Icons Legend of the Week #11 is West Ham United hero Billy Bonds.

Billy Bonds made an incredible 793 first-team appearances for West Ham United over 21 seasons. The Hammers legend was a passionate and tough-takling leader and an inspiration to his teammates. When Bobby Moore departed for Fulham in 1974, Bonds was an obvious choice to replace him as captain. He held on to the position for a full decade, during which he led West Ham to two FA Cup triumphs.

In 1988, at the age of 41 years and 255 days, Bonds reluctantly hung up his boots as a knee injury finally got the better of him. His legacy lives on at West Ham, but it was at Charlton Athletic that he started his career. He left school at 15, and having joined the groudstaff at Charlton, he worked his way through youth and reserve teams to become a part of the first-team squad just before he turned 18. After 95 league appearances for the Addicks, West Ham boss Ron Greenwood parted with £50,000 to take him across the Thames to the Boleyn Ground in 1967.  

Bonds started life at West Ham as a right-back, before he was switched to midfield to partner Trevor Brooking in 1970. He was at his peak in the early seventies, and in the 1973/74 season he was West Ham's top scorer with 13 league goals, including a hat-trick against London rivals Chelsea. Bonds was known for his combative, tireless style of play, but he coupled his physical and mental attributes with a fine footballing brain and intelligent use of the ball.

In his first season as captain Bonds led West Ham to FA Cup glory with victory over Fulham. In 1976 he was the inspiration behind West Ham's European Cup Winners' Cup run, which saw them finish runners-up after defeat to Belgian side Anderlecht in the final. West Ham were enjoying the most glorious era of their history. At international level, however, Bonds was overlooked. He appeared for England under-23s twice, but the closest he got to a full international cap was as an unused substitute in a World Cup qualifier against Italy in 1977.

West Ham were relegated from the top flight in 1978, but they still managed to win the 1980 FA Cup as a second division side, beating first division Arsenal 1-0 thanks to a Trevor Brooking goal. Bonds, playing at centre-back since 1977, captained the East Londoners as they made their return to the top flight the following season, and played out the remaining years of his career with West Ham in the top flight.

In over two decades at West Ham, Bonds firmly established himself as a club legend. He won 'Hammer of the Year' in 1971, 1974, 1975 and 1987, and was appointed MBE in 1988. He even returned to West Ham in 1990 for a four-year stint as manager, leading them to a comfortable mid-table finish in the Premier League before choosing to resign. Undoubtedly, however, Bonds finest achievements at West Ham came as a player, when he guided them through on of the most glorious eras in their history.

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To view Icons complete range of Billy Bonds signed photos click here.

For a country that only played its first World Cup qualifier in 2000 and is perhaps best known in these parts as the home of Timbuktu, the list of footballers from Mali (or of Malian descent) is long and surprisingly impressive.

The current squad is bolstered by the presence of Momo Sissoko (Juventus), Seydou Keita (Barcelona) and Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid). French football legend and former Fulham manager Jean Tigana was born in the capital city, Bamako and Salif Keita, formerly of Valencia, Marseille and Saint Etienne, is considered to be one of the greatest African players of all time.

But their most celebrated son of the modern era was born to Malian parents in Lyon, in the south of France. Despite representing France at youth levels, though, there can be no doubting which nation Frédéric Kanouté considers home. He opted to turn out for Mali rather than France in 2004, going on to top score in that year's African Cup of Nations.

His goalscoring record for the national side was better than one in two (meeting the Football Ramble's golden ratio for a top striker), but it's Kanouté's club career in England and Spain for which he'll be best remembered.

His spell with hometown club Lyon was relatively forgettable, but earned him an initial loan spell in London with West Ham which then manager Harry Redknapp quickly made permanent.

As they watched Carlton Cole and Franck Nouble lumbering about up top last season, Hammers fans must've been yearning for the days when Kanouté partnered Paolo Di Canio at the Boleyn Ground. But nostalgia can be misleading. Despite Kanouté consistently finding the back of the net, he was unable to stop his side slipping out of the top flight.

Frédi jumped ship for Tottenham, where he joined fellow recruits Helder Postiga, Robbie Keane and Bobby Zamora as part of a new look strikeforce at White Hart Lane. Only he and Keane could be considered successes, though. His return for Spurs was solid, but his lackadaisical stylings were often construed as laziness.

His decision to attend the African Nations Cup in 2004, earned the ire of the Spurs faithful, too, who berated him with the chant "you're French, and you know you are." It was the beginning of the end for Kanouté in England. His form dipped and just as his career looked to be on the slide, his finest performances were yet to come.

A move to Spain rejuvenated Kanouté. With Sevilla, he has hit double figures in all but his début season at the club (2005-06) and established himself as one of the most consistent strikers in La Liga. 

He was a member of Juande Ramos' double UEFA Cup winning squad and has hit well over a century of goals for the Andalusians. As he reaches the twilight of his career, a move to the Middle East has been mooted (which would certainly make sense on a personal level), but Sevilla have publicly stated their desire to keep hold of their man.

Kanouté is a devout Muslim. He hit the headlines when he refused to don the Sevilla shirt because of their sponsorship deal with a betting firm. He regularly takes time out of training to pray and donated £700,000 of his own money to buy a mosque in Sevilla.

As a representative of the Islamic community, an ambassador for African football and a striker who has scored goals at the top level in three countries for almost 15 years, Frédéric Kanouté is Icons' first forward for Friday.

We're delighted to add Kanouté products to our collection for the first time this week, you can view them here.