Trevor Brooking

Sir Trevor David Brooking, CBE (born 1948 in Barking) is a football player turned manager, pundit and administrator.

He is chiefly associated with West Ham United, having played as a midfielder for the club for his entire playing career, between 1967 and 1984, making 636 appearances and scoring 102 times. He won the FA Cup twice, in 1975 and 1980; in the latter, he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Arsenal with a rare header.

He also played for England 47 times, scoring 5 goals. However, he only played in major tournaments twice, both times for just half an hour; as a substitute against Spain in the 1982 World Cup and in Euro 1980 (European confederal championship) in Italy.

Brooking was one of the most intelligent and cerebral footballers of his generation (he left Ilford County High School with 11 O-levels and 2 A-levels), and had a very clean disciplinary record. Since retiring, he has taken up a number of positions in broadcasting and administration.

In 1984, Brooking joined the BBC as a pundit, and has featured on radio and television commentary since, including the BBC's Match of the Day and coverage of World Cups and European Championships.

Brooking was Chair of the Eastern Region Council for Sport and Recreation from 1987 until 1997, and between 1999 and 2002 he was chairman of Sport England.

In April 2003, after West Ham manager Glenn Roeder collapsed due to a brain tumour, Brooking, having long been on the board of West Ham, briefly took over as caretaker manager. The club were fighting relegation from the Premiership, and went down despite a late rally under Brooking, albeit with a record number of points (42) for a relegated team. After the first three games of the 2003/2004 season, Roeder was sacked and Brooking was again installed as caretaker manager. He spent a successful month in charge of the team before being replaced by Alan Pardew.

In December 2003, Brooking joined the Football Association as Director of Football Development.