By CandH’s top blogger Allen Cummings
The euphoria of Wednesday night is still bubbling over with many of us – and why not?
We’ve had to live off ‘crumbs’ as far as success is concerned in recent years, so why shouldn’t we milk what this fantastic David Moyes team is serving up for us on the pitch?
What a night it was in particular for the thousands of young fans who were able to be at the London Stadium thanks to the generous ticket pricing for kids.
Mark Noble alluded to the presence of so many youngsters in his post-match interview with West Ham TV.
“You could hear there were so many kids here when we ran out,” said the skipper, “and they want to see the best players in the world and the Man City’s – you know what kids are like. When you go to penalties it’s special and a thrill and everyone loves it, and because we won it was great.”
The kids were left waiting for 90 minutes to see the goals they were hoping for. Then eight came along in the space of just a few minutes – and that’s what they will remember.
What they would have been talking about on their journey home. What they’ll be telling their friends about when they see them next. The thrill, the noise, the atmosphere, that’s the mixture which will ‘hook’ the West Ham fans of the future.
The generation of new fans who will keep coming back to support our club and take it forward into the future – when us oldies have moved on.
Sadly it seems not everyone sees it that way. A responder to a post Hughie put up was far from happy it seems about the number of kids at the game – and apparently took umbrage at what some of them were actually eating.
He claimed it would have been better to have the stadium only partly full with ‘real’ supporters – rather than at capacity as it was. I find that attitude outdated and bitterly disappointing.
Our board have long held the ambition to make West Ham what they call a ‘family club’. They have regularly run ‘kids for a quid’ promotions to help towards that aim – and before anyone says it’s to fill seats that might otherwise be unoccupied – of course it is.
But it’s also to help contribute to the vast expense of running a football club. What’s wrong in that? In some ways football has always relied on family links to survive. How many of us started coming to games with our dads?
I certainly did as my introduction to the club. But modern football has moved on from the old ‘exclusive’ father and son combination. It’s now father, son, sister and very often mum who are being encouraged to come through the turnstiles – and why not?
There will always be the ‘hard core’ fans that come week in week out, rain or shine, but bigger clubs can no longer survive on those numbers alone. Supporting West Ham isn’t the exclusive right of the few – it’s a privilege open to everyone.
History tells us the dinosaurs eventually died out as our world evolved. The same will happen to the football dinosaurs who refuse to accept change and move on with the times.
I for one was delighted to see so many young fans on Wednesday – so many bright new West Ham scarves being worn.
It didn’t bother me they might have been eating popcorn – or pizza for that matter instead of the staple older fans’ fare of a pie and a pint.
They were more than welcome as far as I’m concerned – and I hope they saw enough of this new and exciting team to want to return game after game.
Ah yes, the old “real fans” argument. Frankly makes me puke when I hear grumpy old gits, and in my experience it usually is people of my generation, wittering on about how they are surrounded by “tourists”.
I used to have a season ticket, and also a corporate box when I ran my own company, but these days I content myself with watching from the comfort of my armchair. Personal choice, nothing more. So despite having seen more West Ham games, home, away and abroad than I care to remember over the past 40 odd years I would probably now be seen by many of the moaners and groaners as one of those pesky tourists.
I went to Zagreb with the missus for a short city break, and went to the game. I got my ticket privately through a former business contact but there was some moaning and groaning on one of the forums that I was preventing a “real fan” from seeing the game, presumably because it was assumed I’d managed to “blag” one of the club’s allocation of tickets. which was not the case.
Personally I think it’s great to see so many kids at games. After all I, and I guess most of us, got hooked on the game by going along to the ground as kids. The club, any club, can only survive if we apply the “hole in the bucket” method. We have to replace the fans who die or simply stop going with younger blood, so long may we continue to see a good smattering of kids in the stadium.
My sentiments also Allen, as I have attempted to make those very same points in the past. Common sense no longer plays any part in the views of some supporters who seem to have forgotten their path from the young supporters they started out as, to the men that they are today.
I agree 100% with you to El Estrella, as I am of an age where I also have to listen to the same nonsense spouted by people of my generation who have little or no self-awareness and do not see the irony in anything they say.
I fully understand that to compete at the highest level which is what most supporters want, this club has had to grow and evolve and as painful as it may have been to the grumpies who feel that they own the “Brand”, ultimately it is our love and passion for the club that unites us all wherever we may be in the WORLD. On Wednesday night, supporters around the world were jumping for joy and punching the air with delight. That Pride is shared by us all and to call any of these supporters “Tourists” is an insult.
The kids are indeed the lifeblood of any club and on Wednesday night, the memories will forever be etched in their minds and will probably be the start of a lifetime love of West Ham.
Good comments Hugh, like so many, I went to my first game with dad at 12 and here we are. So bored with the dinosaurs bemoaning everything, the stadium, the owners, young fans, old fans, seated fans, those who have to miss games etc. Football for the many, not the self interested few. One absolute vote for the stadium – 25,000 more fans. The atmosphere is great because we have a super team. Onwards and upwards.
Fully agree Hugh, I now can take my son, daughter and granddaughters to games. At Upton Park I was lucky to get a single ticket for a game.
My kids love the London Stadium, nice park and Westfield for shopping! It will be them that help our club carry on through its second 100 years!
Yes I absolutely agree with this. We need younger fans to preserve the future of the club, and I could not give a toss whether they eat popcorn, candyfloss, hotdogs or even smarties. All that is important is that they develop a life long love for and a passion for West Ham. If they happen to also like Disney and NetFlicks as well as Popcorn as well that is great – not my bag but that does not matter. Sadly although I have a season ticket for this year I have not been able to attend any games for health reasons so my Hammers attending days may be over depending on what the medics say over the next few weeks. So a younger supporter will need to be recruited to replace me as the years catch up. I replaced my Dad attending games, first going with my brother when I was 12 in the 60s. So the cycle goes on. I am sorry to call people names but the curmudgeonly comments that some older supporters make really do fit this description. Celebrate our traditions but never let these traditions trap and constrain our development.