Upton Park memories

i dont go to football anymore but always looked forward to our trips to upton park fantastic atmosphere, if i remember rightly my last visit was the year they opened the bobby moore stand a 2-2 draw paul ince got plenty of stick on his return there that day ,last fa cup game and last ever game both against united i think most west ham fans would have liked that.

My father first took me to the ground in the early 1950s and my fondest memories of that era was the Division 2 winning team of 1957/8. At that time all players at the club had to attend the FA coaches course at Lilleshall and many of that team went on to become managers. John Bond, Malcolm Allison, Ken Brown, Frank O'Farrell and Dave Sexton all attended the course.
So many great memories of that ground and such wonderful players as Moore, Hurst, Peters, Devonshire, Byrne, McAvennie, Cottee, Ward and many others.

Baines' free kicks. An 88th-minute winner in a League Cup quarter-final. Getting coins thrown at me from fans in the home end. So many happy memories.

1972 pop robson 2 spuds 2 ,boxing day.

Remember seeing Toshack and Keegan tear West Ham a new one in about 1976 - 4-0 I think it was. Went to a lot of West ham games at the time, and they weren't the worst team in the world, think it was the same season they made the Cup-Winners Cup final against a real good Anderlecht team. Liverpool just ripped them to pieces. Was the first of many hideous beatings they dished out to Spurs and West Ham at games I went to. Upton Park was amazing in those days, been there with 40,000 in there. Not sure how they're going to get on in the Olympic Stadium, hope they do OK but not sure the fans are going to enjoy being so far away from the pitch.

and I think billy bonds saved a penalty one night in the league cup after he had to take over duties when the goalie was sent off.

Sure I was at Spurs one time when Hoddle had to go in goal. Might be the old memory playing tricks because it does sound implausible.

my thoughts also jed about been so far away from the pitch.

I think that factor has been underestimated foxy. Several examples of

...new stadia being disliked and sparsely attended for that reason.

Anyway, more memories - Gascoigne v Ince in about 1990, both young men with an obvious bright future. Spurs won 2-0, and Gascoigne made Ince look a total mug, repeatedly and deliberately. Mitchell Thomas, who later played for West Ham, scored the other Spurs goal.

and clive best deserves a word ,one of the first coloured players to play English football.

Got chucked out of the south bank one year for scrapping with another spurs fan whose bird got a bit mouthy for no reason, miss about half hour of the game being processed, Fairclough scores for Spurs, I watch the last twenty minutes at the back of the West ham end, keeping my emotions firmly under control under pain of immediate death.

The west ham fans used to chuck bananas at clyde best themselves!!

Talking of famous players taking over in goal. I was at Old Trafford in 1972 for a League Cup Semi Final when West Ham played Stoke and Bobby Moore had to go in goal following an injury to our goalkeeper. He actually saved a penalty but they scored from the rebound.

Must have happened a lot in those days sparrow I guess.

Not really in this case,jed. Ferguson the goalkeeper was only off the field 20 minutes before returning.

Not been to Upton Park since January 1996... cup game against Southend... first game was May 1977 v Derby... like most fans spanning that era the 1985-86 season was epic particularly after a poor start... the two games in mid-April standout... the 8-1 v Newcastle when Alvin Martin scored a hat-trick against three different 'keepers'... but more so the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea a few days earlier... even with plenty of games to go it felt like that defeat cost West Ham the title... I blame Neil Orr...

That 85/86 side was by far the best ever West Ham side, especially when you consider that the 60s teams with all those great players  never finished higher than 8th.

i remember that game sparrow bobby moore going in goal obviously stoke went through as they went on to beat chelsea in the final george eastham.

one very famous game from upton park which is forgotten by many was the fa cup tie against non league hereford who had just knocked newcastle out of the cup {john motsons first game}it was played midweek in the afternoon it seemed from the pictures on the news the entire town of hereford made the trip to london.

anybody tell me why it was an afternoon game ?

It was due to the government emergency regulations regarding the power cuts, foxy.

thats correct sparrow some how i knew you would know that.

Too many memories to pick just one...

Loved the old North Bank. Wherever you stood in those days you were incredibly close to the players. That created an atmosphere and tension that modern fans will sadly never know.

I've still enjoyed going in recent years but it's a new stadium on 3 sides and is far removed from the old Upton Park.

As for Stratford, there's talk we may sell 50k season tickets 60k capacity.

You can read all about it here, foxy.


http://theyflysohigh.co.uk/who-turned-the-lights-out/4577640274

The faces and characters over the years who I would talk to , have a beer with or just nod to , but that I did'nt really know . Would not see them at any other time than at football . They were still my friends however.

pop robson flicking on a near post corner with his hand for a team mate to head in v wrexham, dai davies nearly killed the ref.

'Game ends and being lifted into the air and passed back over the heads of all the other Dads to be re-United with my own Dad.'

____

Real Social dads back then 

funny how we get to feel about stadiums/racecourses i have never been a west ham fan but still feel sad that the ground will no longer be with us,only today i read in the post that with the councils decision the last rites have been given to folkestone ,although living in manchester i had many happy times at folkestone and will really miss the place.

Just read it back Coachbuster - not my best description or grammatical moment. In my head it made perfect sense!! Hope you understood what. I meant!!

Alladin ,made perfect sense to me  ...just threw in the Sociedad bit

Speaking of Spanish sides, who was it that we played in a European tie behind closed doors?

It was Castilla

The second leg of West Ham’s European Cup Winners Cup first round tie against the Spaniards, Castilla C. de F., has become part of West Ham’s folklore and is fondly referred to as the “Ghost Match”, so called because it was played behind locked doors. Apart from a handful of club officials and administrative staff, no one else was allowed to enter the Boleyn Ground to watch the game.

This ghost game is remembered for many reasons including
by Roger Hillier
the 262 official attendance is the club’s lowest for a competitive first team home match

an entertaining game with West Ham recovering from a two goal deficit to win on aggregate after extra time

a hat-trick by David Cross for the Hammers only ever hat-trick in European competition, and

the main recollection of the Hammers playing in a virtually empty stadium devoid of the usual match atmosphere.

That's it! Thanks Sparrow - appreciate your help...

I'd virtually forgot about it myself, Aladdin.

Castilla -  yes , i remember them.

On google it says Real Madrid's reserve team

You can read about it all on this link.

http://theyflysohigh.co.uk/castilla-ghost-match/4577286094

some of those mid week afternoon matches attracted some pretty hefty crowds ,much larger than normal .

  West Ham almost attracted a record crowd  (just 51 short)  for that Midw/Aftn K.O against Hereford  of all games

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ONsbKtK17M


W Ham v Hereford - mid week afternoon

or maybe this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb7xm-QUBwU

clyde best wasn't it?yes it was a big thing at the time,cant remember much but he was strong and very quick and black

coachbuster

hereford of all games


that game created huge interest all around europe as i said earlier on the thread it seemed the entire population of hereford traveled to london that day.

been reading about it foxy , complete sell out on the day

Apparantly some 5,000 plus Hereford fans were locked out and tried to watch the game from vantage points .

perched on rooftops - you couldn't imagine that today

all the main news stations were filming the trains leaving hereford for london most people did not know where hereford was let alone had a football team before they beat newcastle coachbuster ,i think still to this day it remains the most famous of all fa cup upsets.

stood in the 70s where the players come out (WHU v the Arsenal) and a west ham nut came on and punched an arse player

What a load of 'chim-chimineeing, cor blimey lav-a dak' Cockney bo11ox!

Along with Stamford Bridge and The Den, one of the great bastions of 1970's and 80's racism and violence

Now it's simply the place West Ham United were able to sell in order to receive their new big taxpayer funded gift.

Away wingers having to 'run the gauntlet' of the chicken run.

Only went once to Upton Park.

A cricket team mate was a West Ham fan, (me being a Liverpool fan)he got us tickets in the main stand.

We won 2-1 and he never talked to me all the way back home

Pretty sure a hero of mine Liam Brady scored his last goal in the ground. Any hammers fans confirm?

I got hit on the shoulder with a half full can of Watneys party 4 ale. Cut my shoulder open, if it had hit my head I'd have mostly likely died. I was in the Chelsea 'pen' behind the goal and all the Hammers fan were tossing things over the fence. It was a bad day, Chelsea lost 4-0 and Brooking was outstanding. Would have been around 1980.

MJK - Yes. He scored and dived into the Chicken Run. That was what I saw from the North Bank but this clip shows the fans mobbed HIM!

https://youtu.be/IOz4wVRjEuI

good job it wasnt a party 7 pauliow.

Paul Stalteri

Haye KO Chisora

Thoughts are with you for tonight's last game, will be very emotional with thoughts of fathers and grandfathers, would be gutted to leave Carrow Rd, time does move on but all the best hammers fans..god bless..

May 10, 2016 -- 4:59PM, foxy wrote:

good job it wasnt a party 7 pauliow.

pauliow

the young people off today dont know how lucky they are not to have sampled party 4 /party 7s you couldnt even catch slugs with it.

time does move on
_________________

or some group of people are always trying to make more and more money - stuff the traditions or ordinary fans

MILLWALL

being stuffed 4-1 by Dynamo Tblisi,
one of the best sides/performance I've
seen from an away side.
Cup Wnrs Cup

Getting punched in the ear

Why have the BBC all of a sudden started calling it The Boleyn Ground

Alvin Martin hat trick versus 3 different keepers

Keith Curle missing a penalty for City in the 90s then being made very welcome in a social club down the road afterwards. Much nicer area to visit than spurs. Come on you Hammers do us a big favour tonight ...

A_T    10 May 16 19:37 
Why have the BBC all of a sudden started calling it The Boleyn Ground





Maybe because they have only just realised that it is called the "Boleyn Ground".

That might be the explanation. They've never called it that before. Sheer stupidity.

so where is Upton Park then lol ?




Who's Rachel ? 

can we have a thread called Boleyn Ground memories?

The Boleyn Ground often referred to as Upton Park, is an association football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. Since 1904, it has been the home of Premier League side West Ham United F.C., with their predecessors Thames Ironworks playing their home games at Hermit Road. The stadium was also briefly used in the early 1990s by Charlton Athletic during its years of financial difficulty. The current seating capacity of the ground is 35,016. From the beginning of the 2016-17 season, West Ham United will play their games at the Olympic Stadium.

the lasting memory is the other teams bus getting bottled on the final match.

dearie me.

Let the games begin.....

Instead of whu moving stadiums why don't they just throw them out of the league. It's not like they ever win anything and the their fans have been shown to be morons.

May 10, 2016 -- 8:19PM, par wrote:

the lasting memory is the other teams bus getting bottled on the final match.dearie me.

More efforts on target at those bus windows than those players have managed in 2 seasons under LVG.

and what's this stuff about forever blowing bubbles??? isn't that what 5 year old children do.

wot a miss for 2-1

took his eyes off the ball.

May 10, 2016 -- 4:58PM, Injera wrote:

MJK - Yes. He scored and dived into the Chicken Run. That was what I saw from the North Bank but this clip shows the fans mobbed HIM!https://youtu.be/IOz4wVRjEuI

Cheers. Great stuff.

pauliow    10 May 16 16:52 
I got hit on the shoulder with a half full can of Watneys party 4 ale. Cut my shoulder open, if it had hit my head I'd have mostly likely died. I was in the Chelsea 'pen' behind the goal and all the Hammers fan were tossing things over the fence. It was a bad day, Chelsea lost 4-0 and Brooking was outstanding. Would have been around 1980.


I was there in the North Bank it was totally packed &  I could not see a thing & actually left at half time think it may have been 4-0  by then, it was valentines day 1981

wasn't you was it Pumpy ?

has an away fan it was not nice getting smashed all over the place when in the south bank

No Coach, that happened after I had left

west ham a small time bellend of a club

Listening to the radio against De Haag first leg QF Cup Winners Cup, Hammers were 4-0 down & my dad ( Arsenal Supporter ) said if West Ham get to the final I will take you, wonder what odds that would have been on the fair

[   This image is no longer available.   ]

.... a great Upton Park hero

I live in Dublin so was only at Upton Park once, way way back in April 1977.
It was West Ham v Everton.  West Ham were fighting relegation.
The Hammers were losing 1-2, one of the goals due to Mervyn Day (goalkeeper) standing outside his penalty area for much of the match.  (Don't ask.)
Obviously Everton took a shot from the half way line out near the left sideline and Mervyn almost got back in time.

With time ticking away Billy Jennings put in a cross from near the left corner flag and Bryan "Pop" Robson scored with a fantastic near post diving header that looped up over Everton keeper Dai Davies.
Why do I remember it so well?  Do I have Rainman memory?
No.  I took a photo with my new Pentax camera (I was in London shopping that day) and got a great photo of the goal with the ball just over the keeper's hand and just under the crossbar.
You can see all the players from the two teams watching the ball go in.  Alvin Martin, West Ham's centre-half is on the 18 yard line watching intently.

Just looked up that match and Alvin Martin wasn't on the teamsheet.  My bad.

Any chance of you posting the Photo kincsem?

Martins debut was in 78

A club owned by nOnces and perverts

Four memories for me...

1/ First game, April 1969 when I was 8. Boring 0-0 draw but woman ran on the pitch at the end and attacked the ref. Anyone recall that?

2/ West Ham 3 Den Hagg 1. March 1976. I had gone to the first leg in Holland with two mates from school in my first trip abroad. Ref was a lunatic and was trying to get West Ham beaten. Nearly did it with the home side 4-0 up at half-time but terrific second half set up that wonderful second leg on the day after Night Nurse won its first Champion Hurdle.

3/ West Ham 1 Aston Villa 0, FA Cup, March 1980. The best and most exciting game I have ever seen. Went Ray 'Tonka' Stewart put that last minute penalty away, the ground went f**king mental!!!

4/ West Ham 1 Dyname Tblisi 4, March 1981 (I think). The best performance from any away side I ever saw that night. Their skill and speed were stunning and their last goal was really special.

Very sad to see Upton Park go but everything changes. But if you think about it, my native East end of London has lost Upton Park and Walthamstow Dogs within 8 years. Glad I live in Yorkshire now.

From the East End to Yorkshire. My God: some people are dealt a bad hand in life.

LOL, I think!

I can only presume you have never been to the Yorkshire Dales then?

A five bedroom house surrounded by countryside is somewhat better than a 1 bedroom rat hole in filthy London costing two or three times as much.

As much as I loved London, and then Essex, you can keep the shi*ty South East and all its indebted, up their own backside, arrogant, rude, morons that populate so much of our capital city!!

It just wasn't like that when I was a kid.

(Actually, West Ham should move to Harrogate then I would have it all!!!)

The Knight, Interesting your move from East London to Yorkshire as I also did the same move 46 years ago.
You can add Clapton,Hackney and West Ham to your list of Greyhound stadiums lost.

themightymac
Any chance of you posting the Photo kincsem?

It was only about 5"x3" and I have no idea where it is now.
I think I have all my negatives.  Not sure if they would be in good condition.
If you want a copy send me your address (by PM: see top right of screen) and if I find the negative I might get some prints.
If I do get a print or two I'll try to get it in larger size but that often results in a poor quality image.
Can the photo print people also do a digital image?  I don't know.
No digital cameras back in 1977.
It was one of the best photos I took, maybe not great quality but it stopped the action at the right moment.
Perhaps it was the surprise of seeing that the photo was half decent startled me.
I spent a few years working in Africa 1977 to 1979 and took load of photos of wildlife with telephoto lenses.  None much good.

Thanks Kincsem.

"Upton park memories" Got a bottle on the head last night..........can't remember a fxxking thing