Lifelong Hammers fan Dudley Letts looks back at some special moments at the Boleyn Ground
Lifelong Hammers fan Dudley Letts looks back at some special moments at the Boleyn Ground...
Wow! Where do we start?
As a lifelong supporter of the Hammers of 63 years, I can remember back to the late Fifties.
Malcolm Allison, John Bond et al. The graceful Bobby Moore and Trevor Brooking, the skill, athleticism and passion of Billy Bonds and Frank Lampard Snr.
What about the cockney scouser Alvin Martin? I remember his first game. Not forgetting the marvellous Eighties in the Cottee, McAvennie era and the later characters like Paolo Di Canio.
The unsung heroes of five decades that only true West Ham fans would know and remember. 'We got Harry Harry Redknapp on the wing, on the wing' as was sung in the Chicken Run.
Peter Brabrook deciding to beat the same defender twice to showboat. ‘Ticker’ Boyce in midfield. So many memorable games especially under the floodlights.
Even Testimonials involving celebrities like Jimmy Tarbuck and even matches that we lost, like at home to Dynamo Tbilisi in the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1981, when they played us off the park to win 4-1 and got a standing ovation from the Upton Park faithful at the end of the game.
I stopped going regularly after the 1986 season when we nearly won the league and finished third as my wife and I moved with our young family to the Kent coast and I changed from playing myself on Sunday mornings to Saturday afternoons.
However, we have been back to Upton Park a few times since. We are hoping to start going again to watch more when the move to the new Stadium happens as we now have a marvellous fast train service from Broadstairs to Stratford International.
But I can never forget my most memorable time – the whole Boleyn Ground experience over the years has been unforgettable.
Just thinking about it all, I get very emotional. Like many fans, we started going with our Dads and older relatives, some of whom sadly are no longer with us, and having to stand on plastic milk crates or wooden stalls to see, if we could not get down to the front of the terraces.
When I was a bit older and allowed to go with my mates, we would get to the ground as the gates opened with our bag of sandwiches and drinks. My Granddad was at the ‘White Horse’ FA Cup final in 1923, the first one at the old Wembley, so we have a long history in my family of supporting West Ham.
My most memorable game was the 8-0 thrashing of Sunderland when Geoff Hurst scored a double hat-trick, albeit he punched one in with his hand while pretending to head it. I was standing on the old South Bank terrace right by the goal when he did it. Cheeky!
However, I think the Dynamo Tbilisi game stands out and goes down as the most memorable for me, even though we lost, as it epitomises the electric atmosphere of the Boleyn Ground under the floodlights and the West Ham ethos of appreciating good football and sportsmanship, the latter now lost a bit in modern football.
We will definitely get to Upton Park at least once before it closes down and I know that I will drop a tear thinking of all those past great years. I think my Dad and Granddad will be with me in spirit too.
Thanks to the current Board and management for taking our great club forward!
Come on you Irons!
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of West Ham United
Wow! Where do we start?
As a lifelong supporter of the Hammers of 63 years, I can remember back to the late Fifties.
Malcolm Allison, John Bond et al. The graceful Bobby Moore and Trevor Brooking, the skill, athleticism and passion of Billy Bonds and Frank Lampard Snr.
What about the cockney scouser Alvin Martin? I remember his first game. Not forgetting the marvellous Eighties in the Cottee, McAvennie era and the later characters like Paolo Di Canio.
The unsung heroes of five decades that only true West Ham fans would know and remember. 'We got Harry Harry Redknapp on the wing, on the wing' as was sung in the Chicken Run.
Peter Brabrook deciding to beat the same defender twice to showboat. ‘Ticker’ Boyce in midfield. So many memorable games especially under the floodlights.
Even Testimonials involving celebrities like Jimmy Tarbuck and even matches that we lost, like at home to Dynamo Tbilisi in the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1981, when they played us off the park to win 4-1 and got a standing ovation from the Upton Park faithful at the end of the game.
I stopped going regularly after the 1986 season when we nearly won the league and finished third as my wife and I moved with our young family to the Kent coast and I changed from playing myself on Sunday mornings to Saturday afternoons.
However, we have been back to Upton Park a few times since. We are hoping to start going again to watch more when the move to the new Stadium happens as we now have a marvellous fast train service from Broadstairs to Stratford International.
But I can never forget my most memorable time – the whole Boleyn Ground experience over the years has been unforgettable.
Just thinking about it all, I get very emotional. Like many fans, we started going with our Dads and older relatives, some of whom sadly are no longer with us, and having to stand on plastic milk crates or wooden stalls to see, if we could not get down to the front of the terraces.
When I was a bit older and allowed to go with my mates, we would get to the ground as the gates opened with our bag of sandwiches and drinks. My Granddad was at the ‘White Horse’ FA Cup final in 1923, the first one at the old Wembley, so we have a long history in my family of supporting West Ham.
My most memorable game was the 8-0 thrashing of Sunderland when Geoff Hurst scored a double hat-trick, albeit he punched one in with his hand while pretending to head it. I was standing on the old South Bank terrace right by the goal when he did it. Cheeky!
However, I think the Dynamo Tbilisi game stands out and goes down as the most memorable for me, even though we lost, as it epitomises the electric atmosphere of the Boleyn Ground under the floodlights and the West Ham ethos of appreciating good football and sportsmanship, the latter now lost a bit in modern football.
We will definitely get to Upton Park at least once before it closes down and I know that I will drop a tear thinking of all those past great years. I think my Dad and Granddad will be with me in spirit too.
Thanks to the current Board and management for taking our great club forward!
Come on you Irons!
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of West Ham United