Thursday, September 27, 2007
RoosRoosRoos
Check out the September fanzine which is out now http://www.roosroosroos.com.au/ as it has a bit of a special on West Ham with an article by me about my first game and there is also a history page about West Ham.
Posted by Dave at 4:20 pm
said...
Ok well if anybody else can't get in to view it here's my article about my first game....
My first West Ham game was in the 1989/90 season. I’d been supporting them for a few years by then but had not had the chance to go. I came from a single parent family and my mum hated football – my old man was a bit of a hooligan in his day which had made my mum anti football. My Dad was a Chelsea fan so to spite him I followed the Hammers. A friend of my mum’s was a West Ham fan and it had been him who had pushed West Ham into my veins from the age of 7 around ‘85/’86 and it stuck. It took some guts to support a proper team when everybody at school followed Liverpool, Everton or Man United - especially as we’d been relegated in 1988/’89.
My first game on paper was a rather unglamorous tie against Bournemouth in the old Division 2. Little did I know at the time but Bournemouth were to have some uncanny West Ham ties in that game that would become clear a few years later. They were managed by our old mate Harry Redknapp who’d later become a long serving West Ham manager and captained by his young son Jamie who’d later go on to captain Liverpool. My first visit through the Upton Park turnstiles cost a mere 2 quid for kids and 5 quid for adults – prices that would be all but unheard of in just the next few seasons when thanks to the Taylor Report sanctioned after the horrific scenes at Hillsborough, terracing was replaced by all seater stadia. I guess I was witnessing the death of an era; the final years of football being a working class sport.
So to the game itself. The Hammers of course won the game as expected with a final result of 4-1. The game marked the return of our previously prolific goal scorer Frank McAvennie who made a substitute appearance towards the end after having his leg broken by Chris Kamara in the opening game of the season. But the player whose performance had the most effect on me was a young left back named Julian Dicks. From this moment Julian would become not only my hero but he was starting to become an idol on the terraces at Upton Park. His impact on the game was illustrated by surging runs and crunching tackles which earned him respect at West Ham throughout his career. He capped off his performance with a trademark penalty blasted into the middle of the goal. Julian didn’t miss too many penalties through his career but he had missed his 2 prior to this game by trying to place them. I don’t think he ever placed one again in his career as he blasted home against Bournemouth for 3rd time lucky. In my opinion Julian was one of the best players to have never played for his country, a career looked on by various England Managers fearful of his disciplinary record and tough guy image without ever having the guts to give him a crack. He was even told by Glenn Hoddle that if he grew out his shorn locks he would have an image more desirable to the FA.
Many more games followed for me and football became an addiction for many years with West Ham at times feeling like a life sentence as every path to glory seemingly tarnished in shit. I’ll always feel the passion and always hold the hope of seeing the glory days return with silverware in the cabinet once more. When I turned 18 I acquired my first Season ticket and held it for 6 years before I immigrated to Australia in 2002. I now passionately follow from afar with the Brisbane Hammers troops; occasionally making a trip home around the fixture list in order to attend the maximum amount of games.
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said...Ok well if anybody else can't get in to view it here's my article about my first game....
My first West Ham game was in the 1989/90 season. I’d been supporting them for a few years by then but had not had the chance to go. I came from a single parent family and my mum hated football – my old man was a bit of a hooligan in his day which had made my mum anti football. My Dad was a Chelsea fan so to spite him I followed the Hammers. A friend of my mum’s was a West Ham fan and it had been him who had pushed West Ham into my veins from the age of 7 around ‘85/’86 and it stuck. It took some guts to support a proper team when everybody at school followed Liverpool, Everton or Man United - especially as we’d been relegated in 1988/’89.
My first game on paper was a rather unglamorous tie against Bournemouth in the old Division 2. Little did I know at the time but Bournemouth were to have some uncanny West Ham ties in that game that would become clear a few years later. They were managed by our old mate Harry Redknapp who’d later become a long serving West Ham manager and captained by his young son Jamie who’d later go on to captain Liverpool. My first visit through the Upton Park turnstiles cost a mere 2 quid for kids and 5 quid for adults – prices that would be all but unheard of in just the next few seasons when thanks to the Taylor Report sanctioned after the horrific scenes at Hillsborough, terracing was replaced by all seater stadia. I guess I was witnessing the death of an era; the final years of football being a working class sport.
So to the game itself. The Hammers of course won the game as expected with a final result of 4-1. The game marked the return of our previously prolific goal scorer Frank McAvennie who made a substitute appearance towards the end after having his leg broken by Chris Kamara in the opening game of the season. But the player whose performance had the most effect on me was a young left back named Julian Dicks. From this moment Julian would become not only my hero but he was starting to become an idol on the terraces at Upton Park. His impact on the game was illustrated by surging runs and crunching tackles which earned him respect at West Ham throughout his career. He capped off his performance with a trademark penalty blasted into the middle of the goal. Julian didn’t miss too many penalties through his career but he had missed his 2 prior to this game by trying to place them. I don’t think he ever placed one again in his career as he blasted home against Bournemouth for 3rd time lucky. In my opinion Julian was one of the best players to have never played for his country, a career looked on by various England Managers fearful of his disciplinary record and tough guy image without ever having the guts to give him a crack. He was even told by Glenn Hoddle that if he grew out his shorn locks he would have an image more desirable to the FA.
Many more games followed for me and football became an addiction for many years with West Ham at times feeling like a life sentence as every path to glory seemingly tarnished in shit. I’ll always feel the passion and always hold the hope of seeing the glory days return with silverware in the cabinet once more. When I turned 18 I acquired my first Season ticket and held it for 6 years before I immigrated to Australia in 2002. I now passionately follow from afar with the Brisbane Hammers troops; occasionally making a trip home around the fixture list in order to attend the maximum amount of games.
