I wasn’t fortunate enough to visit Prague for the Europa Conference League final. Instead I found myself heading towards Hackney Wick to attend the game in the company of 1000 fellow Hammers.
I’ll leave the match review and player appraisal to others, but as an occasion it was immense. To follow this wonderful club for 49 years and witness a trophy win is something very special.
Some may deride the Conference League as an irrelevance but that’s not how it felt. The whole event had the feel of a grand occasion and the trophy seemed significant. Make no mistake about it, a European semi final followed by a victory puts West Ham firmly on the continental map.
West Ham fans at a fanzone in Hackney Wick enjoy a night to remember
Try telling any of my fellow revelers that the trophy was tin-pot. Everyone basked in the glorious relief of an epic Hammers victory. 20,000 fans descended on Prague in the knowledge that there would be no ticket. They just wanted to be there, to be close to the moment and enjoy history with fellow fans.
East London celebrates a night to remember
In Hackney we rejoiced in the moment with songs about Paqueta and numerous renditions of the Jarrod Bowen song. For many it was just an opportunity to soak it up and to say they were there.
After the final whistle, the various fan events closed their doors but the supporters didn’t want to go home. We descended upon the streets surrounding the stadium in our droves. There were cheers and tears aplenty as many couldn’t quite fathom what had happened.
Outside Hackney Wick Station hundreds of fans congregated for songs and congratulatory embraces. It was quite a scene and felt like a poignant moment. We’ve waiting a long time for this and suffered misfortune as much as any side.
Jubilant West Ham fans gather outside Hackney Wick station
East London was buzzing, the streets were alive and everywhere you looked there were beaming faces in claret & blue. As the song goes ‘West Ham are Massive’. . . and last night it really felt like it.
After all the months of Moyes and his boys being told by some that they’re no good etc, that Moyes should be sacked etc etc they came good and did the business with a team of players that were nearly all Moyes acquisitions and the ones that weren’t, Antonio and Rice, players who’ve clearly thrived and benefited under him. Would we have won this trophy if Moyes had been sacked? I don’t think so but even if we had under some different manager it wouldn’t have felt right to me because it was Moyes who got us there all season with a near perfect European record while still trying to navigate the most difficult league in the world in the premier league. I would even argue that had Moyes been sacked the spirit would have been sucked right out of our camp and may well have been relegated. So hats off to the board for sticking by Moyes. Those of us fans who also stuck by Moyes and were never Moyes out at any point can also enjoy the trophy win that much more of course.
nO YOU CAAN’T BEING RIGHT OR WRONG IS NEITHER HERE OR THERE LOL
Great night, great result and the hangover is just subsiding, a little anyway..An incredible night and one we will never forget except for a few lunatics throwing bottles. I trust the club will deal with them appropriate..Again the players did the business despite another tactical disaster by Moyes. Firstly I am delighted for Moyes too but be has to be sacked based on his performance.. 55 mins into the game we had completed just 105 passes and had only 33% possession if people thought that stat was bad there are so many more out there. While it was a fantastic night for everyone including Moyes his performance last night was rank of the highest order. He should be sacked but I fear he wont be and he will not do the tight thing and walk. Last night was all the players despite little or no help from the nanager.