Alvin Martin

Alvin Edward Martin, born on 29 July 1958, is an English football pundit, former manager, and ex-professional footballer. As a defender, he spent the bulk of his playing days at West Ham United, where he racked up 598 appearances and 34 goals across 21 years. His time with the Hammers included lifting the FA Cup in 1980. He later moved to Leyton Orient in 1996. On the international stage, Martin earned 17 caps for England during the 1980s and featured at the 1986 World Cup. After his playing career, he took over as manager of Southend United in 1997.

Born in Walton, Liverpool, Lancashire, Martin played schoolboy football for Bootle and Lancashire and was briefly attached to Everton as a schoolboy. In 1974, Everton offered him only a part-time apprenticeship, so he left. That summer, an unsuccessful trial with Queens Park Rangers was followed the very next day by a trial with West Ham United, where he signed as an apprentice on 19 August 1974. He played in the 1975 FA Youth Cup final and turned professional on 29 July 1976. His first-team debut came on 18 March 1978 as a substitute against Aston Villa, and his final appearance was as an 88th-minute substitute on 5 May 1996 against Sheffield Wednesday.

Over a 19-year professional stint at Upton Park, Martin made nearly 600 first-team appearances. He is one of only two players, alongside Billy Bonds, to have been granted two testimonials—the first against Spurs on 21 August 1988 and the second against Chelsea on 11 November 1995. Partnering Bonds in central defence, Martin—nicknamed 'Stretch'—enjoyed his best years, winning the FA Cup in 1980 and a Second Division winners' medal in 1981. In April 1986, he scored a rare hat-trick against three different Newcastle United goalkeepers: Martin Thomas (who was injured), and outfield players Chris Hedworth and Peter Beardsley, in an 8–1 league win. That season, West Ham finished third in the top flight, just four points behind champions Liverpool, with Martin playing 40 games and scoring four goals.

Despite West Ham's relegation in 1989, Martin stayed loyal, helping them win promotion two years later. The club lasted one season in the top tier before dropping again, then bounced straight back. Martin, for decades the club's longest-serving player, spent three more Premier League seasons with the team before leaving at the end of 1995–96, aged 37, after 21 years of service. He then had a brief spell with East London neighbours Leyton Orient.

Martin earned his first England cap from Ron Greenwood in a May 1981 match against Brazil at Wembley. Injury kept him out of the 1982 World Cup in Spain, but under Bobby Robson he was selected for the 1986 tournament in Mexico. He played in the victory over Paraguay, replacing the suspended Terry Fenwick, but was dropped for the quarter-final defeat to Argentina (the 'Hand of God' match). In total, he made 17 international appearances.

As a manager, Martin led Southend United for two years, from 1997 to March 1999, during which the club was relegated to League One. After management, he joined national radio station talkSPORT and became a regular pundit on Sky Sports football shows.

Martin's sons, David and Joe, are also footballers—David a goalkeeper, Joe a defender.

Honours include the FA Cup with West Ham United in 1979–80, and an individual selection to the PFA Team of the Year for the 1980–81 Second Division.