Premier ambitions

Apr. 19 | When cattle creep, When I’m asleep, To lands of hope I stray. Then at daybreak, When I awake, My bluebird flutters away. Happiness new seemed so near me, Happiness come forth and heal me The oft forgotten second verse of Bubbles One of the most...

West Ham United – Champions of North America

Mar. 7 | I like to think I know the history of West Ham quite well.  When I was younger I poured over statistics, history books and programmes to learn the managers, the players and the key games in their history.  I knew all about the War Cup victory, the FA...

Anglo-Italian relations

Apr. 19 | Back in 1992 West Ham looked on enviously as Sheffield United kicked off against Manchester United on a sunny day on the 15th August to start what is now the richest league in the world. The Hammers had been relegated at the end of the previous season...

The Long Good Friday part 2

Apr. 7 | “Dickie Bird, Michael Parkinson, Mick McCarthy…your boys took a hell of a beating tonight.” To me nothing sums up life in a Northern Town than watching football in Barnsley. The name itself has to be uttered with a Yorkshire tint in...

Stand your ground and fight

May. 15 | I am not even going to start expressing my disappointment at the way my team has been managed tonight when relegation is so raw. That will come over time. But instead a look back at my memories from that first season 7 years ago in the second tier of...

Getting a leg(acy) up

Jan. 20 | Here is a little secret for West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur awaiting the decision on who will get the Olympic Stadium next week. Whisper it quietly, but football fans rarely want to watch football in an Olympic Stadium. Why do I say that? Well...

Once a Gunner, always a Hammer?

Jan. 6 | If Trevor Brooking wouldn’t have fallen over in the penalty area at 3.13pm on Saturday 10th May 1980 life would have been so different for me. The moment a child chooses their football team to follow is a monumental decision, the first right of...

Bring on the Champions (and cup winners!)

Sep. 10 | Three games into the Premier League season and we are still without a point. Thanks goodness it’s only Chelsea, Stoke and Tottenham next, or I’d be worried. There’s been a debate on the message boards on a novel way to get behind the team. It’s...

How I became the West Ham announcer

Sep. 10 | I moved to East London from Cambridge when I was six. I think my parents may have done the driving, but I think I did most of the packing and dealing with estate agents. Growing up in Clayhall it was a no-brainer that I should be a Hammer. There was a...

Unsung Heroes 2: Mr Moon has left the stadium

Aug. 22 | After last weeks shocking revelations in our Unsung Heroes of football series involving the screen operator, this week we turn to the man who is responsible for literally setting the tone before, during and after the game. The stadium announcer is the...