It was December 26th 1982, Swansea City were the visitors to Upton Park and I was standing on a wooden foldaway seat at the back of the North Bank as a young child along with my dad.
Ray Stewart, Paul Goddard and Francois Van Der Elst were the scorers for West Ham that day in front of a crowd of 23,843.
From that day on I was hooked, eventually becoming a season ticket holder in 1987 – fast forward to 2026 and I remain a season ticket holder. My client ID is like a badge of honour a low digit number.
West Ham isn’t just a football club; it’s a piece of identity woven into the lives of generations.
For so many supporters, the club represents heritage rooted in East London, a sense of belonging that stretches far beyond the ninety minutes on a Saturday. Families pass down the claret and blue like a treasured heirloom. My father tells me stories of the Boys of ’66, whereas I remember the raw electricity of Upton Park under the lights, and grew up learning that supporting West Ham is about loyalty, humour, and heart, even when the football tests every ounce of patience.
Supporting West Ham has always meant embracing the highs, Di Canio’s volley, Payet’s free kicks, European nights, Play off Finals, an FA Cup final and the lows – relegations, the ill fated Bond Scheme and the occasional battering from one of our London rivals
Even in tough times, West Ham fans find a way to laugh, sing, and stand tall. It’s part of the identity.
I’m old enough to recognise family, health and work are far more important than football.
Bill Shankleys quote “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that” doesn’t resonate with me. Yet seeing West Ham staring down relegation isn’t just about league position.
It’s about watching something cherished slip into danger. It hurts. Forgot about the Premier leagues millions. Our pride and our whole heritage is at risk should West Ham slide into the championship this time around, with an uncertain future ahead in a rented soulless home.
A European trophy and unforgettable nights made me and many supporters believe the club had turned a corner. And we were told, in the words of Karren Brady, that we’d have “a world-class stadium for a world-class team.” Yet here we are, facing uncertainty once again—and uncertainty bites hardest when you care deeply.
There’s a particular sadness in watching a club with such soul struggle. West Ham fans don’t demand perfection; they demand fight, identity, and pride. When those things feel under threat, it hurts in a way only football can explain.
The season is far from over, yet given all the empty seats on Tuesday night, I think fans have accepted our fate long before it’s mathematically confirmed.
Perhaps a change at Board level is overdue, but with one shareholder eager to sell and unable to find a buyer, the majority shareholder unwilling to part with their stake, and the second‑largest shareholder remaining silent, meaningful change feels a long way off!
COYI!
I agree with every word. Followed and supported the team since 1958. Reading that item brought back many memories. I could cry at the moment.
Sullivan, Brady and the rest of your cronies, I hope you are happy now that you’ve killed the club I’ve loved for the past 67 years.
World class stadium – B****cks
Champions League football – Championship here we come
This is the most accurate and spot on post every on this website. I am 59 and totally identify with everything you said. My fear is we go down and due to the current mismanagement of the club by B&S end up another Luton sliding down the leagues. The only way out of this mess for me is that we copy the German model and the club becomes a “community club” part owned by the fans, alas I dont think that will happen. Its not only the players that have lost heart, it now looks like the age demographic we are in also are close to giving up. As a kid I remember singing “we are proud of you West Ham” when we got beat but played with passion and determination, not so much nowdays.
I’m in my early seventies and have had a season ticket for 25 years.My mate who i go to West Ham with cannot make midweek games so i’ll still go on my own even though my wife gets worried i might get mugged!
Yes it was a wrench to go from the Boleyn to the LS but i like going even when i have the hump after watching us lose again.
Do i like the LS?well it’s not great but it is what it is.
I go there to watch the team i love even through the bad times,like now and i will continue to watch them whatever league we are in.
To those on here who keep harking back to the good ol’ times i say get a grip.The boleyn is gone it’s not coming back.Lets just move on.
We are not facing “uncertainty”, we are facing “certainty” – the “certainty” of being in the Championship next season. After that, who knows ? That is what IS “uncertain”. Can we survive in the Championship, or will we suffer further relegation ? Can we get back into the Premier League – & when ? Who knows ? All of that is “uncertain”. What is “certain” is that is where we will be next season ! Because, it is too late for us to rescue our Premier League status. The signing of a couple of relatively unknown & unproven strikers isn’t going to change that. This at a time when we need to sign a defence ! Can you honestly see 3 teams who are worse than us & which will be relegated instead of us ? I can’t; we are too far behind & they are all playing better than us & picking up points – which we aren’t – which carries them even further away from us ! Even Burnley & Wolves are doing better than us; & it is only a matter of time before ,at least, Burnley overtake us ! Do you honestly see us catching either Leeds or Nottm Forest ? I don’t !
Perhaps if enter the championship then Gold family owned shares will better meet an acceptable share price and be bought? By Kretinsky perhaps or another investor of course. If Kretinsky bought them he would I believe, become majority shareholder and then who knows.
I’m looking forward to non var games and championship attacking football, worried how many youngsters will be sold but reassured that NES is recruiting well, recruiting younger players with some experience too as well as using academy players, which means he is looking at longer term team development alongside Sullivan, Mendes and Max Hahn. At last there is a tangible reaction/investment.
In the meantime, I still hope NES after a successful January window (so far) will take the fight to the opposition (parking the bus has failed) and then, you never know what might happen. In short I’m still blowing bubbles to see how high they will go😊 (till the fat guy sings at midnight on the very last day).
From the moment the club sold Pablo Fornals, the heart was ripped out of the squad. I know it sounds a daft thing to say, but his personality and connection to the fans was so important. Even as a player that wasn’t a permanent fixture in the starting 11 you could see and feel how his team mates felt about him. He would be a 100% first team starter right now in this current squad and would run his backside off for the cause. Players that have come in since his departure like Wan-Bissaka, Killman, Rodriguez look miserable all the time, barely give the impression that they have any time for the club and certainly have no interest in building any rapport with the support. The squad has lost Cresswell, Antonio, Fornals, Rice, Ogbonna, Zouma and Coufal in the space of no time at all really. All very big personalities and leaders. I’m not stating that all of them should have stayed, in fact most had to leave due to age, injury or ambition. But sadly the replacements appear to be a bunch of rather meek or uninterested types that couldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag if they tried or indeed chat freely and share some banter with a supporter. Is not all about ability, it’s equally about forming a brotherhood, being part of something that you’d go to war for. We have neither the ability or that kind of spirit.
Matt Kemp take a bow ….. simply beautifully encapsulated the feelings of so many fans. I live in Miami but bleed claret and blue. US TV allows me to watch EVERY second of this slow and painful death: We are so far off the pace the inevitable relegation was obvious fr losing 3-0 on the opening day.
A change of fortune is inevitable and a return to the Prem will come – hopefully with new ownership and a new business model. We will never win the league but bloodying a few noses every season is reward enough for daring to dream.
Give me a team of Pablo Fornals, Mark Nobles and Tomas Souceks over what i am watching right now .. they may not be the most gifted but they worked bloody hard for 90 minutes …
At least the Championship games are all shown here too! And we might win a few.
COYI
I fully endorse and share your feelings about our beloved Club from Cyprus.
My first game at Upton Park was back in 1969, as a 15 years-old visiting London to see my nephew who was studying back then in London and I became a loyal fan of West Ham. I have been following our team and attended many games since then every time I come to London.
Now in my early seventies i fully agree that there are more important things as you say than football.
But being the President/owner and main sponsor of the top basketball team in Cyprus, and all the responsibility to keep my team at the level of excellence which it deserves, I am so frustrated with the Board of West Ham for their lack of respect to the fan base and for letting us down this way.
No person has the right to leave a historic team go down and be engaged at the Championship level with uncertain expectations. Remember 2011 and the hardship in managing to return back to the top level. Really a disgrace to the Board and the owners of our team.
Well said Matt ….
Like you I remember a time when u just paid at the turnstile and membership numbers and digits meant nothing
I still maintain we need a manager who will play the West Ham way .
We need to start playing a brand of football that fans want to watch . Exciting , positive and attack minded ….
We as fans have had too many years of absolute dross football . Negative managers frightened of even playing a striker at home !!
If going down means a new manager with an attack minded philosophy I will take that !
I just can’t watch Nuno’s brand of football anymore ….
And fans deserting is down to boring boring dross football …
It’s not rocket science ….
And for the record I was at our first game in the championship , away to Preston , after the fire sell of Cole , Sinclair , Kanute , James , Johnson , DiCanio etc ….
Neil Mellor played up front , but we didn’t care …. We sang and joked how poor we now were ….
“chin , chimney were going to Wigan , Barnsley and Crewe ( or something like that ) …. But even under the hapless Glen Rioedar we did try and win games by attacking football
Matt
I feel your pain but remember relegation is not the end. I have been going since 1961. In that time I have seen 4 relegations but they have been offset by the joy of being at 3 winning FA cup finals and 3 European finals.
I have had the joy of watching Moore, Hurst , Peters, Brooking , Bonds, Devonshire , Di Canio, Tevez , Payet and Paqueta
I am actually looking forward to next season with no VAR and most games at the traditional time of 3pm Saturday.
The club is in a mess right now and spell in the championship will give us time to get our house in order.
My first game was in August 1982 on the North Bank. My client reference number only has 4 digits and I was one of the very first Junior Hammers. Now I struggle to even want to go. I reckon this is my last season and that’s down to the way the club has been run, the excessive money in the game (thanks Sky) and the tourists rather than fans being at games. West Ham died when we left Upton Park with the tombstone reading “they cheated us, took our club away and sold us lies”. RIP West Ham United
Brilliant said from the heart
I walked away when we left Upton park.
I’ve been to the London cricket ground once,
and all my concerns were proven right.
I felt like an alien with my own kind.
A stranger amongst strangers.
Why was there not more of a fight against leaving the boleyn.
All the people I know don’t go no more.
My only hope is that we drop down the leagues and go bankrupt.
Then at least I can have MY club back.
Long live the chicken run.
I agree, you said it well, Wiggy.