Things I Miss

To prove I'm an old git living in the past  😁
Things I miss from my glory days of watching football.

Weekend League matches all played together at 3pm on a Saturday.
Knowing at the start of the season when your team was playing.
Never playing on a Thursday.
Paying at the turnstile on the day.
Terraces, Singing and swaying with the crowd, or being able to move to a better position.
Shirts without advertising on the front.
Cup Replays.
Muddy pitches.
Players wearing 1-11
Cheap coach travel to all away games.
Train ticket, match entrance, a programme, Pint and a burger before kick off and still have change from a fiver.
Friday night games at Southend, due to market on Saturday. Leaving Saturday free for West Ham.

Pele

Sad to hear that Pele is now receiving palliative care due to his cancer treatment not working.
So sometime in the near future we will have to say goodbye to possibly the world's greatest footballer. 😢

He was a star before I was born with World Cup wins in 1958 + 1962, but do remember him starring at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.
Memories of Huw Johns commentary "O Rei Pele".
Three of the most memorable moments in those finals were where Pele didn't score, the Banks save, the one where he put the ball one side of the keeper ran round him and shot and narrowly missed, and an effort from inside his own half which missed by inches.

Loads of brilliant goals, but always liked this one  😀

Football Nostalgia

Finally got round to updating one of my other blogs - Football Nostalgia

I've got box loads of old football memorabilia so decided to scan a pile of it to share with others, and remind myself of happier times.

Covering a whole range of teams (but including a lot of old West Ham stuff), give it a look if you have nothing better to do

Blog -  Football Nostalgia

Twitter - Lee's Footy Nostalgia

R.I.P Cyrile Regis

Sad to hear that former West Brom star Cyrille Regis died today at only 59 years of age :(

Remember seeing him many times during his heyday, back in the days when West Brom were one of the best teams to watch with Regis, Tony "Bomber" Brown and Laurie Cunningham all playing.
Loved that Green and Yellow kit, I remember my Sunday league team voting that the kit we wanted to wear, but the boss said we could only afford a plain blue kit :(

Anyway this is an excuse to watch again one of the greatest games in my memory, when the Baggies went to Old Trafford and smashed Man U by 5-3 which included some stunning goals, and none better than Cyrille Regis' hitting the 5th.

50 Years Ago

30th July 1966, 50 years ago today.

50 years of hurt? didn't know at the time that would be the last time England would win anything :(
I've watched virtually every competitive game since in the hope it would happen again but excluding 1990 and 96 we've never even gone close .... one day?

Here's a video I put up about 10 years ago :)



308 views in 10 years? not exactly gone viral :)

A Bit of Nostalgia

The 1974/75 season was when I got the bug, I had seen West Ham a couple of times when I was about 10 going with my Dad and uncle, but by this season I'd finally persauded my Mum that I could be trusted to go with some mates from school. I can't remember the exact cost of the train from Grays to Upton Park and I think the West side admission was about a pound? so the day cost about £3 which I had to save up.
5th October 1974 at home to Derby (who went on to win the league that season) the first time I was allowed to be part of the terrace crowd and it was brilliant :)
We had just had a run of 4 games where we looked like world beaters - Tranmere (LC) 6-0, Leicester 6-2, Birmingham 3-0, Burnley 5-3 so we were all hoping for another big victory, but it ended 2-2 with goals from Billy Bonds and Keith Robson but I enjoyed it anyway.
About a month later went to my next game and we beat Wolves 5-2 to prove I wasn't a jinx.
In May of that season we won the FA Cup so in my mind I had brought them good luck that season.

Obviously a lot of people are saying they will miss Upton Park and I'm one of them, but to be honest I've been missing the Old Upton Park for the last 20 years.
I loved the terraces and being so close to the pitch, for me when they made it all seater it killed most of the atmosphere.
I just couldn't get that same feeling in a row of plastic seats that I used to get when you scored and ended up 10 rows away from where you started, and the singing became patchy instead of the whole stadium singing as one. Also never really got used to buying a ticket beforehand, always preferred paying on the gate especially with away games as it was sometimes only decided we would go on the day.

... and the plastic castles are just tacky:)

Anyway farewell Upton Park :(

Sad

Something that annoys me, don't know why?

I've always known that West Ham's ground was actually called the Boleyn ground and is located in the London borough of Upton Park.
But throughout my life which includes many hundreds of visits I've always called it Upton Park, as does every person I've ever talked football with.
Suddenly it seems trendy in the media to call it the Boleyn? the Boleyn is the pub at the end of the road.

It was nice to hear David Gold correct the BT guy at the weekend when asked about leaving the Boleyn, he replied "we've always called it Upton Park".

The Good Old Days

Just found this on You Tube, a compilation of full episodes of ITV's the Big Match and BBC's Match of the Day from nearly 30 years ago.
Back in the days when I was a regular on the terraces, so good memories :)

The Big Match features Chelsea v West Ham from Stamford Bridge back in the days when Chelsea couldn't afford grass and had to supplement their income from the half empty ground by using the ends as a car park and storage area for building supplies.
A good game with West Ham having Paul Hilton in defence (a defender we signed from a team we put 10 goals past in the cup?), Chelsea had left Hazard on the bench.
The other game is Everton v Newcastle with Sky's Martin Tyler commentating.

Match of the Day from the next week features 2 Manc v Scouse games first Man Utd v Everton again, followed by Liverpool v Man City.
Also the 2nd Division game Brighton v Portsmouth.
They also have Cricket with England getting hammered by the West Indies.

Footy Nostalgia

Finally got around to updating my footie nostalgia blog - http://footynostalgia.blogspot.co.uk
reposted a few bits from this blog and added some new stuff.
Hopefully will be adding some stuff soon if I can get my scanner to work again :)

Give it a look :)

Nostalgia

Some great old footie films found at http://www.britishpathe.com
Here's a couple for the Hammer fans (click to go to page). Plenty of other clubs if you search at the top of the page.

SOCCER AGAIN!

WEST HAM FOOTBALL TEAM

Good Memories

Back in 1981 in our first season back in the top league after 3 years of 2nd division football our first away game was a midweek trip to Tottenham.
Tottenham had won the FA Cup the previous season and we had just finished one of our best seasons ever winning the 2nd division (only losing 4 games) and only narrowly losing to the cheating scouses in the League cup final replay.
I travelled there in hope of us picking up something but we had been disappointing in our first game drawing at home to Brighton.
As it turned out it was one of the greatest days of my football supporting career as David “Psycho” Cross banged in all 4 goals in a 4-0 away win :)

R.I.P John Bond

Former Hammer John Bond sadly passed away at the age of 79 today :(
Probably remembered better these days as the manager of Norwich and Man City in the 70's and 80's he had made over 400 appearances for the Hammers in the 50's and 60's.
Part of our 'B' team in the glory years in the mid sixties with Brown, Brabrook, Byrne, Burkett, Boyce, Bovington, Bobby Moore and Brian Dear :)

Ten Nil

West Ham's 10-0 League Cup win over Bury in 1983 this was the 2nd leg of a 2nd Round tie, we had won 2-1 away but none of us who were there probably expected a score like this.
As it goes it wasn't really the greatest game except for the score, Bury were terrible and it seems hard to believe we signed their central defender Paul Hilton not long after? although he did have some good games for us over the next few years including playing as a makeshift striker.
Tony Cottee scored four, Alan Devonshire got two, Trevor Brooking hit two (but one was given as an own goal), Alvin Martin and the obligatory Ray Stewart penalty made up the scorers.
Dave Swindlehurst who was our centre forward at the time failed to score, he never totally impressed in the couple of years he was there, although he did get about 15 goals in this season.

The 1983-4 season started well and we led the league early on and were top 3 for most of the season, but a disastrous run of only 2 wins in the final third of the season saw us slip to 9th :(

The commentary is very quiet so you'll need to turn the speakers up, and he is a bit annoying pronouncing Cottee as Coaty, and calling Billy Bonds Bill.

Cigarette Cards (Part 2)

Here's part two of the 1930's cigarette card collection, starting out with three London sides.

Chelsea - Early Ken Bates picture?, Chelsea had a couple of famous moments before the Abramovich era but most of their trophies have come in the last nine years with this years Champions league win being the pinnacle.

Tottenham Hotspur - Won Two League titles in 1951 & 1961 and have won the FA Cup eight times, but only have one League cup win in the last twenty years so they have been underachieving for a long while.

Brentford - Sadly like these cards Brentford's finest moments were back in the 1930's, having had just one season in the top two tiers in the last fifty years.

Darlington - Very little to cheer about for supporters of Darlington over the years with only a couple of lower tier titles in their history. The last year has been like a soap opera with them winning their first Wembley final (FA Trophy) last May with a last minute goal then getting relegated from the conference and coming as close as any team could to going out of business, before being saved by the supporters finding enough money to keep them afloat. The FA then relegated them four divisions to the Northern League Division one :(
Darlington's ground serves as a warning for any lower league team thinking of building a new stadium as it holds 25,000 but has never seen more than 11,600 and is very unlikely to get more than a few hundred people there in the foreseeable future.

Blackburn Rovers - Three league titles including being one of only five teams to have won the Premier league and six FA Cups (although five of those were in the 1800's), the Jack Walker era made them a regular top flight team but this season under the Venkey's makes you worry for their future?

Liverpool - Much as I dislike Liverpool for a lot of reasons you cannot deny they have an honours list to die for - 18 league titles in the last century, 7 FA Cup wins, 5 European Cups, 8 League Cups and 3 UEFA Cups. They always seem to have the finances to stay as one of the top ten clubs but will need some major changes to compete with the current "big four". If Brendan Rogers is as good as some think he is and the supporters actually give him a chance maybe things could be on the up?

Nostalgia - Hooligans On TV

An early eighties edition of the London Programme focusing on football hooligans.
Mainly featuring Chelsea, Tottenham and England but also an interview with Cass Pennant.

Nothing you haven't seen before but still interesting from a nostalgia point of view, they say the top ten "firms" of that time are Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, West Ham, Millwall, Portsmouth, Sheff Wed, Newcastle, Leeds and Man Utd, from a personal point of view I was surprised they included Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday and would have said Stoke and Liverpool instead.

I used to watch the London programme mainly because of the brilliant theme tune :)

Blackpool

Just 5 days to go till the biggest match of the season, yeah I know there is a game in Munich on that day as well but the one that really matters is at Wembley :)
My days of going to games are probably gone now and it wouldn't be right if the only Hammers game I go to all season was the one everyone wants to see and I denied a genuine fan a ticket, lack of cash and just being out of hospital and still feeling like shit make this very unlikely unless some old friend pops round this week with a spare ticket in hand (wishful thinking) :) Although if Southend make it through on Wednesday night I might get to Wembley this season, as I'm on their ticketing list we shall see?

At the start of the season I was hoping for West Ham to go back up as champions, with Blackpool as runners up and either Birmingham or Ipswich to go up via the play offs. As it has turned out only one of us will make it which is a shame :(

Our record over Blackpool is pretty good although we have only met 4 times in the last 40 years, 4-0 and 4-1 this season and 3-1 and 0-0 last year, but a one off game at Wembley could go either way?
Our last 2 play off finals have been decided by one goal and dodgy refereeing decisions in 2004 we were favourites against Crystal Palace but lost 1-0 in a game that Graham Poll showed his bias by ruling out 2 good Hammers goals.
In 2005 Preston were probably favourites but we came out on top after Bobby Zamora's goal, but had a let off near the end when Goalie Jimmy Walker handballed on the edge of the box and should have been sent off? but the fact he twisted himself trying to keep his hands inside the penalty area meant he came down awkwardly on his knee and had to be stretchered off probably saved him.

So although we really should win comfortably you have this sort of stuff in the back of your mind, Kevin Phillips is always likely to score and refs don't really like us. Plus Ian Holloway must be the most inspiring manager there is so if it's tight that has to be an advantage?

Anyway for any Blackpool fans that might read this I've been through the old mags and found these from 1973 :)

A few well known players Wyn Davis, John "Budgie" Burridge, Paul Hart and Micky Burns who scored one of the greatest goals of the seventies. I used to love seeing Burridge before games when he would do his acrobatics and go walking round the penalty area on his hands! totally nuts but a great character :)

Cigarette Cards (Part 1)

Bristol City - Now in the Championship, I do remember them being in the top division during the seventies but have spent most years in the second and third tiers.
Manchester City - The new Premier league champions, thanks to the Arab money have returned to the top table after many years of under achievement. One of those clubs that most people quite liked but I've no doubt the hatred will start soon.

Bolton Wanderers - Sadly relegated yesterday, although holding on to Premier league status for a few years they have not been one of the big boys since the 1920's
Newcastle - Had their most successful season in many years, and really for a club of their size and support should be in the top ten regularly.

Everton - Have a great history but have lived in the shadow of Liverpool for most of the last 50 years and despite a few good seasons sadly don't seem to be able to compete financially with their noisy neighbours.
Swansea - I always thought of them as Wales' 3rd biggest team behind Cardiff and Wrexham, but recent history shows they are the only ones to have made the top division in the last 50 years (twice). Not sure why they call themselves City when Swansea is not actually a city?

Bristol Rovers - the Black Arabs? never heard that before, although a well known club really they haven't won anything of note and have never been in the top division. I think of them as a big club mainly because of them winning the Watney cup in 1972 which used to be a big event on telly in those days :)
Barnsley - Had one season in the top division back in the nineties with the "just like watching Brazil" team but have spent most of their history in the second tier which is not too bad really.

Leicester City - One of those nearly teams having been runners up in the league and FA Cup (4 times), had a brief period of glory under Martin O'Neill when they won the league cup twice.
Norwich City - Back in the big time this season and have done pretty well with most of the players that got them out of league one 2 seasons ago, like Leicester their only trophies have been the league cup twice.

Nostalgia - Ciggy Cards

I have just scanned a collection of 1930's cigarette cards of the 50 biggest teams of that era from an old magazine.
I love all this old stuff and hope you will too :)

Better Days

2005 Play Offs Ipswich in the semi's and Preston in the final.
Pardew had created a great team from the rubble with Etherington, Harewood, Zamora, Reo-Coker, Mullins etc all showing they could do it here and in the Premier league the following season before the Icelandics came along and shat on Pardew bringing to an end one of the most promising periods in West Ham's history.

Good Days

A great win at Stamford bridge with 2 cracking goals by Paolo and also Zola for Chelsea, the Hammers won 3-2 despite Mike Dean having one of his better games for Chelsea.