Ronald William Boyce (6 January 1943 – 13 February 2025) was an English professional

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 his entire career for

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 ...

, making 282

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

appearances for them.

Early life and education

Boyce attended East Ham Grammar School.

Career

Boyce played for England schoolboys football team and for Essex Schoolboys at cricket. He joined West Ham as an apprentice in 1959 and made his first-team debut in a Southern Floodlight Cup game against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

on 13 October 1959. His first Football League game was over a year later, on 22 October 1960, in a 5–2 home win against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

. He made a total of 342 appearances for West Ham in all competitions, scoring 29 goals. This included 282 league appearances between 1960 and 1972, in which he scored 21 goals.Welcome to the Wonderful World of West Ham United statistics Ronnie Boyce
/ref> He also made 22

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 ...

appearances, scoring five goals, the most important of which was the winner in the 3–2 win over Preston North End in the 1964 FA Cup Final. He was also a member of the 1965 European Cup Winners' Cup–winning team on 19 May 1965. His nickname, "Ticker", relates to his role as the "heartbeat" of those cup wins. His final two seasons with the club, 1971–72 and 1972–73, saw Boyce restricted to three substitute appearances as he was used as backup for

Trevor Brooking Sir Trevor David Brooking (born 2 October 1948) is a former England national football team, England international Association football, footballer, manager, pundit and football administrator; he now works as director of football development in En ...

, Billy Bonds and Pat Holland. He was awarded a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, managed by former Hammers player Frank O'Farrell, on 13 November 1972. His final appearance for West Ham came on 30 December 1972 in a 2–1 away defeat to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. After retiring as a player, Boyce became a member of the coaching staff under John Lyall for a period that included the FA Cup Final victories in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

and against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

. He subsequently coached under Billy Bonds. Boyce also took charge of West Ham for one game as caretaker manager in February 1990. He was appointed West Ham's chief scout in September 1991, remaining in that position until 1995. He went on to hold coaching roles at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

and

, before joining

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

as a scout in 1998.

Later life and death

Boyce was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by West Ham in 2019. Boyce died on 12 February 2025, at the age of 82.

Honours

West Ham *

: 1963–64 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

: 1964–65

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyce, Ronnie 1943 births 2025 deaths People from East Ham English men's footballers Footballers from the London Borough of Newham Men's association football midfielders English Football League players West Ham United F.C. players English football managers English football coaches English football scouts West Ham United F.C. non-playing staff West Ham United F.C. managers Queens Park Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Millwall F.C. non-playing staff Tottenham Hotspur F.C. non-playing staff 20th-century English sportsmen