on 6 April 1968 in a 5–0 home defeat of Newcastle. In December 1969, during his third season, Brooking chipped a bone in his ankle in a game against Nottingham Forest. The club signed Peter Eustace for £90,000 to take his place; his recovery took longer than expected, and he considered giving up the game. However, he returned to playing and with the departure of Martin Peters to Tottenham in March 1970, Brooking became a regular in midfield. His place in the side came under threat in the 1971–72 season with the purchase of midfielder Tommy Taylor, and Brooking was transfer-listed at his own request. However, the failure of the defensive partnership between Bobby Moore and Alan Stephenson saw Stephenson dropped and Taylor being moved into defence; Brooking remained an ever-present for the rest of the season and was voted Hammer of the Year. During the 1972–73 season he came to the attention of Derby County manager Brian Clough, who offered West Ham £400,000 for Brooking and Moore, but Greenwood refused to let the pair leave. Again, in 1974 Tottenham manager Bill Nicholson offered £425,000 for the signature of Brooking. According to Brooking in his autobiography, this move was not pursued as he felt Nicholson, a manager he admired, was coming to the end of his Tottenham career and he was unsure of which manager would follow him. He won the FA Cup twice, in 1975 with Brooking scoring a vital goal in a 2–1 win in a fourth round replay away at Swindon Town and 1980; in the latter, he scored another vital goal in a 2–1 win in a third round replay against West Bromwich Albion and the only goal in a 1–0 win over Arsenal in the final with a header. Brooking was a member of the West Ham team which won the Second Division in 1981. He also appeared in the 1975 FA Charity Shield, the 1976 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, the 1980 FA Charity Shield and the 1981 Football League Cup Final. His last game for West Ham came on 18 May 1984 in 1–0 home defeat by Everton. In total he made 647 appearances and scoring 102 times, wearing the number 10 jersey, his total appearances for West Ham beaten only by Billy Bonds, Bobby Moore and Frank Lampard Sr. He had a testimonial match against an England XI in October 1977. Later