Shaka Hislop
Another well remembered keeper from those days of 1998. Neil Shaka Hislop signed for The Hammers that year and was made the No. 1 by Redknapp.
By the time Shaka had joined our ranks, Ludek Miklosko had gone to QPR, Bernard Lama couldn’t extend his three month contract and only having Craig Forrest to call upon left us short of a top choice keeper. Sorry Craig.
So Harry went shopping and brought back the 6ft 6in Hislop from Newcastle on a free transfer. In his first season as a Hammer, he won Hammer Of The Year after a brilliant season, but it wasn’t to last.
After starting the following season well, Hislop broke his leg against Bradford City and young Stephen Bywater stepped in. That was it for Hislop until 2000-01, when he returned to a disorganised club. Redknapp had gone and so had Ferdinand and Lampard and in came the unlikely managerial choice of Roeder.
However, Roeder decided that despite excellent performances, he wanted David James and bought him from Villa. Ironically, James suffered a long-term injury during 2001-02 and Hislop was brought back in again.
At the end of the season, with James cited as the first choice keeper, Hislop once more moved on a free transfer to Portsmouth and to be reunited with Redknapp. Hislop now works on ESPN.
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