! I'm not sure there are too many among the 35,000, who religiously give their unconditional support to the club at each home game now, who hold much more than a passing interest in the actual history of the club and the players who came before their time as supporters. It's become very much a live-for-today world. I suspect that most of the people we have been aiming EX at have long since given up attending matches, for whatever reason, and our problem has been trying to reach those fans from bygone eras who have drifted away and are content to follow West Ham from the comfort of their sofas. However, the support and encouragement we have received from our small band of loyal readers has always been very much appreciated. So, too, is the enthusiasm shown by many former West Ham players and managers, whose genuine interest has been vital to the mag's growth over the best part of the past five years. The magazine has brought together many former West Ham team-mates who had previously lost touch with each other, and that has been gratifying. EX lost one of its biggest supporters when John Lyall sadly died of a heart attack in April 2006. The memorable summer’s day in 2005 Terry Connelly and I spent in the company of the respected former Hammers manager, as privileged guests at his Suffolk farmhouse where we got through seven hours of interview tape (it ran in two of our best-selling issues), is one I will cherish forever. John loved reading his copy of the magazine and he couldn’t have been more sincere when he offered to help us in any way possible. He happily posed for a photograph holding copies of the magazine, for use in a subscriptions advertisement, and was keen to meet Terry and I for more informal talks about what he still referred to as 'his' club. It was a real coup, too, when Harry Redknapp invited us inside his mansion on the exclusive Dorset coast to be interviewed about his time as both player and manager at Upton Park. Our special interview with Billy Bonds, another helpful ally throughout, also ran over two issues, while the man who preceded Bonzo in the Hammers hotseat, Lou Macari, readily agreed to talk on the phone from his Cheshire home. The list of players we have met and interviewed for EX reads like a West Ham who's who. Soon after they returned to Upton Park in their managerial roles in December 2006, Alan Curbishley and Mervyn Day both happily agreed to be exclusively interviewed by us. Now it’s possible that many of you reading this will have only just stumbled upon EX magazine and have therefore not yet sampled this nostalgic delight! Where have you been for the past five years? Well, don't worry! Most back issues are still in stock and for the cost of just £3 per 40-page issue (in the UK), a year's subscription will ensure you never miss another copy in the future. Whatever any of us thinks about modern day football and the players who should be honoured to wear the claret-and-blue shirt, we are fortunate that our club has a rich history, thanks primarily to the celebrated World Cup-winning trio. We hope you agree with us that EX is a pleasant way to relive those days gone by. Many thanks for your interest, and I hope you become a regular reader... Tony McDonald |
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