I was at the West Ham game yesterday as my in-laws are all Hammers and they had a spare (season) ticket. The first half was very edgy and you could sense the crowd was set to explode for various reasons (on & off the field). The cancelling of the pre-match march clearly enraged a lot of fans with strong rumours that there had been a pay off by Sullivan to the heads of known WHU factions to abort it. The quality of the (first half) football was dire.....although Pope & JBG were having decent games for Burnley! Bubbles was sung with very little gusto and there were only small patches of a 50k+ crowd trying to get an atmosphere going. Once the first goal went in, it went totally toxic and I realised how similar the atmosphere was in the first half to previous matches at The Valley 18 months or so ago before I gave up my season ticket. The crowd was split...most jeering the invaders, some cheering them....this then caused the fighting amongst themselves & stewards. Second goal is conceded quickly and it goes mental. Fans start heading towards the directors box to let rip...a lot of fans were simply getting up and leaving with 20-25 mins still to go. I was informed that the corner flag in the centre circle incident was a repeat of what a fan did during their "Bonds Scheme" protest. My 9 year old nephew was getting upset now, but fortunately we were well away from the trouble spots. I've always said to my in-laws that I couldn't understand why most Hammers seemed to accept the ground move without any kind of protest....it still baffles me now. They, like us, are a troubled club with a split fanbase....unfortunately a sizeable proportion of theirs is rather violent and will do whatever it takes to be heard.
I was at the West Ham game yesterday as my in-laws are all Hammers and they had a spare (season) ticket. The first half was very edgy and you could sense the crowd was set to explode for various reasons (on & off the field). The cancelling of the pre-match march clearly enraged a lot of fans with strong rumours that there had been a pay off by Sullivan to the heads of known WHU factions to abort it. The quality of the (first half) football was dire.....although Pope & JBG were having decent games for Burnley! Bubbles was sung with very little gusto and there were only small patches of a 50k+ crowd trying to get an atmosphere going. Once the first goal went in, it went totally toxic and I realised how similar the atmosphere was in the first half to previous matches at The Valley 18 months or so ago before I gave up my season ticket. The crowd was split...most jeering the invaders, some cheering them....this then caused the fighting amongst themselves & stewards. Second goal is conceded quickly and it goes mental. Fans start heading towards the directors box to let rip...a lot of fans were simply getting up and leaving with 20-25 mins still to go. I was informed that the corner flag in the centre circle incident was a repeat of what a fan did during their "Bonds Scheme" protest. My 9 year old nephew was getting upset now, but fortunately we were well away from the trouble spots. I've always said to my in-laws that I couldn't understand why most Hammers seemed to accept the ground move without any kind of protest....it still baffles me now. They, like us, are a troubled club with a split fanbase....unfortunately a sizeable proportion of theirs is rather violent and will do whatever it takes to be heard.
I can only think that they accepted the move without protest because they believed the hype about having a higher stadium and being able to push for top four status. Now that it’s all gone the shape of a pear, they’re moaning about leaving their old place. Bit late now.
I was at the West Ham game yesterday as my in-laws are all Hammers and they had a spare (season) ticket. The first half was very edgy and you could sense the crowd was set to explode for various reasons (on & off the field). The cancelling of the pre-match march clearly enraged a lot of fans with strong rumours that there had been a pay off by Sullivan to the heads of known WHU factions to abort it. The quality of the (first half) football was dire.....although Pope & JBG were having decent games for Burnley! Bubbles was sung with very little gusto and there were only small patches of a 50k+ crowd trying to get an atmosphere going. Once the first goal went in, it went totally toxic and I realised how similar the atmosphere was in the first half to previous matches at The Valley 18 months or so ago before I gave up my season ticket. The crowd was split...most jeering the invaders, some cheering them....this then caused the fighting amongst themselves & stewards. Second goal is conceded quickly and it goes mental. Fans start heading towards the directors box to let rip...a lot of fans were simply getting up and leaving with 20-25 mins still to go. I was informed that the corner flag in the centre circle incident was a repeat of what a fan did during their "Bonds Scheme" protest. My 9 year old nephew was getting upset now, but fortunately we were well away from the trouble spots. I've always said to my in-laws that I couldn't understand why most Hammers seemed to accept the ground move without any kind of protest....it still baffles me now. They, like us, are a troubled club with a split fanbase....unfortunately a sizeable proportion of theirs is rather violent and will do whatever it takes to be heard.
I can only think that they accepted the move without protest because they believed the hype about having a higher stadium and being able to push for top four status. Now that it’s all gone the shape of a pear, they’re moaning about leaving their old place. Bit late now.
Must be honest & admit I do have a bit of sympathy for those un 'appy 'ammers.
I've gone pear shaped over the past few years and it's no joke.
I was at the West Ham game yesterday as my in-laws are all Hammers and they had a spare (season) ticket. The first half was very edgy and you could sense the crowd was set to explode for various reasons (on & off the field). The cancelling of the pre-match march clearly enraged a lot of fans with strong rumours that there had been a pay off by Sullivan to the heads of known WHU factions to abort it. The quality of the (first half) football was dire.....although Pope & JBG were having decent games for Burnley! Bubbles was sung with very little gusto and there were only small patches of a 50k+ crowd trying to get an atmosphere going. Once the first goal went in, it went totally toxic and I realised how similar the atmosphere was in the first half to previous matches at The Valley 18 months or so ago before I gave up my season ticket. The crowd was split...most jeering the invaders, some cheering them....this then caused the fighting amongst themselves & stewards. Second goal is conceded quickly and it goes mental. Fans start heading towards the directors box to let rip...a lot of fans were simply getting up and leaving with 20-25 mins still to go. I was informed that the corner flag in the centre circle incident was a repeat of what a fan did during their "Bonds Scheme" protest. My 9 year old nephew was getting upset now, but fortunately we were well away from the trouble spots. I've always said to my in-laws that I couldn't understand why most Hammers seemed to accept the ground move without any kind of protest....it still baffles me now. They, like us, are a troubled club with a split fanbase....unfortunately a sizeable proportion of theirs is rather violent and will do whatever it takes to be heard.
I can only think that they accepted the move without protest because they believed the hype about having a higher stadium and being able to push for top four status. Now that it’s all gone the shape of a pear, they’re moaning about leaving their old place. Bit late now.
That's basically on the money, IMO. They are the only London club without a proper Supporters Trust. Those groups who wanted to ask serious questions about the move were shouted down, often in a very intimidating way. At a Supporters Summit in 2016 at Wembley we met an eccentric but very brave female Hammer who had been one of those prepared to speak up, and she had some pretty disgraceful stories about the shit that had landed on her head, some of it, she felt, club sanctioned. The stuff that emerged last week re WHU ISA is a continuation of that story. There are definitely a lot of decent fans, and many of them had huge misgivings about the move, but they were not organised. This shows the value of how we do it at Charlton.
When questioned about the nature of the contract West Ham have with the stadium, Brady answered 'it is what it is'. I hope the stadium operators pour over the contract and then make it that it isn't what it is.
"It is what it is" - the last line when you know categorically that they have no further defence. In my experience, usually the preserve of HR professionals when defending another hypocritical change of tack that goes directly against what we were previously told was right and proper.
I said on here at the time that it was a massive mistake for West Ham to leave Upton Park, that ground was the heart and soul of the club.
They’ve now been dumped in a soulless concrete bowl in the middle of nowhere that will never be appropriate for football in a million years.
On top of that they have David Moyes running the team hard into the relegation zone with no sign of any resurgence.
Oh well.
I think just about everyone said as much on here and everywhere else but thanks for reminding us all the same...
Well not quite everywhere. If you care to revisit the BBC documentary, the first person you see and hear is Sean Whetstone. He is a Hamster fan who presents himself as "influential", and with the ear of board. He might remind you of an equivalent in the Charlton fan landscape, although to be fair to Sean, he has not exhibited any psychopathic tendencies, AFAIK.
And I think his attitude encapsulates what we are talking about above
I always used to quite like West Ham. Indeed, I got my first Charlton ST when we were ground sharing at Upton Park. Their reputation for playing nice football, but for also being soft centred and a bit flakey did make them relatively popular, when compared to other London clubs at the time - Chelsea and Millwall were full of thugs, Palace (leaving aside our issues), Watford and Wimbledon were long ball merchants, Arsenal were boring (1-0 to the Arsenal etc)
Events since them have lost them that "neutral popularity" though.
Yes, can certainly relate to your comments. Trouble is, particularly since the Tevez iniquity, West Ham seem to be able get away with anything. What other clubs are subsidised by the taxpayer? Why do FA rules seem to apply to every club except West Ham?
Trevor Brooking? Brooking said the first goal scored by Burnley striker Ashley Barnes "triggered problems" and "there was a quite sizeable group then below the directors' box that came to chant in a really aggressive manner".
Well, even if Sir Trevor used his influence with the FA to get the first goal scratched, there were still the others to "trigger problems". No matter, let's just have more gongs and public honours thrown in the direction of the Hammers. How about a couple of CBEs for services to pornography and male entertainment?
When a teenager, during the days of "real" football, West Ham were actually my "second favourites". Many of my schoolmates at Erith felt likewise, and we would often go across on the ferry to watch Moore, Hurst, Peters et al. Happy days. However did this go from Greenwood to Pardew? What once would blow bubbles now sucks big time......
I looked at kumb and a question was asked about what they hate most about the current situation, the stadium or the other stuff. About a third seem to be saying both, one or two said the other stuff edged the stadium, one said the stadium was good, and about 65-70% said the worst thing is the stadium.
I’ve never either particularly liked or disliked West Ham as a football club but in this case I think their fans have really been royally fucked over by Gold and Sullivan. That, I think is a shame because even if you don’t like the happy hammers they are a proper football club. They don’t attract the plastics you get at Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs.
Gold and Sullivan saw a once in a million year opportunity and went for its throat. They are true businessmen and ran rings around the public officials entrusted with getting a good deal for the taxpayer. ££££££££ was all they could see and everything else that made West Ham, West Ham, was cast aside.
The club is now in many respects destroyed and the two culprits will at some point walk away with their pockets stuffed.
Putting aside footballing rivalries what’s happened to them could just as easily have happened to us. I have no doubt that had G & S bought us instead of WHU we would now be looking at a stadium on the peninsula or flats around The Valley.
West Ham have been stuffed by greed and our local neighbours Millwall are also now at the mercy of developers. I’m not laughing at either.
I said on here at the time that it was a massive mistake for West Ham to leave Upton Park, that ground was the heart and soul of the club.
They’ve now been dumped in a soulless concrete bowl in the middle of nowhere that will never be appropriate for football in a million years.
On top of that they have David Moyes running the team hard into the relegation zone with no sign of any resurgence.
Oh well.
I think just about everyone said as much on here and everywhere else but thanks for reminding us all the same...
Well not quite everywhere. If you care to revisit the BBC documentary, the first person you see and hear is Sean Whetstone. He is a Hamster fan who presents himself as "influential", and with the ear of board. He might remind you of an equivalent in the Charlton fan landscape, although to be fair to Sean, he has not exhibited any psychopathic tendencies, AFAIK.
And I think his attitude encapsulates what we are talking about above
Hence the use of the words "just about". You really must read posts properly before jumping in @PragueAddick
I said on here at the time that it was a massive mistake for West Ham to leave Upton Park, that ground was the heart and soul of the club.
They’ve now been dumped in a soulless concrete bowl in the middle of nowhere that will never be appropriate for football in a million years.
On top of that they have David Moyes running the team hard into the relegation zone with no sign of any resurgence.
Oh well.
I think just about everyone said as much on here and everywhere else but thanks for reminding us all the same...
Well not quite everywhere. If you care to revisit the BBC documentary, the first person you see and hear is Sean Whetstone. He is a Hamster fan who presents himself as "influential", and with the ear of board. He might remind you of an equivalent in the Charlton fan landscape, although to be fair to Sean, he has not exhibited any psychopathic tendencies, AFAIK.
And I think his attitude encapsulates what we are talking about above
Hence the use of the words "just about". You really must read posts properly before jumping in @PragueAddick
Hence my use of the phase "not quite"...
really just wanted to point out how Sean Whetstone encapsulates the problem with the West Ham fan base in ending up with a situation that just about everyone else outside that fanbase thought would be a problem. Not trying to score a point off you, Guvnor, I want to get served when I drop in...
I’ve never either particularly liked or disliked West Ham as a football club but in this case I think their fans have really been royally fucked over by Gold and Sullivan. That, I think is a shame because even if you don’t like the happy hammers they are a proper football club. They don’t attract the plastics you get at Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs.
Gold and Sullivan saw a once in a million year opportunity and went for its throat. They are true businessmen and ran rings around the public officials entrusted with getting a good deal for the taxpayer. ££££££££ was all they could see and everything else that made West Ham, West Ham, was cast aside.
The club is now in many respects destroyed and the two culprits will at some point walk away with their pockets stuffed.
Putting aside footballing rivalries what’s happened to them could just as easily have happened to us. I have no doubt that had G & S bought us instead of WHU we would now be looking at a stadium on the peninsula or flats around The Valley.
West Ham have been stuffed by greed and our local neighbours Millwall are also now at the mercy of developers. I’m not laughing at either.
I think the word Tragedy is often overused and too lightly thrown about in a sporting context, but I think what's happened to West Ham qualifies as tragic. West Ham are gone, all that's left is the London Hammers football franchise.
I'm still amazed West Ham's fans didn't fight the move harder, they just bought 'Lady' Brady's line and sleepwalked to their doom. I guess being a bigger club they have a harder time getting their fanbase to agree a unified course of action. Charlton are lucky (just for once!), they're the right 'Goldilocks' size to have a small but determined group rally everyone around without too many dissenting factions arising.
What surprised me was that the West Ham swallowed all the stuff about a world class stadium, and how the distance from the pitch wouldn't be a problem. It makes we wonder how many West Ham fans have ever seen athletics there or a Rugby World Cup match in 2015, as if they had they would have realised how flawed it would be as a football ground.
Apart from the distance from the pitch, where the temporary seating is no help for anyone in the upper tier, there are no separate facilities in the upper tier, so at half time it takes ages to get out and down to ground level (which is between the two tiers).
They had a decent and modern football stadium of their own, the main stand was full of boxes and lounges for the corporate stuff, and they could have expanded the chicken run to get a 40000 capacity, easily enough for their true support
My heart bleeds for West Ham fans, brand new taxpayer funded stadium and premier league football.
Were there any protests when it was announced that they were moving ? I certainly don't remember any. They all thought because they were moving to a large stadium they were going to become a top 6 club because Gold etc told them so hahaha. Now reality is setting in they have decided to protest, all a bit late chaps
What surprised me was that the West Ham swallowed all the stuff about a world class stadium, and how the distance from the pitch wouldn't be a problem. It makes we wonder how many West Ham fans have ever seen athletics there or a Rugby World Cup match in 2015, as if they had they would have realised how flawed it would be as a football ground.
Apart from the distance from the pitch, where the temporary seating is no help for anyone in the upper tier, there are no separate facilities in the upper tier, so at half time it takes ages to get out and down to ground level (which is between the two tiers).
They had a decent and modern football stadium of their own, the main stand was full of boxes and lounges for the corporate stuff, and they could have expanded the chicken run to get a 40000 capacity, easily enough for their true support
Agree entirely apart from the fact that there was no money to be made in that plan. Lots of people very thickly lined their pockets (allegedly) by moving West Ham to the Olympic Park. The true fans suffer and are the only ones left and care to pick up the pieces.
Agree with others who managed to say it a lot better than I tried. They are gonners. The 'real west ham' is no more. Any prospect for revolt will be snubbed out by their famous ICF (lol). I have to admit I have been grinning ear to ear since Saturday and reading that independent article. They were very loud in singing 'gypos' us at selhurst park so maybe that is where my irrational hatred stems from. And no I wouldn't say it to plenty of their faces.
I’ve never either particularly liked or disliked West Ham as a football club but in this case I think their fans have really been royally fucked over by Gold and Sullivan. That, I think is a shame because even if you don’t like the happy hammers they are a proper football club. They don’t attract the plastics you get at Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs.
Gold and Sullivan saw a once in a million year opportunity and went for its throat. They are true businessmen and ran rings around the public officials entrusted with getting a good deal for the taxpayer. ££££££££ was all they could see and everything else that made West Ham, West Ham, was cast aside.
The club is now in many respects destroyed and the two culprits will at some point walk away with their pockets stuffed.
Putting aside footballing rivalries what’s happened to them could just as easily have happened to us. I have no doubt that had G & S bought us instead of WHU we would now be looking at a stadium on the peninsula or flats around The Valley.
West Ham have been stuffed by greed and our local neighbours Millwall are also now at the mercy of developers. I’m not laughing at either.
Agreed except that moving us to the peninsula isn't really comparable. There's no existing stadium there so any owner wanting to move us to a new ground would have to spend a lot of money building it from scratch. With no help from the taxpayer...
And moving to a new ground can be a good thing if it's a proper new football stadium, and in the right location.
Comments
The quality of the (first half) football was dire.....although Pope & JBG were having decent games for Burnley!
Bubbles was sung with very little gusto and there were only small patches of a 50k+ crowd trying to get an atmosphere going.
Once the first goal went in, it went totally toxic and I realised how similar the atmosphere was in the first half to previous matches at The Valley 18 months or so ago before I gave up my season ticket. The crowd was split...most jeering the invaders, some cheering them....this then caused the fighting amongst themselves & stewards.
Second goal is conceded quickly and it goes mental. Fans start heading towards the directors box to let rip...a lot of fans were simply getting up and leaving with 20-25 mins still to go. I was informed that the corner flag in the centre circle incident was a repeat of what a fan did during their "Bonds Scheme" protest.
My 9 year old nephew was getting upset now, but fortunately we were well away from the trouble spots.
I've always said to my in-laws that I couldn't understand why most Hammers seemed to accept the ground move without any kind of protest....it still baffles me now. They, like us, are a troubled club with a split fanbase....unfortunately a sizeable proportion of theirs is rather violent and will do whatever it takes to be heard.
I've gone pear shaped over the past few years and it's no joke.
Not sure what book in the Bible that is but i have not one iotta of sympathy for the toads.
They’ve now been dumped in a soulless concrete bowl in the middle of nowhere that will never be appropriate for football in a million years.
On top of that they have David Moyes running the team hard into the relegation zone with no sign of any resurgence.
Oh well.
And I think his attitude encapsulates what we are talking about above
Trevor Brooking? Brooking said the first goal scored by Burnley striker Ashley Barnes "triggered problems" and "there was a quite sizeable group then below the directors' box that came to chant in a really aggressive manner".
Well, even if Sir Trevor used his influence with the FA to get the first goal scratched, there were still the others to "trigger problems". No matter, let's just have more gongs and public honours thrown in the direction of the Hammers. How about a couple of CBEs for services to pornography and male entertainment?
When a teenager, during the days of "real" football, West Ham were actually my "second favourites". Many of my schoolmates at Erith felt likewise, and we would often go across on the ferry to watch Moore, Hurst, Peters et al. Happy days. However did this go from Greenwood to Pardew? What once would blow bubbles now sucks big time......
About a third seem to be saying both, one or two said the other stuff edged the stadium, one said the stadium was good, and about 65-70% said the worst thing is the stadium.
Gold and Sullivan saw a once in a million year opportunity and went for its throat. They are true businessmen and ran rings around the public officials entrusted with getting a good deal for the taxpayer. ££££££££ was all they could see and everything else that made West Ham, West Ham, was cast aside.
The club is now in many respects destroyed and the two culprits will at some point walk away with their pockets stuffed.
Putting aside footballing rivalries what’s happened to them could just as easily have happened to us. I have no doubt that had G & S bought us instead of WHU we would now be looking at a stadium on the peninsula or flats around The Valley.
West Ham have been stuffed by greed and our local neighbours Millwall are also now at the mercy of developers. I’m not laughing at either.
really just wanted to point out how Sean Whetstone encapsulates the problem with the West Ham fan base in ending up with a situation that just about everyone else outside that fanbase thought would be a problem. Not trying to score a point off you, Guvnor, I want to get served when I drop in...
I'm still amazed West Ham's fans didn't fight the move harder, they just bought 'Lady' Brady's line and sleepwalked to their doom. I guess being a bigger club they have a harder time getting their fanbase to agree a unified course of action. Charlton are lucky (just for once!), they're the right 'Goldilocks' size to have a small but determined group rally everyone around without too many dissenting factions arising.
Apart from the distance from the pitch, where the temporary seating is no help for anyone in the upper tier, there are no separate facilities in the upper tier, so at half time it takes ages to get out and down to ground level (which is between the two tiers).
They had a decent and modern football stadium of their own, the main stand was full of boxes and lounges for the corporate stuff, and they could have expanded the chicken run to get a 40000 capacity, easily enough for their true support
And moving to a new ground can be a good thing if it's a proper new football stadium, and in the right location.