ON a weekend where top flight football takes a break due to the international fixture calendar, West Ham fans were treated to a night with three former stars to quench their thirst for club football.

The Playhouse show featured three former players, Sir Trevor Brooking, Tony Gale and Alan Curbishley all of whom spent varying portions of their careers at the East London club.

This was slickly compared by ex Arsenal star Perry Groves, 

The show was split into two distinct halves, the first being a nostalgic look at the careers of the three men and how they’d arrived, thrived and departed the club with a few tales of how things went along the way.

The second half was a genuine, unfiltered audience Q+A where the panel were asked specific, and often challenging questions, about their careers, some of which dealt with roles they’ve all played at the club in a non playing capacity and the decisions they made.

Some of the questions were more general and asked the players to reflect on best goals scored, most memorable times and the greatest players they’d competed with and against.

Although the varying amounts of time and success each man had at West Ham leaves fans with opinions about how much of a “legend” they are (in a world where that term is loosely used) each of the guests contributed something unique to the panel and the experience itself.

The clear draw of the evening was Sir Trevor who spent nearly 20 years with West Ham, winning multiple honours and amassing 47 England caps.

His tales of scoring FA cup winning goals and sharing the pitch with unquestionable greats like Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff tell the story of a genuine British footballing gentleman and a true one club great.

Gale having played nearly 360 times for the Hammers added to the evening with his polished media presence gained from his time at Sky Sports and currently Talk Sport.

His wit and humour adding a pace and comedy to the anecdotes being reeled off by the panel. Curbishley who started his career at West Ham, leaving too soon much to his own regret, and later returning to manage the club was obviously the least decorated of the guests, but he added an air of knowledge and insight through his vastly more distinguished managerial career.

Stories about Sir Alex Ferguson, visiting Paolo Di Canio’s house when trying to sign him, and his role on the League managers association, which he still holds, gave the audience an insight into matters off the pitch.

In an era of a global premier league with an international cast of players and owners, the almost sold out crowd at the Playhouse with their enthusiasm for hearing stories of a time where players lived just around the corner from the clubs they represented shows that evenings such as this, for all clubs, will remain popular.