My West Ham Story

West Ham United fans are legendary throughout the world for their dedication in the face of impending disaster and, moreover, for their superb support, home and away. This kind of support has often proved the main difference between victory and defeat, between a trophy and second place. The badge of the side they follow runs through every football fan like rings in a tree trunk. Once a fan’s team is established, there is no going back, as the craven devotion to any one club often indicates.The cult of selfless fandom is finally acknowledged here in virtual print in a forensic study of just how and why so many of us became West Ham United fans. These stories cover the whole gamut of childhood East End cult and family conversions across random connections with the colours of claret and blue to chance meetings with lost loves in the crazy world that is football. As a Hammers’ fan once put it: ‘My Religion is West Ham United. My Church is Upton Park.’

These tales of unconditional love for The Irons have been compiled by Martin Godleman, commentator and PA Announcer for the club over nearly thirty years, from his programme feature that ran over three seasons to the more modern tales of fans coming to terms with life in the Olympic Stadium, West Ham’s new twenty-first century home. Expect stories of heartbreak, inspiration, defeat from the jaws of victory and efforts in lockdown to follow a team whose next match seems seasons away. It’s all part of ‘My West Ham Story.’

NB. This is an eBook which will be updated every month, so if you would like your West Ham story to be added, please e-mail your responses to: mywesthamstory@ourdaysarefew.com with a daytime contact number, your full name, where you are from and your e-mail address, putting My Story in the subject line of the e-mail.