West Ham, Liverpool, England now media presenter

Profile
Footballer for West Ham, Leyton Orient and England, now a media presenter.
League career: West Ham (586 appearances in 19 years) and Leyton Orient.
England internationals: 17 Full Caps.
Other honours: England debut (1981); FA Cup (1980); World Cup Finals (1986); Manager of Southend United (2 years).

Summary
Alvin Martin is one of West Ham United's all-time greats, a true pro respected by fans and players alike. Born in Liverpool, Alvin was nevertheless rejected by his local club Everton before he joined West Ham United straight from school. He went on to amass 586 first team appearances for the Hammers in a successful 19-year career at Upton Park, in which he became one of only two players (Billy Bonds is the other) to be awarded two testimonials.

It was alongside ‘Bonzo' in the centre of defence that Alvin, nicknamed 'Stretch', enjoyed his most rewarding years, winning the FA Cup and second division championship medals in successive seasons at the start of the 80s. As a player Alvin was very comfortable in possession of the ball and deserved to win more than 17 England caps as one of the most accomplished defenders in the British game.

Alvin was given his first England cap by Ron Greenwood, who brought him to West Ham as a 14-year-old, against Brazil at Wembley in May 1981. Injury ruled him out of the World Cup finals in Spain in 1982, but he was playing some of the finest football of his career when the next England manager, Bobby Robson, included Alvin in his 1986 squad for the finals in Mexico. He played admirably in the victory over Paraguay but was surprisingly dropped for the next game, the quarter-final defeat by Argentina's infamous 'Hand of God'.

After leaving the Hammers he had a brief spell with East London neighbours Leyton Orient, before managing Southend End United for two years.

Alvin has been a 1089/1053am regular since the beginning and can often be heard as a pundit on Football First as well as a co-commentator on 1089/1053am's live premiership coverage in London.