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Bio:

Cross played for Third Division club Rochdale, where he scored against top-flight Coventry City in a third-round FA Cup game in 1971.[3] He moved to Norwich City, with whom he won the Second Division championship in 1972. He joined Coventry City for £150,000, then a club record.[5] In 1976–77, Cross scored hat-tricks on the opening and closing days the season, the only Coventry City player to do so in a league campaign. He joined West Bromwich Albion for £150,000 in November 1976, and made his Albion debut against Manchester City.

West Ham United also broke their club record for Cross when they paid for £180,000 for his services on 9 December 1977.[9][10] He made his debut a week later, against West Brom. Cross scored 9 goals in 21 league games during his initial season at the club, but this wasn’t enough to prevent relegation to the Second Division. His first full season brought 18 goals, with 12 the following season.

Cross was asked to play as the lone striker during the 1980 FA Cup Final win against Arsenal. He scored 22 goals with the side that won the Second Division in 1980–81, winning the division’s Golden Boot and ensuring the club’s promotion back to the First Division.

On 1 October 1980, Cross scored West Ham United’s first, and to date only, hat-trick in European competition in a 5–1 win against Castilla. Following promotion, Cross again became the club’s top scorer for the 1981–82 season, with 16 goals. He scored four goals in a game on two occasions, against Grimsby Town on 11 April 1981, and against Tottenham Hotspur on 2 September 1981. Cross was the last player to score four goals in a single league match for West Ham for almost 40 years until Michail Antonio also achieved this in a match against Norwich City on 11 July 2020.

Factfile:

• Full Name: David Cross
• Position: Forward
• Date of Birth: 08.12.1950
• Birthplace: Heywood
• Nation: England
• Club Career: Coventry City
  • Period: 1973-1976
  • League Games, 91
  • League Goals, 21
  • Previous Club: Norwich City
    • Transfer Fee: £150 000
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Bio:

Kenneth Graham Sansom was born in Camberwell, London on 26 September 1958; the second youngest of five children. His father, George, was an itinerant who left the family home shortly after the birth of his youngest child. His mother, Rose, was a cleaner, and moved the family to Tulse Hill in 1960. He considered himself a goalkeeper in his early years, but while playing for a youth team called Spring Park Wolves he replaced an injured teammate at left-back, and remained a full-back for the rest of his career. He attended Beaufoy Secondary school, and was capped by England schoolboys.

Sansom was scouted by Arsenal, Queens Park Rangers and Tottenham Hotspur, but went on to join the youth team at Crystal Palace. In 1977, he captained the Palace junior team to FA Youth Cup success while also skippering the England youth team at the same level, collecting Palace’s “Player of the Year” award in his first season.

Quick, calm, strong in the tackle and an excellent crosser of the ball, Sansom missed just one league game in a consecutive run of 156 games, starting in 1976, when Palace were in the Third Division. In the 1978–79 season Crystal Palace won the Second Division championship with Sansom integral to the young team. They were quickly labelled as the “Team of The ’80s”. Palace briefly topped the First Division at the start of the 1979–80 season although they ultimately finished in thirteenth position.

Factfile:

• Full Name: Kenneth Graham Sansom
• Position: Defender
• Date of Birth: 26.09.1958
• Birthplace: Camberwell, London
• Nation: England
• Club Career: Crystal Palace
  • Period: 1975-1980
  • League Games, 172
  • League Goals, 3
  • Previous Club: –
    • Transfer Fee: –
• Collection
  • Amazon
• More Facts
  • Wikipedia
• Photo Gallery
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• Category
  • Focus On – Vintage
• Video
  • You Tube