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This season my family will be losing an old friend: West Ham’s Boleyn ground, commonly known as Upton Park. The club is moving to the Olympic Stadium at Stratford and the old ground will become flats, and part of my family history will be erased. Once people had village churches to bind them together, but now they have football stadiums. Three generations of my family have been Irons’ supporters, mainly through my – possibly misguided – influence. When I started going to matches at the age of 11 in 1970, my dad (who had previously shown no interest in the game) and I stood on the cavernous terrace of the North Bank. Before kick-off we bought paper bags of Percy Dalton’s roasted peanuts, still in their shells, sold by a man wearing a white coat. Our position was just behind the right goalpost, where you could see the sweat on Bobby Moore’s forehead and smell the Ralgex on the players’ legs. For a suburban Essex boy it … [Read more...] about Farewell West Ham’s old ground – and a piece of my family history

Mauricio Pochettino lamented Tottenham Hotspur’s inability to seize the opportunity that they had to spook Chelsea at the top of the Premier League, saying his team’s 1-0 defeat by West Ham on Friday night suggested they lacked the instincts of champions. A victory for Spurs would have cut Chelsea’s lead at the top of the table to a single point but Manuel Lanzini’s winning goal for West Ham leaves Antonio Conte’s men four points clear and with a game in hand over their nearest pursuers. They will secure the title if they beat Middlesbrough at Stamford Bridge on Monday and West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on Friday. “To win a league or a trophy is about key moments,” said Pochettino. “The match against West Ham] was a key moment ... if you want to be champions you must win. How, I don’t know. We were missing a little bit but we move on and try to finish the season in the best way, still fighting.” Tottenham’s … [Read more...] about Tottenham failed to seize ‘key moment’ at West Ham, says Mauricio Pochettino

When West Ham moved to their current home in 1904, it was at the invitation of Brother Norbert rather than Boris Johnson. But the switch of surroundings was to prove almost as good value, if markedly less controversial, than the club’s looming relocation – fortune no longer hiding, but staring it starkly in the face – to the £701m former Olympic Stadium in Stratford. It was Norbert, a Brother of Mercy attached to the adjacent St Edward’s Reformatory school, who invited West Ham to move from the Memorial Grounds to play on the former potato field in E13. The freehold remained in the ownership of the Westminster Diocesan Education Fund until 1959, seven years before West Ham “won” the World Cup, when the club paid £33,750 for it. By that time, the Boleyn Ground was recognisably the same as it is today – crammed in between St Edward’s primary school, the Church of Our Lady of Compassion, the West Ham United Supporters Club on … [Read more...] about West Ham know Stratford makes sense but Upton Park goodbye will be hard

West Ham will seek to sell Roberto in January and look increasingly likely to part ways with Mario Husillos, the director of football responsible for bringing the goalkeeper to the club last summer. Roberto has lost his place to David Martin after a string of poor performances and West Ham are keen to replace the 33-year-old Spaniard, who was supposed to provide back-up for Lukasz Fabianski after replacing Adrián on a free transfer. The former Espanyol player made a series of high-profile errors after Fabianski suffered a long-term hip injury in September and he has become a divisive issue within the club. West Ham are unhappy with Husillos for recommending Roberto. The signing was sanctioned by Manuel Pellegrini, who is under renewed pressure after his team’s limp defeat by Wolves on Wednesday, and it has left Husillos in a difficult position. Husillos and Pellegrini wanted to make Roberto their No 1 goalkeeper before Fabianski was signed from Swansea in 2018. It soon … [Read more...] about West Ham aim to sell Roberto in January and sign new goalkeeper

The clock had ticked past the allotted minimum of six minutes of added time when the ball reached Wilfried Zaha deep on the left. Crystal Palace had given everything in their demented pursuit of an equaliser in the second half. Joe Hart had made save after astonishing save, including one from James Tomkins in the 91st minute, and they had hit the woodwork twice. They were falling agonisingly short. As Robert Madley prepared to blow for full time, a ninth defeat in 10 matches beckoned for the Premier League’s bottom side. This, however, was football at its barmiest. West Ham were coasting at half-time, smart goals from Javier Hernández and Andre Ayew setting them on course for their first away win this season, but they were reduced to a rabble in the end, Zaha’s moment of opportunism the spark for a total loss of composure from Mark Noble, who had to be pulled away from Ruben Loftus-Cheek shortly after the final whistle. You could understand the West Ham captain’s … [Read more...] about Wilfried Zaha’s 97th-minute goal ends West Ham’s resistance at Crystal Palace