In 2019, Detroit Hammers founder Josh was a newly established West Ham supporter who was disheartened that there was not a local supporter group for West Ham. There were a handful of local supporter groups for other English football clubs, but Detroit needed to institute its own flavor of West Ham. After scouring the internet (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) for local West Ham fans, there was finally a small handful that joined the Facebook group. It was finally time to have the first meetup, in which Josh was met by Stefan, Brad and Michael. This would be start of what many have come to know as the best supporter club in Detroit for any English football team. The growth of the group has been steady but now continues to grow at a much more rapid pace thanks to support from the club and their international supporter initiative, specifically the @WestHamUS social media pages. 

The Detroit Hammers have several connections to East London. A handful of members are originally from over there, while another handful have immediate family connections there. Furthermore, Detroit itself has a lot of similarities with the culture of West Ham. Detroiters are known for our passionate love for our teams win or lose, something that is not lost on any of us when we see West Ham fans across the world always support with everything they have. We both share that blue collar identity, and have the “gritty, go to work, grind it out, get the job done” mentality. It is also interesting how we both have strong ties to a history in transportation (boats/automobiles). 

As the Detroit Hammers continue to grow, we look forward to meeting new friends while getting together weekly with established friends. #COYI