Good afternoon,
It was a truly memorable afternoon for West Ham United at White Hart Lane on Sunday and I want to personally thank our fans for the important role they played in it.
While Sam Allardyce's tactics and the players will rightly be praised for an absolutely outstanding 3-0 win at our local rivals, our fans made sure that today's headlines were all about football rather than events in the stands.
On Sunday morning, I wrote an open letter to supporters attending the game to remind them they would be acting as ambassadors for our Club. As expected, they did not let us down.
From the first minute to the last, the 3,000-strong Claret and Blue Army out sang their hosts and made the match feel like a home game. The way they got behind the team was up there with the best I have seen in my 20 years in football. Crucially, though, they also showed respect for the occasion and understanding of the magnifying glass that was on them in the build-up to the game. By the time the final whistle blew, a full-blown cockney knees-up was underway in the away end and boy did they deserve it.
I would also like to save a few words of praise for my Joint-Chairman David Gold for the emotive and highly personal interview he did ahead of the game. Discrimination is an issue that is close to our hearts, which is why we were clear beforehand that it has no place at West Ham United.
The result means we can now look forward with increased optimism as we prepare to welcome Manchester City to the Boleyn Ground following the international break. They will have seen how we opened up Tottenham's defence time and time again and I'm sure they will not be looking forward to their trip to East London.
We have all felt that some of our performances this season have not been reflected in our results so I am delighted that we secured such an eye-catching away win at one of the best sides in the division. We must now use the performance as a benchmark for the rest of the season.
Come on you Irons!
David Sullivan