We are all concentrating so much on the transfer market, rumours, players in and players out and possible deals done between now and August 30th that the arrival of pre season training and the first friendly of these fixtures is fast approaching almost undetected. The survival of ‘our’ national team, for another week at least, at the Euros can also serve as a welcome distraction from the lack of Premier League action to watch, discuss and critique.
Indeed, it is now only 20 days before the Hammers kick off their pre-season calendar against Dagenham and Redbridge at the Chigwell Stadium. No doubt by that stage the ‘new season’ kit will be released to the customary mixed opinion. Am I the only one non-plussed by us playing in black or orange? Retro kit circa 1980 would suit me fine. Enticingly the next friendly fixture in the pre-season list after the Daggers game is part of the Florida tour ‘Stateside Cup’, against Wolves.
Hands up who believes Max Kilman will be lining up against his former club by the kick-off in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday 27th July. Tickets for the USA games are now on general sale via the club website should you feel like a summer tour to include supporting the team, whereas no details have yet been released for the earlier game at Dagenham and Redbridge. We’ll keep an eye on that for you.
The game against Wolves is followed by a further Florida fixture on 3rd August against Crystal Palace, before the final pre-season match which is the home game for the Betway Cup against Celta Vigo on Saturday 10thAugust at 3.00 pm. I must admit those games do have a great atmosphere just before the start of the new season, hopefully we will be displaying the mythical new signings of which we all write and expect so much!
The real business of the Premier League starts on Saturday August 18th at home against Aston Villa.
With the countdown clock ticking down towards the first games, we’ll be keeping an eye on the official web site and player social media to try and see who is enjoying pre- season training and who is enduring it. Of course, there is a new sports and fitness conditioning team in place this summer so it might be unknown territory for the squad: Previous years were largely metrics and testing for the first couple of days and then the ‘fun’ of getting miles into the legs again after the brief summer layoff.
Roll on the new season!