Ronald William Boyce (born 6 January 1943) is an English former 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, rugb ...

who played his entire career for West Ham United, 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, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

appearances for them.

Career

Boyce played for

England schoolboys football team The English Schools' Football Association was founded in 1904 and is the governing body of schools' football in England. It is responsible for the running and development of schools competitions and festivals at primary and secondary school ag ...

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 The Southern Professional Floodlit Cup was an association football competition played in the late 1950s, which involved clubs from London, South East England and a small number of teams from the Midlands. The competition started in the 1955–56 ...

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 Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

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 football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

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

appearances scoring 5 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 international footballer, manager, pundit and football administrator; he now works as director of football development in England. He spent almost his entire career at West ...

, Billy Bonds and Pat Holland. He was awarded a testimonial match against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, managed by former Hammers player

Frank O'Farrell Francis O'Farrell (9 October 1927 – 6 March 2022) was an Irish football player and manager. He played as a wing half for Cork United, West Ham United and Preston North End. He made over 300 appearances in the Football League before joining We ...

, on 13 November 1972. His final appearance for West Ham came on 30 December 1972 in a 2–1 away defeat to Leicester City. After retiring as a player, he became a key member of the coaching staff under

John Lyall John Angus Lyall (24 February 1940 – 18 April 2006) was an English footballer and manager primarily known for his 34 years at West Ham United. He played for the club as a youth, then as a first-team player before injury cut short his career. ...

, a period which 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 & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswor ...

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 mostl ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...

. 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 football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

and

, before joining

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

as a scout in 1998. He was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by West Ham in 2019.

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 L ...

: 1964 *

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

: 1964–65

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyce, Ronnie 1943 births Living people Footballers from East Ham English footballers Association football midfielders West Ham United F.C. players English Football League players 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 English football managers Association football coaches FA Cup Final players Association football scouts