Bonds made a record 799 appearances for the Hammers and is the only player to captain them to two FA Cup victories, in 1975 and 1980
Bonds made his League debut for Charlton against Northampton Town in February 1965 and became a regular in the first team, going on to make 95 League appearances, scoring one goal, before being signed by Ron Greenwood for West Ham United for a fee of £50,000 in May 1967.
He made his first appearance for West Ham in a testimonial match for Ken Brown in the same month and made his League debut against Sheffield Wednesday in the opening game of the 1967–68 season.
After the departure of Bobby Moore in March 1974, Bonds was appointed to the captaincy and led the club to an FA Cup final victory over Fulham in 1975 and to the final of the 1976 European Cup Winners Cup despite a groin injury that interrupted the latter half of the 1974–75 season and part of the 1975–76 season.
He experienced relegation with West Ham at the end of the 1977–78 season but led West Ham to a second FA Cup victory over First Division club Arsenal in 1980, becoming the only West Ham captain to lift the FA Cup on two occasions. In 1980–81, he led West Ham to the final of the League Cup, which was lost to Liverpool after a replay, and to promotion back to the First Division.
After Bonds retired as a player in 1988, West Ham manager John Lyall appointed him as youth coach. He was appointed manager in February 1990. In his first full season in charge, he took the club to promotion and also reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup where they lost to Nottingham Forest.
He resigned in August 1994, just before the new season began, when he was replaced by Harry Redknapp.