Upton Park

It happens sometimes. Rarely. Yes, but every time it happens, I love it, I enjoy it, I live it. Sometimes I pack my baggage, order my tickets for West Ham, take the next plane to London and watch a game of the Irons. I don´t know how it came ot how it started, but when I entered the stadium the first at the 3rd October 2002 it was something special – it was someting that makes your heart bumping around like a litle child that´s cheering for his favourite football player. This review is different, for sure. I´m a foreigner, I a german, I have my own beloved home team with ist own superb ... more

I remember with affection the Upton Park crowd of the late 60s to late 70s. We lived in High Wycombe, which meant that QPR would have been a convenient skip down the A40 for my dad in the car, but did I want to do that? No, course not, I forced him to drag me all the way across to the other side of town. Our junior league match would kick-off at 10.30, leaving me just enough time to dip into the communal bath (the colour of that water!), dash to the station for the 12.32, and there would begin our pilgrimage to... the Boleyn Ground. I say pilgrimage, but it seemed more like an interminable ... more

It's a popular misconception that West Ham United play at Upton Park. Correction due. They play at the Boleyn Ground, which happens to be in Upton Park. It's one of those silly things that annoy me, but it's like people who mis-pronounce names, I can't help but correct them. Upton Park is an area in West Ham, East London. The ground itself is situated just off the Barking High Road or Romford Road, and the main gates are down Green Street. This is the entrance to the West Stand, and the entrance to the East Stand, where the infamous Chicken Run is, can be found after a wander down Priory Road ... more

Last season grabbing three points away from home was a pipedream. Far from the doom of being a premiership struggler, there was always the FA cup to look forward to. Instead of being drawn against someone from league one or two, we got West Ham away. We had played them the previous season and both times ended in a 1-1 draw. Needless to say I was less than confident on current form that we would get an easy passage through to the next round. Come final whistle we had lost 1-0 to a late Marlon Harewood goal, back we would go to East Anglia with coaches humming with despair. Anyway at least this ... more