Guest Post by Czech Hammer
What a week! My wife and I just came back from a most memorable trip to Great Britain´s capital city. We started planning the journey back in spring and, when the Premier League fixture between West Ham and Leicester favourably fell on the Saturday during our stay, the Boleyn Ground moved well above Buckingham Palace or St. Paul´s Cathedral on our must-see list. And as this was to be my farewell to the Boleyn, we might as well break the piggy bank and do it in style.
I am a Hammers fan from the Czech Republic, the beginning of my support tracks back to 1990 when Ludo Miklosko joined the club from my local side FC Banik Ostrava. It was a no brainer for me, Ludo was my boyhood cult hero and still remains a massive legend over here, so it was only natural for me to start following his new club with keen interest which soon evolved into a proper, devoted support.
It was not easy back in the 90´s, the coverage of West Ham here in the heart of Europe was next to none. It was like when you are deeply in love with someone but that person is almost permanently away from you, I craved everything West Ham like crazy. Today, in the age dominated by the internet information overload, it is a completely different story and I am always one click away from finding thousands of articles, videos, photos, interviews, statistics or opinions related to West Ham United.
I am happy to admit that WHTID blog belongs to the best out there for me. Still, being a Hammer tends to get lonely where I live, I do not know a single Hammer here (except for my five-year-old son who is strictly brought up in claret and blue colours). I work as a secondary school teacher and all the football loving students at our school back Chelski, Arse or Manure and never miss a chance to give me grief whenever the Hammers lose to their lot.
Back to my recent trip, it was actually my wife who suggested we might stay at the West Ham United Hotel inside the Betway Stand, I was over the moon to book a room. To be honest, I didn´t even know there was an accommodation facility there (thank you Daniela, love you). When we got off the tube at Upton Park and the stadium appeared from behind a row of houses, I just couldn´t contain my excitement. After all, my last previous visit was the ancient 2001 draw with Liverpool. The anticipation kept rising, past the reception, up the lift and finally into the room and into a nirvana, there I was, looking out of a large window onto the shrine of a pitch and surrounding stands. Over the next three days I spent many a quiet moment savouring that view, still in disbelief that I was actually there.
The next piece of jigsaw puzzle was the brilliant and informative Farewell Boleyn Ground Tour, we walked throughout the main stand, the highlights included the dressing rooms, the media room, the club hospitality facilities and obviously the Betway Stand, first where the Chairmen sit (including Sully´s little screen where he allegedly watches horse races if the game is boring him – he must have watched quite a few races since Christmas last season – and especially through the tunnel to the edge of the pitch with an opportunity to sit in Slaven´s chair.
Then it was off to the paradise of the club store where I walked round and round in complete amazement at the riches of all the claret and blue items, the variety unseen in my native part of Europe, and spent WAY too much hard-earned cash, but how can you resist? Admittedly, I bought a fair few things for the little lad, getting both birthday and Christmas presents sorted.
The icing on the cake of the stay in East London was meant to be the match between West Ham and Leicester. The transformation of the whole neighbourhood on the match day was astonishing. The normally relatively quiet and very multicultural area came to a spectacular life with floods of claret and blue clad fans streaming up and down the streets, queuing for a meal or a souvenir at the many stalls or heading for a pre-match beer. And I did exactly that, straight to the Central where a WHTID get-together was on. There I was honoured to meet Iron Liddy and her husband, Russ and the Prague-based Toddyhammer. We had a great time and I can´t thank them enough for making me feel welcome among the West Ham family.
As for the match itself, in a typical West Ham fashion my hopes of watching a famous win faded and died, but I have to say I really, really enjoyed the occasion, anyway. It was very special to be able to join in singing the Bubbles and the noise after Payet´s goal gave me goose bumps.
And when I was waving the Boleyn Ground goodbye when pulling my luggage and heading towards the Upton Park Station, I had to pinch myself the experiences of the last couple of days weren´t just a surreal dream.