Mark Ward’s departure for Manchester City at the end of 1989 facilitated the arrival of two players who would go on to become Hammers Legends – Trevor Morley and Ian Bishop.
But their debuts at Filbert Street on 30 December showed little sign of promise.
By the time the Hammers faced Barnsley at Upton Park on New Years’ Day 1990 there was another new face in the side as Jimmy Quinn arrived from Bradford City in a deal valued at £340,000.
New Year’s Eve shenanigans at the Swallow Hotel
But New Year’s Eve shenanigans added to Macari’s problems – David Kelly was fined in the afternoon for not training properly, and as Macari retired to bed well before midnight with the team ‘safely’ holed up in the Swallow Hotel in Waltham Abbey, tee-total Macari ordered a glass of champagne for everyone and assumed they will all shortly follow him to an early night.
Kelly, Dicks, McKnight and Strodder however allegedly get into bother and there are allegations of late-night takeaway orders and general misbehaviour.
Frank McAvennie is also in trouble after gatecrashing a commercial department event.
A good performance will be needed against Barnsley or those involved might be in more trouble – as it happens a convincing 4-2 appears to set the tone for 1990, but alas it’s only the beginning of the end.
All three new signings make their home debuts but it’s old hands Keen, Dicks and Allen who find the net.
Torquay disaster and the Sunday People scandal
A third round FA Cup tie at Torquay ends in disaster as the home side win 1-0 at Plainmoor. Yet there is no pressure on Macari as the team still has a chance of making the promotion play-offs and have a place in the quarterfinals of the League Cup.
With the three new signings settling in and a work permit for giant goalkeeper Ludek Miklosko pending, the board stand by Macari.
This despite the continuing rumblings of allegations against him in the press. The FA charge Macari and his former Chairman Brian Hillier with unauthorised betting.
Sunday People journalist Bill Bradshaw appears to be a man on a mission to get Macari sacked.
His job was aided by an insider at Swindon feeding information to him to discredit Hillier – it looks like Macari may well be collateral damage.
New allegations surface regarding illegal payments to players at Swindon as the Hammers head back to Devon for a 1-1 draw with Plymouth – Jimmy Quinn opening his West Ham account.
Cup heartbreak and the 6-0 Boundary Park drubbing
All three new signings are cup-tied for the visit of Derby County in the League Cup quarter-final.
Julian Dicks scores a now trademark free kick but an under hit back pass from Tony Gale allows Dean Saunders to equalise and the game goes to a replay at The Baseball Ground.
Despite the return of the new signing, and Trevor Morley’s first West Ham goal, promotion hopes fade with a 2-1 defeat at home to Hull.
Stewart Robson bravely returns early from injury, and loan signing Ralph Milne makes a sub appearance in the cup replay to boost numbers and earn a third match as it ends 0-0 at Derby.
In the second replay, West Ham triumph 2-1 with goals from Keen and Slater – earning a semi-final spot against Oldham Athletic.
Despite their easy league victory at Upton Park and a notorious plastic pitch at Boundary Park, they are at least in the same division, and the Hammers have a great chance to make Wembley.
Promotion, however, is now a distant hope, despite a 3-1 win over Brighton at Upton Park, the Hammers remain six points adrift of the play-offs.
The FA Inquiry into the illegal betting scandal accepts that Macari’s involvement in the betting was limited, nevertheless he was involved and slaps him with a £1,000 fine.
The resignation and the legacy of Macari’s signings
The Board are not happy when it emerges that Macari plans to appeal; they understandably want an end to the matter, but Macari is a man of principle and wants to clear his name.
A 6-0 thrashing at Boundary Park in the League Cup semi-final concentrates his mind and he fails to show for the next league match, ironically, away at Swindon.
Despite the board’s insistence that he did not need to resign, and their attempts to persuade him to stay at his post, Macari was aware that the controversy, whilst not involving West Ham, was tarnishing the club’s name by association.
Macari resigned to concentrate on fighting his case – refusing any kind of compensation deal.
History has been harsh on Macari, and he is remembered by many fans as a failure – but it should be remembered first and foremost that he had big shoes to fill in the form of John Lyall – many of Lyall’s most loyal staff, both on the coaching and playing side remained at the club and did not take kindly to Macari’s stricter regime, which was needed to drag the club into the 1990s.
Macari’s signings provided the core of the West Ham squad for the next five years – Martin Allen, Trevor Morley, Ian Bishop, and Ludek Miklosko all playing major roles under successors Billy Bonds and Harry Redknapp.
It would be interesting to know if, without the Sunday People’s intervention, whether Macari could have made a success of his time at the club.
In the end, perhaps, his greatest legacy was that he opened the door for a very popular successor – Billy Bonds. Bonds took over in February 1990, charged with the task of pushing the team into the playoffs and saving face in the League Cup.
My YouTube series “The Macari Months” follows the fortunes of the club during Lou Macari’s tenure, merging match footage with interviews, newspaper cuttings, news items, music, TV, and cinema from the time.
It is a must for anyone who remembers those heady days, or those who are curious to learn. The period is covered in Episodes 5-6 – see @westhamhistory
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