Upton Park : Read reviews at Ciao.co.uk

Author's product rating:

Access by public transport	dificult
Parking facilities	good
Value for money	average

Advantages:	passionate atmosphere, great fans
Disadvantages:	after leaving the stadium you must be very patient waiting for the tube

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

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, supermodern stadium – but whenever I have the chance to see the Hammers, I´m going out to the big world.

FIRST LOOK
When I arrived at Upton Park Station in October 2002 for the first time I was shocked. I mean, I´ve seen the city, I´ve seen this and that – and then I entered the East End of London – it was something dramatically different for me. It was like I´d have left London and been miles away of it (maybe I was....).
So you go out, you´ve read which way you have to go and of course (yepp) you take the wrong way. You´ve lost your way – you´re searching for a football stadium, but everything you see is a street with shops, a school and living houses. „Excuse me sir, where can I find the Boleyn Ground ?“ – I asked that maybe 5 times, didn´t find the right way – but then, after a last view on the left – I found it.

There it was – Upton Park/Boleyn Ground.
I´ve seen a lot of stadiums in my life, I´ve been in Munich, Dortmund etc. – but then something hit me and I was paralized. I found that what I´ve been searching for – I found that what I was dreaming of.
I think in that moment you could have taken me to Anfield, Old Trafford or Highbury – I would just stand around in front of the main entrance with an open mouth.
It was a feeling – well, let´s call it something special.

THE GROUND ITSELF
As I know the capacity is around 35 000 with 4 stands. The development of the stadium is stopped at the moment due to financial problems, but it was planned to build the stadium for a capacity of 40 000. The corners in the stadium are open and it is of course an all-seater. The main attraction of the side stadium is the wonderful main entrance „building“ leading to the hotel and the New Main Stand (Dr. Martens). As in Britian used, the staium is an all-seater (still something special for a german guy like me that had a season ticket over here for standing). 3 of the 4 stands ar two tiered, so when you look down from the Main Stand onto the East Stand you can see down to the roof as this Stand is really small (maybe capacity 3000 or 4000 I´d say).
I would rate Boleyn Ground as a typical british stadium, where every stand is like an individual, with open corners (where the guys outiside the stadium watch the matches for free).

ATMOSPHERE ?
As I am used to, I´ve been at the stadium roundabout 2 hours before the game, well, that was a big mistake. Of course, the tube was full, the pubs and the streets were full, but when I tried to enter the stadium I saw just one problem: The entrances weren´t open yet. So I took a breath and a short walk, watching at the other fans (watching into the pubs ;-) ) and realised, that there are some differences between England and Germany.
When I entered the stadium it was nearly empty until roundabout 15-30 minutes before the game (another difference).
So I sat down (no alcohol allowed in the area – what a shock) smoked a cigarette and waited for the things to come. The crowd was good and noisy – I´d say I´m used to it, but when the DJ played the West Ham Song (Bubbles...) i was totally filled with atmosphere and pure football passion.
Everyone stood up (I mean, REALLY everyone), and cried out his soul – impressive, amazing – from that moment on I knew that I´d come back over and over again just to enjoy tis 1 or 2 minutes of pure passion.
A day later I also visited Arsenal vs. Sunderland – and the differences between London and London were huge – where I saw the passionate Hammers one day I´ve seen that boring and kind of snobbish Gunners the next day.
So I knew I made the right „choice“ with the Hammers. In one word: West Ham´s atmosphere is AWESOME.

NOT ENOUGH ?
For this time I know, this review is kind of poor. My english hasn´t been worked out for the last few months (no chance to speak, just one last visit in January), but witing an opinion in an different langauge is always hard, and it´s more difficult when you´re out of your „form“.
But, there are that lot things been said about a football stadium, ok, I could tell you all differences between my home ground and Boleyn Ground, but then I wouldn´t hit the right point.
The main thing to say has been said. Boleyn Ground is an impressive, typical british stadium with an superb and absolutely passionate atmosphere. I´m sure, I´ll visit the Hammers this season, trying to support them on their way back to the Premier League.

So, I´ll try make it better next time – and West Ham will also.
Come on you Irons !

Upton Park

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