On the one hand the attack on the United bus was an appalling act of violence and a gross discourtesy to United and cannot as such be in any way condoned.
On the other, entirely in keeping with West Ham and its 'fans'. Lets not be coy here, the club have a long history of violent fan encounters with virtually every club in the country. Nevertheless, these encounters and incidents have been massively reduced over the years through effective policing and crowd control intelligence. The police have said they had a full plan in place for the control of the crowd inside and outside the ground for before and after the game.
Sadly that plan was compromised by the late arrival of the United team bus. Anyone who knows The Boleyn's layout and approaches in Upton Park, will know that attempting to enter Green Street (from any direction) 90 minutes before kick-off is futile and fraught with danger. Emergency vehicles can part the crowds like Moses and Red buses are tolerated if only because they are bringing fans to the ground. Car drivers are treated with contempt for considering using such a route when logical alternatives are available.
The narrow nature of the footpaths force fans to walk in the road which clearly delays, frustrates and annoys vehicle drivers but they need to maintain their cool. Losing it would bring disastrous consequences.
If you observe the footage from Tuesday, United's bus was arriving shortly before 7pm. The lower end junction of Green Street/Barking Road is totally blocked with fans moving to the ground. The match is 100% sold out with celebrations planned. Forcing the bus through the crowd at this moment was causing a crush with fans being pressed back against buildings and street furniture knowing that a kick off delay could be unlikely. Let us think Hillsborough here. Have we learned nothing? It is no wonder that United's late arrival provoked such ire with the fans. There can be no justification for what followed, but any English football fan will know at least 15% of a West Ham crowd is made up of 'White Van Man' nutters from East London and Essex.
With that knowledge Manchester United should have made much better arrangements to arrive earlier and saved themselves the hassle. The police need also to re-evaluate their poor reaction to the evolving situation.
It could have been much worse than it was and thankfully no one was hurt. Surprised there have been no arrests though.
As for the ground I am very sad to see us leave. Fantastic place. I grew up an 8 minute walk away from the 'Chicken Run' and from '71-'77 never missed a home game. Had season tickets for many years and I've watched hundreds of games there.
Most enduring memories? 4th Cup Round replay against Hereford United. '72 I think. Miners strike...power cuts...replay played midweek in the afternoon. Bunked off school and got a weeks detention (along with hundreds of other kids). Ground capacity was about 35000 then but they recorded over 43000 on the day. Fans on the roof of the stands, floodlight pylons, pretty much everywhere. Hereford were cheered off the pitch at the nd and we bought Dudley Moore off them afterwards.
Another....after Bobby Moores death Wolves were our first visitors to Upton Park. Their fans placed a gold/black wreath in the centre circle and 1200 of them sang 'Bubbles'. Chokes me just to think of that moment and I still hope to see them in the Premier League again one day.
As for the new stadium and the move......it's time. Accept it and move on. It might be the dawn of a whole new era or just a false dawn. Doesn't matter. If West Ham join the pantheons of the great clubs of Europe then I will bask in thoses 'salad days'. If they don't and those hopes 'fade and die' - it doesn't matter. I'm a Hammer. I don't 'expect' success. I do expect endeavour, industry and playing for the pride of the shirt whether in an Olympic Stadium or on Hackney Marshes.
As for the maths.........at my age I just like to think it was less years is all............
No Hits, No Hype.......................Classic Rock Jan 2012
The game really needed this if only to show the likes of Man City and Chelsea who think that you can buy in teams rather than develop great players how wrong they are!
