West Ham United are delighted to confirm that the West Ham United Player Awards 2018, brought to you by Betway in aid of The Academy, will see legendary defender Ken Brown Snr honoured with the Club’s Lifetime Achievement award.
Hosted by TV presenter and Hammers fan Ben Shepherd, and club legend Alvin Martin, the Awards will take place on Wednesday, April 25, 2018 at The InterContinental London, where the evening’s special guest will be a man who is associated with two of the most successful eras in our history.
Brown holds the unique position of being the only Hammer to have played in the famous 1957/58 Second Division title-winning campaign, the 1964 FA Cup final victory and the 1965 European Cup Winners’ Cup triumph – the three momentous achievements that put West Ham United on the map and earned the Club global recognition in that era.
With this season’s Player Awards taking place almost 60 years to the day since the Hammers clinched that 1958 promotion success with a 3-1 win up at Middlesbrough, the evening will contain a special tribute to that famous team – widely considered to be borne from the original ‘Academy’ figures of the early 1950s and the springboard for the glory of the mid-60s under Ron Greenwood…an era that Ken Brown certainly played his part in.
Born on 16 February 1934 just around the corner from the Boleyn Ground in Forest Gate, Ken was playing amateur football for local Dagenham side Neville United when Hammers boss Ted Fenton signed him on professional forms at the age of 17 in October 1951.
National Service slowed his early progress but Ken was handed a senior debut a week after his 19th Birthday in February 1953, in a 1-1 draw at Rotherham United, and made a handful of appearances during the next three seasons before establishing himself as the Club’s first-choice centre-half in the memorable 1957-58 campaign.
Winner of the Hammer of the Year award the following season, Brown won a solitary full England cap in a 2-1 win over Northern Ireland in November 1959, but the best was still to come as the 1960s saw him form a magnificent defensive partnership with a young Bobby Moore that underpinned the double Wembley triumph in 1964 and 1965.
In May 1967, he was awarded a Testimonial – in which a newly-signed Billy Bonds made his first appearance in Claret and Blue – before joining old friend John Bond at Torquay United in a £4,000 deal. After hanging up his boots in 1970 following a spell with Hereford United, he began a long and successful coaching and managerial career that saw him assist Bond at Bournemouth and Norwich, before taking charge at Carrow Road and leading the Canaries to a League Cup success in 1985 and promotion to the top flight a year later.
The Brown association at West Ham continued in the early 1990s when Ken’s son Kenny signed from Plymouth Argyle and became a firm favourite, following in his dad’s footsteps by enjoying a promotion-winning campaign in 1992/93.
Brown Snr becomes the sixth Hammer to be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award, after his former team-mates Bobby Moore, Sir Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, and Sir Trevor Brooking and Billy Bonds.
The Arora Ballroom at The InterContinental O2, will again be the venue for this season’s illustrious event and you can be there, in the company of the first team squad and club legends, as we celebrate Brown’s career and the 60th anniversary of the original Academy team.
At this season’s event, we will also be offering the unique opportunity to book a table with a couple of West Ham United Legends joining you for the evening.
The popular former players include Brian Dear, Alan Taylor, Allen McKnight, Martin Allen, Steve Lomas, Jack Collison and Marlon Harewood, but we recommended calling our sales team early to avoid disappointment.
Hospitality and award sponsor packages are available now, with tables of ten from £2,750 plus VAT.
To find out more or to book one of our packages please call 0303 031 1968.