Rest in peace, gentle giant: West Ham mourns legendary goalkeeper Luděk Mikloško
West Ham United and the entire football world are in mourning: one of the most beloved figures in the London club's history has passed away.
Details: West Ham United has announced the death of legendary former goalkeeper and coach Luděk Mikloško at the age of 64. The Czech icon passed away after a long battle with cancer, a fight he had spoken openly about after withdrawing from further treatment earlier this year.
Mikloško arrived in London in 1990 from Baník Ostrava and became the last line of defense for a generation of Hammers supporters. He made 374 appearances for the club, helped West Ham win promotion to the top flight twice, in 1991 and 1993, was named Hammer of the Year, and later returned to serve as the club's goalkeeping coach. His 142 career clean sheets in top competitions place him sixth on the all-time list of the League Goalkeepers' Club, and he also earned 42 caps for Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic. But numbers alone never captured what Mikloško meant to Upton Park: supporters immortalized him in the famous chant about the keeper from nowhere near Moscow, one fan even legally changed his surname to Mikloško, and this February the stands unfurled a giant tifo in his honor as his illness became public. In his later years he faced his biggest battle with the same calm dignity he showed between the posts. West Ham called him their beloved, inspirational goalkeeper and gentle giant of a man, and today, as the club fights its way through the Championship, those words ring truer than ever.
It's worth noting that Mikloško also played for Queens Park Rangers in England and represented Czechoslovakia at the 1990 World Cup in Italy before his move to West Ham.
Reminder: Back from the brink! West Ham legend finds new club after crash, Qatar and a painful goodbye.
Miguel Solomons
Dailysports's expert
