Throughout the 2024/25 season, we are sitting down with some of the official West Ham United Supporters’ Boards and Groups to find out more about them and how Hammers fans can get involved…
Here, founder Gian Vola tells us all about STATION 936, ahead of the Italian fan club’s 30-year anniversary in early 2025!
Great to speak to you, Gian. Firstly, can you outline how Station 936 came about back in 1995?
My love for football first started in the 1970s and 1980s, when I used to play the game in Robilante, where I’m from in Italy. Back then we didn’t have satellite TV or the internet, but we used to read about English football in ‘Guerin Sportivo’, a famous Italian sports magazine. Images of Upton Park always stood out to me, and after the 1980 FA Cup final I decided that West Ham was my team. I loved the underdog, working-class feeling of the Club. In 1995, my friend Alberto and I decided to write to West Ham, never thinking they would reply. But a few months later they came back to us with lots of information, including how to get tickets, and the group was formed!
Where does the name came from?
‘Station’ comes from the fact that I work in a cement factory in Robilante, in the train loading department, and ‘936’ is because all the freight wagons that pass by us are numbered with 936 at the front.
How has the group grown, and why do you think most of the members are West Ham supporters?
Originally, we were just a small group of kids playing together in the street, but slowly the word spread and things grew. With the advent of social media, it became a lot easier to connect with other fans of English football in Italy, and in 2010 the Club recognised us as an official Supporters’ Club. A few months later, in March 2011, we organised our first national meeting in Milan, and that’s something we’ve done once a year ever since. We’ve held meetings in a variety of Italian cities, including Florence, Bologna, Vicenza and Cagliari. This year we’re meeting in Rome, on the day of the Manchester United game on 27 October. Fans come from all different backgrounds - some support West Ham because of the legends of the Club like Bobby Moore, some because of the romantic history of the Club, or maybe because of some of the Italians who have played for the Irons. There have been a few, like Paolo Di Canio, Angelo Ogbonna and Emerson! We currently have just under 5,000 members in our Facebook group, and I've even written a book - called ‘La Stanza dei Sogni’, about my love for West Ham and the journey of Station 936.
What’s your relationship like with the Club, and how often do members get to games?
The Club helped us become an official group and have been really supportive since then. My first game was against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in February 1996, which we won 2-1 and it was so exciting. I’ve met the likes of Sir Trevor Brooking and Mark Noble, and have made so many good friendships within the sport. We have members from all over and we often have people over at games, including at most matches so far this season. A few of us were able to get to some of the fixtures in Europe over the last three seasons, which was great because going to a West Ham game is like going to see your family.
What have you got planned for the 30-year anniversary celebrations?
I’m so proud that we’ve got to our 30-year anniversary - I never thought when we first started out that we’d be able to achieve this! In the New Year we’re going to have a big, two-day Hammers celebration, when we’ll take a group of our guys over to Robilante, where it all began. I think we’ll probably have a football tournament, and we might have some special guests from England and from within football. As always, there’ll be music, drinks and lots of fun!
How can people get involved with Station 936?
We’re on all of the usual social media networks - the easiest thing to do is to visit station936.it, from where there are links to all of our different sites. We’d love people to get in touch - we’re always available and happy to chat!
