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 le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He spent the majority of his career at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. Pike played his early football in

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The l ...

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. Since 2011, the first te ...

. In 1976, West Ham loaned him to the

Hartford Bicentennials The Connecticut Bicentennials were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1977. Originally founded as the Hartford Bicentennials, the team relocated to New Haven, Connecticut after the 19 ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

. He returned on loan in 1977, but by that time the team had moved and was now known as the

Connecticut Bicentennials The Connecticut Bicentennials were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1977. Originally founded as the Hartford Bicentennials, the team relocated to New Haven, Connecticut after the 1 ...

. 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 knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

winners medal in 1980, a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

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 UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, mandates several coaching licences for professional managers, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro Licence, the UEFA A Licence, and the UEFA B Licence. They are iss ...

in 2004.

Honours

Individual *FA Cup Winner 1980 *

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 English football; the Premie ...

: 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 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