NOT long to go now until West Ham United and their passionate, loyal fans bid an emotional farewell to the Boleyn Ground before moving to Stratford’s Olympic Stadium.
The bulldozers will be on their way soon . . . but they can’t destroy our memories.
Upton Park Memories is a brand new book launching this Saturday (Dec 12) that captures the essence of the club’s spiritual home for the past 112 years. Printed in hardback and lavishly illustrated throughout its 372 full colour pages, UPM is a riveting compilation of personal stories, anecdotes and shared experiences as recalled by 200-plus West Ham fans and a number of players, including heroes such as Sir Trevor Brooking, Sir Geoff Hurst, Billy Bonds, Julian Dicks and Paolo Di Canio.
Our contributors’ devotion to the Hammers spans all 11 decades of The Boleyn years – the oldest was 100-years-old and saw his first game aged six in 1910 – and each has a unique story to tell. Absorb and entertain yourself by reading about:
- WHY FANS SUPPORT WEST HAM UNITED AND THEIR FIRST GAME MEMORIES
- MEMORABLE MATCHES & MOMENTS
- GREAT GOALS
- THREE FAVOURITE PLAYERS & CULT HEROES
- MATCH DAY ROUTINES & RITUALS
- BOLEYN HIGHS & LOWS
- FAVOURITE KITS
- CHARACTERS IN THE CROWD
Plus . . . Songs & Chants, Bond Scheme Protests and Hooliganism, Fanzines, Collectables, Autographs, Tickets, Boleyn by Air, Special Guests, Programmes, Handbooks, Upton Park Firsts, Street Parades, Stadium Views Through the Years, Timeline, etc.
In the final ‘Moving On’ chapter, fans express their forthright views on the owners’ decision to sell Hammers’ famous old ground and move to the Olympic Stadium.
The book includes 700-plus photos and illustrations, many of which have never been seen before. It’s an emotional rollercoaster read that will make you laugh out loud and bring tears to your eyes. I feel sure all of you reading this will readily relate to most of what is in the book and, hopefully, be entertained by it.
With Stoke City visiting Upton Park on Saturday, I’m pleased to present the following excerpts from our book, which I hope will resonate and give you a flavour of what to expect . . .
From the chapter titled: Why West Ham United? – Your First-Ever Visit to the Boleyn Ground
Joe Durrell: When I arrived at the ground to sign schoolboy forms in the summer of 1968, there was nobody there. Eventually, Ernie Gregory turned up and told me to go and buy 20 fags at the local shop, so the first task I had as a West Ham boy was to go and buy Ernie Gregory a packet of Batchelors cigarettes!
My family were regulars at Upton Park and when I think back I remember going, with Mickey Durrell, to the FA Cup semi v Manchester United as well as the finals. To then later play with those same guys is simply unbelievable. As a kid you just can’t absorb the full magnitude of that.
On the day of my first team debut v Stoke City (25/9/71), I remember getting on the train at Mile End to go to the ground about an-hour and-half before kick-off. I would be sitting there with the fans.
Gordon Banks was in goal for Stoke and I got injured early on. Before taking the free-kick Bobby Moore came over to me and said: “Try and keep it away from the big man in green,” which was a brilliant thing for me to hear at the time. It really settled me down and was just the instruction I needed.
I think I did all right. I wasn’t fantastic but I was good enough and we won the game 2-1 (with goals from Clyde Best, Bobby Moore). I didn’t have any chances but I did put in a few crosses.
John Lawrence: One of our neighbours, Ernie, popped round to our house one Friday evening to ask if I wanted to go to West Ham the following day. I went as company for his son Terry, who was three years older than me. It was a goal-less draw v Stoke City (30/10/65) and at the impressionable age of eight I was amazed by the colours and the noise of the crowd. I remember very little apart from a truckload of back passes and the fact that I stood in the cage in the North Bank – the one that overlooked the main grandstand. The steps were huge and the bit next to the stand had wobbly railings. If you looked down and through them there was a massive drop. Very scary!
Lee Burch: v Stoke City (21/10/78), 1-1 (Trevor Brooking). I was four and the crowd was electric as I took my seat in the West Stand upper. I remember asking my uncle for a song-sheet, because I didn’t know all the words to the songs!
From the chapter titled: Memorable Matches & Moments
Dave Spurgeon: If I am tied down to one choice only, then not for the happiest of reasons it has to be me being among that throng of fans on the North Bank when Stoke’s Gordon Banks saved Geoff Hurst’s penalty in the dying minutes of extra-time (15/12/71) to deny us a place in the League Cup final at Wembley. Inside 60 seconds every Hammers fan there that night rode the emotional rollercoaster of euphoric anticipation through to dismayed disappointment and disbelief, pretty typical over the decades, one could say.
There was celebration and noise when the penalty was awarded (Banks dropped a cross and then brought down Harry Redknapp while trying to retrieve the ball) akin to an actual goal being scored. As Hurst placed the ball on the spot the crowd and mood seemed to change in a matter of seconds. Even the more exuberant and vocal elements on the North Bank steadied themselves in anxious anticipation. Hurst had scored from the spot against Banks in the first leg. Could he do it again with the Twin Towers in sight?
My vivid memory is of looking down the length of the pitch to see Tommy Taylor and John McDowell crouched down, covering their eyes with their hands facing the South Bank and not daring to watch. Some prophet of doom from about three feet behind me on the terrace then shouted: “Give it to Robson, for f*** sake, Hurstie, we all know where you gonna f****** put, it let alone Banks!”
Well, Gordon Banks certainly knew and as the ball flew off Hurst’s boot at such power and speed, I could not actually say I could follow it with the naked eye. My eyes, however, did not see the desired result of the ball smashing the net, only it’s return from orbit via Gordon Banks fists and the look of disbelief on Geoff’s face.
My ears were filled with groans and foul mouthed curses from 10,000 fans around me. I was probably too numb to shout anything but if that prophet of doom from behind me had been identified, I may well have had a word in his ear.
Kevin Courtney: Seeing my boyhood hero Bobby Moore scoring past Gordon Banks via a deflection in the 2-1 victory v Stoke City (25/9/71). His celebration was typically muted but after that I proceed to copy him whenever I scored a goal at school!
Terry Foster: Most unusual memory was v Stoke City (8/4/69). A terrible, goal-less game enlivened only by a woman spectator running onto the pitch at the end and decking the ref (T.H.C. Reynolds of Swansea).
Paul Morgan: v Stoke City, (7/10/67), THAT unbelievable 4-3 defeat! Geoff Hurst (2) and Martin Peters put Hammers 3-0 up in 40 minutes but Stoke scored four in the last 25 minutes.
This is just a very small sample from a substantial volume containing 150,000-plus words. To pre-order Upton Park Memories for £20 (saving a fiver on the RRP and with FREE P&P in the UK) visit our EX-Hammers website or phone Caroline or Susie on 01708 744 333. We expect delivery of the book this Friday (Dec 11) and all orders will be despatched that day.