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Alvin Martin is one of West Ham United's all-time greats, a true pro respected by fans and players alike, and is now a regular on Evening Kick-Off and Sunday Matchday Live on talkSPORT.
Born in Liverpool, was rejected by his local club Everton before joining West Ham straight from school. He went on to amass 586 first team appearances for the Hammers in a successful 19-year career at Upton Park, in which he became one of only two players, with Billy Bonds being the other, to be awarded two testimonials.
It was alongside Bonds in the centre of defence at West Ham that Martin enjoyed his most rewarding years, winning the FA Cup and Second Division Championship medals in successive seasons at the start of the 1980's. As a player Martin was very comfortable in possession of the ball and deserved to win more than 17 England caps as one of the most accomplished defenders in the British game.
Alvin was given his first England cap by Ron Greenwood, who brought him to West Ham as a 14-year-old, against Brazil at Wembley in May 1981. Injury ruled him out of the World Cup finals in Spain in 1982, but he was playing some of the finest football of his career when the next England Manager, Bobby Robson, included Martin in his 1986 squad for the finals in Mexico.
He also played admirably in the victory over Paraguay but was surprisingly dropped for the next game, the quarter-final defeat by Argentina's "Hand of God".
After leaving the Hammers, Alvin had a brief spell with East London neighbours Leyton Orient, before managing Southend End United for two years. He has been a talkSPORT regular since the station launched in 2000 and co-presents Evening Kick-Off each Thursday with Danny Kelly and Sunday Matchday Live each weekend alongside Ian Danter and former Liverpool and Republic of Ireland midfielder Ray Houghton. Alvin has also been a co-commentator on talkSPORT's live coverage from the Champions League, Carling Cup, FA Cup and England Internationals at the 2006 World Cup and 2008 European Championship Qualifiers.
In addition, Alvin is also a regular with Sky Sports often appearing on football phone-in show You're On Sky Sports with Gary Newbon and their live coverage from the Football League in the Championship, League One and League Two alongside the likes of Bill Leslie, Kevin Keatings and Rob Hawthorne.
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