the season, in a 1–0 away defeat to Birmingham City with his first two goals coming in his second game, a 3–1 home defeat of Queens Park Rangers. Originally signed as an attacking midfielder he was played as an out-and-out striker after an injury to Paul Goddard in the opening game of the season. He would go on to keep Goddard out of the team and spark his transfer from the club the following season. He formed a formidable partnership with young English striker Tony Cottee with McAvennie scoring 26 league goals and Cottee 20. One additional goal in both the League Cup and the FA Cup saw his tally rise to 28 goals in 51 appearances in all competitions. In his first season, he helped West Ham to their highest ever final position in English football when they came third, just four points behind champions Liverpool. His 26 goals in the league was only bettered by Gary Lineker, who found the net 30 times for second-placed Everton. At this time McAvennie's success on the pitch came to the attention of TV producers. He appeared on the BBC's Wogan show, hosted by Terry Wogan, an event which McAvennie claims changed his life and introduced him to a celebrity lifestyle. He is quoted as saying "Then I signed for West Ham and money and girls were thrown at me and, hey, who was I to say no? Then I went on Wogan and it really took off. I was never under any illusions why it was happening. It wisnae because of my looks, it was because I was a footballer." West Ham were denied UEFA Cup action for the following season due to the ban on English clubs in European competitions, which had started a year earlier due to the Heysel disaster. The following season was less successful as they finished 15th as McAvennie scored just seven league goals from 36 games and eleven from 47 games in all competitions. He began the 1987–88 season still at West Ham. Celtic McAvennie played eight games for the Hammers at the start of 1987–88, failing to score, before he moved to Celtic for a then club record fee of £750,000 on 2 October 1987. Graeme Souness had approached him to join rival club Rangers at the 1986 FIFA World Cup which would have made him the first Catholic player to play for the