Let us know what you think so far

Fifteen years. Two FA Cups. Two relegations. A Second Division title. And one season — 1985-86 — in which West Ham finished third in the First Division, the highest league position in the club's history, with McAvennie and Cottee scoring 46 goals between them. John Lyall was the most successful manager in West Ham's history. This episode covers his reign in full, and ends with the collapse of 1989 and a dismissal that took 73 words in the club programme.

Research Sources
Wikipedia: John Lyall – born 24 February 1940 Ilford; died 18 April 2006 aged 66; joined West Ham groundstaff 1955; 36 first-team apps as player; knee injury retired him 1963; appointed manager April 1974 (formally August 1974 in some sources); managed 770 games; 34 years total service; sacked June 1989; 73 words in club programme; went on to manage Ipswich 1990-1994.

Wikipedia: 1980 FA Cup Final – 10 May 1980; West Ham 1-0 Arsenal; Brooking header 13 minutes; Devonshire cross, Cross shot blocked, Pearson mis-hit, Brooking headed from 8 yards; Paul Allen youngest Wembley finalist (17 years, 256 days); Willie Young foul on Allen (booked); Phil Parkes (goalkeeper); 100,000 attendance; last lower-division side to win the FA Cup.

Wikipedia: Frank McAvennie – born 22 November 1959 Glasgow; signed from St Mirren summer 1985 for £340,000; 26 league goals 1985-86 (only Gary Lineker scored more with 30); sold to Celtic 1987; returned March 1989 for £1.25 million; scored 0 goals in remaining 9 games; relegated May 1989.

Wikipedia: Tony Cottee – West Ham debut January 1983 aged 17; 20 league goals 1985-86; sold Everton July 1988 for £2.05 million (British record).

Wikipedia: Alan Devonshire – signed from non-league Southall 1976 for £5,000; 8 England caps; one of the great Academy-era bargains.

Wikipedia: Phil Parkes – signed from QPR 1979 for £565,000 (world record fee for goalkeeper); Ray Stewart signed from Dundee United for £430,000 (British record for teenager).

John Lyall Years article (thehexblog.com) – detail on player meeting led by Alvin Martin after first few McAvennie games; 18-game unbeaten run; fixture backlog detail (8 weeks, one league game between January and March 1986).

West Ham United official site: John Lyall profile – 'most successful manager in club history'; 1981 Second Division title by 13 points; League Cup final 1981 (drew 1-1 with Liverpool, lost replay 2-1); Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals 1981 (lost to Dinamo Tbilisi who won the competition).

Wikipedia: 1985-86 West Ham season – finished 3rd behind champions Liverpool and runners-up Everton; 4 points behind Liverpool; Heysel ban meant no European participation.

Brian Clough quote on Brooking: "floats like a butterfly and stings like one" – confirmed by multiple West Ham sources; said before the 1980 final.

West Ham official site: 1980 FA Cup stars reflect article (May 2020) – Lyall quote: "He headed the ball only once that season – thankfully it was on that day at Wembley."

All book references across the series:

John Powles — Iron in the Blood: Thames Ironworks FC, the Club That Became West Ham United (Soccerdata, 2005) — amazon.com/dp/1899468226 — Out of print; second-hand copies available.

Charles Korr — West Ham United: The Making of a Football Club (Gerald Duckworth & Co., 1986) — amazon.co.uk/dp/0715621262 — Out of print; second-hand copies available.

Elliott Taylor — Up The Hammers!: The West Ham Battalion in the Great War 1914–1918 (2012; Third Edition 2015) — amazon.co.uk/dp/1479279463

John Spurling — Syd King: The Man Who Built West Ham — Referenced in Episode 2 for King's management years.

Charles Booth — Life and Labour of the People of London (1889–1903) — Referenced in Episode 1. Searchable free via LSE Digital Library.

John Lovell — Stevedores and Dockers — Referenced in Episode 1. Background on dock labour conditions in Victorian East London.

Jonathan Schneer — Ben Tillett: Portrait of a Labour Leader — Referenced in Episode 1. Context on the 1889 Great Dock Strike.

Jeff Powell — Bobby Moore: The Life and Times of a Sporting Hero (Queen Anne Press, 2002) — amazon.co.uk/dp/1861055110

Matt Dickinson — Bobby Moore: The Man in Full (2014) — amazon.co.uk/dp/0224091727 — Supplementary to Powell.

Josh Chetwynd & ...