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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