Photographs documenting the highs and lows of being a West Ham United fan
What does the club and the fans really mean to our owners? I visited the centre spot placed in the estate that now sits where the Boleyn Ground once stood. A field of dreams and passions and sense of togetherness that collapsed when it was demolished for a profit.
The plaque is well hidden on a small mound of muddy grass that fails to honour our home, a spiritual place on which we saw our dreams fly so high and fade as the rubble of the stands were gathered and removed truckload by truckload.
The passing of Bonzo is an end of a connection to an era in football that over time has turned into a cash bonanza for the few who value very little other than profit for themselves above the needs of the millions of us who follow our teams through thick and thin. There is a lot to learn from legends like Billy Bonds, whose mindset was that if you wanted something, you had to fight for it. Covered in mud, sleeves rolled up, socks pulled down, covered in bruises – and even bandages, pointing and dictating the play and scoring a few goals here and there, Bonzo was the steel of a team that saw him lift the FA Cup twice with the Hammers and captain the side for a decade, finally ending his career due to injury. He was the ideal captain and boy do we need someone like that in the team now!
Potter and his team, have their work cut out for them with the team and despite some fits and starts since his appointment, we are finally seeing some progress across the team with that outstanding away performance against Arsenal in our 0-1 win at the Emirates. The Gunners away seem to be a guaranteed 3 points for us these days, but it was a battling performance that showed the progress the team are making.
New players, new manager, same outcome? There’s a lot of chatter about how we haven’t improved since last season despite an excellent summer transfer window, but the performance was a worry – it felt disjointed and the players didn’t seem to know each other – much like our son’s cricket team. We didn’t stand a chance against a solid Chelsea side that gave no prisoners, especially against a team lacking any fight.
It’s personal, the experience of being at the match, soaking up the atmosphere and getting pulled along with the waves of passion and voices of the fans filling the ground. Capturing those more personal moments is a joy and I love this photo of what seems to be a father and daughter together.
This result against Manchester United saw us go on an end of season run of form winning 5 of 7 matches, including two legged semi final of the Europa Conference League and of course our historic victory against Fiorentina in Prague for the trophy.
We have a Europa Conference League Cup Final to look forward to, a better finish in the Premier League than we thought only a few weeks ago, but we have also seen the last home game featuring our Hammer of the Year captain Declan Rice. Other players are likely to exit as well with plenty of rumours now flying about on social media of who is staying, leaving or coming.
European nights have been a source of joy for fans at the London Stadium as this is now the second season we have progressed into an European Semi Final that leaves the Hammers a favourites to win in the final at the Fortuna Arena in Prague on 7th June against either Fiorentina or FC Basel.
West Ham said farewell to David Gold, a life long Hammer, with a respectful tribute to the joint chairman who was born in the shadow of Upton Park and even played for the youth team as a promising youngster between the ages of 13 and 16. Mark Noble, newly appointed sporting director, laid a wreath with Gold’s daughters as fans watched a video of David Gold talking about his life.
Our first game under Moyes for his second return to the club saw a dominant Hammers put four past a struggling Bournemouth at the London Stadium. It could not have been a better script for Moyes with captain Noble scoring 2 – including a penalty and both Sebastian Haller and Felipe Anderson helping to end a run of four consecutive defeats which lifted the Hammers out of the relegation zone.
From the Stands