Memories of the Boleyn Ground South Bank

I was asked to pen my memories of the Boleyn Ground for the official programme for the Arsenal game which appeared last Saturday on page 98. For those for missed it here is the extended version of the article.

“As we prepare to say farewell to the Boleyn Ground I have been reminiscing about my fond memories of what has been our wonderful home for the past 112 years.

Born into a West Ham family living in Surrey, my first proper memories come from the early eighties. It took my best friend, John, and myself almost three hours, using two buses and travelling the length of the District underground line from Richmond to Upton Park, to get to games. There was no need to have a season ticket or pre-book in those days. You just turned up on the day, paid your fiver at a cash turnstile and entered into the terraces to find the best spot you could.

We quickly made the old South Bank terrace our home. There were a few rules of survival. It was best to stand directly in front of the claret and blue crush barriers. When the ‘Knees up Mother Brown’ song would get going, as it invariably did in those days, the crowd would surge backwards and forwards with the song and if you were unlucky enough to find yourself behind a crush barrier instead of in front of one you would end up with bruised and sore ribs in the morning!

Once you found your spot in the crowd it was difficult to move again and some supporters often took a call of nature where they stood, not wanting to lose their spot or miss the action. It was never a good idea to leave a jumper, programme or scarf on the floor. That was the second rule; watch out for yellow waterfalls!

It was on the South Bank that I watched the first of the two ‘special guests of honour’ here today, Trevor Brooking, not a knight in those days.  I saw him towards the end of his career spanning 643 appearances for the club. I remember the last game Brooking ever played against Everton in May 1984 vividly. In more recent times I was lucky enough to interview Sir Trev, for Moore Than Just a Podcast, about his memories of Bobby Moore and I met him once again at the West Ham Players Awards when he received his lifetime achievement recognition. He is one of the nicest people in football.

It was from the same South Bank terraces that I also watched the second of today’s special guest of honour, one Mr Billy Bonds. I have a signed photograph of him in pride of place in my lounge holding the FA Cup.  Sadly, I missed watching many his best playing days during his record breaking 799 game run, but it is incredible to think that he played to the ripe old age of 41 when he retired in April 1988; a game I also attended at the old Dell.

The atmosphere was always amazing in the South Bank and the season 1985/1986, when we finished an incredible third in the old Division One, was one my highlights of the decade at the Boleyn. This was where Tony Cottee and Frank McAvennie became my new Hammer’s heroes.

Fast forward twenty-five years after trying various different stands around the ground and we found our home again in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower, or as some people like to call it; ‘Chav Corner’. When we first arrived in row R of Chav Corner we were greeted by a fellow season ticket holder called Bruno who told us there were two rules in the stand.  “We always stand up and we always sing, follow those two rules” said Bruno “and you will get along just fine here”. He was right, the Sir Trevor Brooking lower has one of the best atmospheres in the ground and in my opinion, is the closest thing to those old days on the South Bank without the yellow waterfalls and bruised ribs!

We have made some really good friends over the years there so it is great that the club are trying to recreate a new ‘Chav Corner’ at the former Olympic Stadium. We have chosen our seats in section 113 of the new stadium close to away fans. Hopefully, we can create a similar atmosphere and noise we did at the Boleyn Ground. No one likes change but we must often embrace it if we are to move forward. It won’t replace our treasured Boleyn Ground, it will be different, and maybe even better. In time we will love it in the same way we love our current home. In 99 years a West Ham supporter will probably be writing their obituary to the Olympic Stadium as we prepare to move to our new 100,000 seat stadium in the year 2115.”