Geoffrey Alan Pike (born 28 September 1956) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He spent the majority of his career at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. Pike played his early football in

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Essex, England. It lies on the north bank of the River ...

and later with Gidea Park Rangers. He joined

in 1974 and was a member of the side that reached the 1975

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

Final. He made his league debut on 6 March 1976 against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

. In 1976, West Ham loaned him to the Hartford Bicentennials of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

. He returned on loan in 1977, but by that time the team had moved and was now known as the Connecticut Bicentennials. He played for the Upton Park club for twelve years, gaining an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

winners medal in 1980, a League Cup runners-up medal in 1981 and promotion back to the top tier, after finishing as Division Two champions in 1980–81. Pike also featured in the side that finished third in the Football League First Division in 1985-86, just 4 points off the league title, which remains West Ham's highest ever league finish. He amassed 372 appearances and 41 goals for West Ham in all competitions, until his departure in 1987. He qualified for the

UEFA Pro Licence The UEFA coaching licences are documents testifying credentials of manager (association football), managers/ coach (sport), coaches among members of UEFA. The governing body for association football, football in Europe mandates several licences, e ...

in 2004.

Honours

Individual *

: Winner 1979–80 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 1987–88 Third Division

References

External links

February 2006 Interview
* 1956 births Living people English men's footballers People from Lower Clapton Men's association football midfielders West Ham United F.C. players Connecticut Bicentennials players English expatriate men's footballers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Notts County F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Fisher Athletic F.C. players Hendon F.C. players English Football League players English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English football managers Footballers from the London Borough of Hackney {{England-footy-midfielder-1950s-stub