Football is a funny old game and being a football fan is a funny old pastime, hobby or lifestyle. It is very hard to resist the herd mentality, the hope or the apparently irresistible groupthink. Of course, because we have not only beat Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City away, but, in each case, we have done so with some style, it stands to reason that we should win every single game away from home. This is our season – and it seems strange when we don’t win, and win well, away from home.
In any other season, the team would get a hearty slap on the back and the gratitude of the entire West Ham fan base, for turning a 2-0 deficit at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light into a 2-2 draw. It would have been seen as a point salvaged rather than otherwise. Yet the reaction this season is one of instant disappointment and frustration. How on earth can we beat the Gooners, the Reds and Man City and almost lose to the club that is slap bottom in the league and in real trouble? We should also wish Advocaat well too.
We should not have to temper our ambitions just because we are doing well. Bilic is right to say it was a ‘good point’ – it was – but only from the perspective of being 2-0 in the first place. We should not have been. It is almost as though we are frightened by our very success at the same time as now expecting the moon – or three points every time we turn up for a game – home or away. Perhaps we should all take a deep breath, be very grateful for how the season has unfolded so far and then revert back to the West Ham mentality that we should all be used to by now. That is, take each and every game one at a time. Celebrate the ones that we win, commiserate with the team when we lose and pat them on the back when that mount an escape and snatch a point from defeat.
We may have earned the right to think beyond looking at the table at saying that we are still 16-21 points away from safety. We have certainly earned the right to carry on dreaming and be ambitious for our team. But, it might not yet be quite the time to assume that every time we play away, three points are guaranteed. We should treat every other team with respect and ensure that we stay full-square behind the team.
Why? Well, because that is what West Ham fans do. And, more importantly because I have seen the future – and it will work. And it is is worth all the support, dreams, ambitions and hope that we can muster. On Sunday, I went to the Olympic Stadium to watch Ireland versus Italy in the Rugby World Cup.
The less said about the rugby, the better. The Irish team did enough and was very lucky to escape with a win. In fact, they reminded me of my entire ‘career’ as a West Ham fan. Throughout the World Cup so far, the Irish team has been full of wonder and promise, sometimes playing fantastic rugby, sometimes flattering to deceive. It feels as though they might go all the way – or wilt against France next week and then get smashed by the All Blacks. Being an Irish rugby fan is very like being a West Ham fan – it the hope and dream that will kill you. It is the dreams that fade and die. But, every now and then, the magic happens.
Anyway, I did not mean to write about the rugby, but the stadium. From the moment I arrived at Stratford station, I imagined going to my first West Ham game in the stadium – and it is a really exciting prospect. It is quite a walk to the ground – certainly further than Upton Park station to the Boleyn, but it is a very comfortable walk in spacious surroundings. Bearing in mind that the Irish game was a full sell-out and some 54,000 were there, it was always comfortable. I know it will be different when we take it over, but you certainly got a sense of just how great it is going to be.
Getting in and out of the ground was excellent. We were able to walk around from our seats for the rugby game – behind one of posts – to the area where next year’s seats will be – and the views will be quite stunning. I know that others have said that it might be difficult to get an atmosphere going in the ground, but it felt like that would not be a problem. I say it ‘felt like’ because, to be honest, the Irish team never gave the crowd that much to sing about. It certainly seemed to me that it had more potential for crowd atmosphere than either Man City or Man United, or indeed the library at Highbury.
The whole area surrounding the ground is not finished yet so it is not clear how smooth exiting the stadium and getting off home via Stratford would be. On Sunday it was a messy, stilted and very crowded walk back to the station – but no more than say somewhere like Chelsea with everyone trying to squeeze into Fulham Broadway, although with a much longer walk. To be fair, once in the station, the crowds dispersed quite rapidly given the choice of lines and destinations. I remain very optimistic that the journey out of the stadium will be fine and efficiently organised.
Doubtless there will also be plenty of time to explore whether it is worth looking at the walk to West Ham or Hackney Wick – who knows.
The one thing I do know is that I sat in my seat staring round the ground and was beaming with pride that next year I will be watching my team playing in one of the finest stadia in the country. All we have to do this year is make sure that we have a season that leaves us in a position where we have earned the step up that the Olympic Stadium implies.
Don’t get me wrong – I have loved going to the Boleyn Ground and, like everyone else, have a range of memories – good and bad – and emotions – up and down – from every ball kicked there. But we are moving home next year. And our new home should fit every ounce of home, ambition and dreams for every fan – dreams that won’t fade and die.