West Ham Fans Born to be Claret and Blue

I went through a phase of 'supporting' Man Utd in the 90's like a lot of kids at the time but never really settled on a team. I liked football but none of my immediate family were big fans so I didn't really get involved as much as I could of. Then I started university and playing football with my mates who were Coventry and Spurs fans who got me into watching games and that. My grandad passed away whilst I was there and he supported West Ham and would go and see them a lot when he was younger, his family being from the area so I decided to follow West Ham in his memory. My aunt did a trace back through the family tree and found also that one of my relatives, great great grandfather or something used to work for Thames Ironworks so I thought it was even more of a reason to follow them. Sadly, I am the only one of my family who supports the Hammers, the rest being Arsenal and Liverpool fans!

my brother would have killed me if i didd,nt , he was a nutter of the 70,s and was west ham crazy every saturday he would return from matches with war wounds so what choice did i have.

My dad is a rugby man and follows Wolves when he takes an interest in football so no family ties, but West Ham were my local team and, in spite of a glory hunting season supporting Liverpool as a naive 10-year old, I always loved them. My big brother took me to see West Ham v Palace in 91 or 92 (Lost 2-0, Mitchell Thomas in centre mid, but even that didn't put me off). I had a season ticket for as many years as I could afford it and even now, living in Florida, I piss my wife off on a Saturday morning watching on ESPN or online. It's hard not having a hardcore group of west ham fans around like I did living in Romford but, who knows, maybe i'll get more involved in the banter on here.

Ill be honest with you guys. . . i am a young poster, and i take everything West Ham to heart and I will never waver from my support for this club. My first football memories were of Old Trafford and supporting Manchester United, my Grandads family is from Manchester you see and we visit them about once a year. Then when I was 5 on a really hot day, on a sandy beach named Camber on the south east coast, I asked my Dad "the other side of the family", who all grew up in London, if I could support West Ham like himself and his brother and their Dad. . . 2 days earlier I had been to watch Wimbeldon vs West Ham. I felt as If i belonged to the club from that day, and i will belong to the club to the day i die. Im always proud to say I SUPPORT WEST HAM UNITED, FROM THE EAST END !!! ( a tear comes to my eye every time i remember this moment, its set in stone, even though i was so young)

by pure chance, actually. me and my brother bought a trip to london to see football with my dad for his 60th birthday, and we ended watching west ham - liverpool. the fantastic atmosphere at the stadium, the fighting spirit of the team(which was present that early in the season) and my love for the underdog..all this summed up, gave me enough to want to follow this team. so..been a hammer fan for less than a year, but has to start somewhere:p

born and bread,the football is very entertaining,the fans are the best(but we already no that),my nan cousin is married to an ex hammer player.runs in the family.supported this great club for 36 years hammer till i die

I started supporting the "HAMMERS",after my dad took me to see them when i was 6,and it's my birthday on Tuesday and i will be 54(old fogey) as you so kindly put it mate.So i have had the magical claret & blue running through me for the past 48yrs.I have never witnessed such a poor season,but never in my lifetime would i contemplate desserting my beloved West Ham,and i know,that it don't matter how much we moan about the current team,not one of us on this site would ever stop supporting the the Hammers. So,please everyone,keep the faith and roar on the Hammers. "BE LUCKY"...Elmo.

My Dad, Manure fan. Mum comes from Millwall. My Uncles, biggest Chelsea fans there are. My fifth birthday. Uncle tries to buy me Chelsea kit. Fails. Panics 'cos it's my birthday. Only full kit in the shop - West Ham. How gutted must he have been to buy that! Queue life long roller coaster ride for me. Biggest high: Hammers -v- Scousers FA Cup Final Lowest: Hammers -v- Wolves Tuesday Found the 2007-2008 review DVD after the game yesterday. Watching it got me so frustrated...there was so much potential and Deano was banging them in. What I'd give for mid-table obscurity right now.

im from plaistow - dad, mum, nan, grandad,sister, aunt, uncle, everyone supports westham so i think thats why i support them. whufc

Born in Leytonstone and was was guided by my mothers side of the family who were Stratford based and I've been doomed from thereon in. Bugger. Wouldn't have it any other way tho (my Dad was from Leeds!!!!).

My whole family is Claret and Blue-all from Essex and Barking and Teddington.(Random). My old man was in the RAF so we eneded up in St. Athan Wales, i still live in the area. I first starting following football in primary school-there were Arsenal,Liverpool and Man Utd fans everywhere,there was one Newcastle fan but mostly dominated by the early three teams. I liked watching Man Utd-i think it was the Beckham effect but didnt really follow them. Then my dad (who isnt the keenest sposts man more into his cars) told me about my aunts love of the Claret and Blue which steamed from my Grandad, he said he followed them but not very religiously. So i decided they were my team and at 11 years old i bought my own West Ham jersey(it was on the sale rail at JJB) i was so proud and hardly ever took it off it my first game live was WHUFC V Blackburn and Di Canio had just signed -it was the same season that i'd started Secondary school where i would pretend i was Joe Cole my hero. Paolo Scored he was like Beckham was to Man Utd fans for me i absolutley adore him! and i've gone to watch games ever since-i see most away games in Birmingham area-and in Manchester i've been to Whufc v Man Utd, Cit,Wigan, Bolton they're the best games!! But i try to get to at least one every other month!I lve the singing and the pre-match atmosphere some pubs i've been to are mental when we're there!! I love the fact that we're so unpredictable and that we always have the potential to be champions(just look at Lamps,Johnsen,Cole,Rio,Carrick, Defoe, Terry where did they all start??)-i just wish the club would get some back bone keep our big stars and plow some money in then we'd be laughing-we need to do a Pompey who in my opinion are the best at the moment outside the top 4! best song i've heard sung to the tune of white xmas about Frank Lampard snr scoring at the final in the 80's(song shows how similar both were!!) I'm dreaming of a Frank Lampard, Just Like the one at Elland Road, When the Ball came over, and Frank fell over, and scored the fucking winning goal! WINNING GOAL!!!

ive supported west ham all my life to and i like to think i did in a previous life lol been brought up west ham through and through all my family are irons and i had a baby girl 4 months ago and shes my lil hammerette lol makes it the more sweeter coz the other halfs mum is a spu*s shite!just one big west ham maniac lol

I was born and bread in Ilford, lived in Newham including Plaistow and Canning Town for many years and now live in Dagenham so as I am not or ever was a stupid little glory hunter so who else would I support? I may lose freinds or even get divorced from my wife, who knows? But one thing is for sure, my beloved WHU will always be there and I am and always will be a Hammer till I die as they will always remain a constant.

im an oxford hammer, family are from dagenham my dad and grandad grew up in east london closest thing to good football must of been west ham my dad took me to watch brighton vs west ham think it was a testamonial or something and since then ive been hooked

Hi all, (I just read this after posting - sorry its long winded) I’m probably an 'old coot', to you youngsters; a 57 year old guy born in and living in Melbourne, Australia. My parents migrated from the East End of London and I grew up here in Melbourne playing our own brand of footy; Australian Rules. As an adherent of that game, I also followed/supported my favourite team at the elite level. I had no interest in the round-ball game which was often (in those early years) referred to as ‘wog ball’. This was mainly because it was played by the many migrants from southern Europe that had come to our shores in those post WW 2 days. I’m glad we are all better informed and more tolerant these days. The fact that my East End (Bromley by Bow) raised dad was a football (soccer) player himself and also an ardent West Ham fan, mattered little to this boy. I was well and truly caught up with my schoolboy mates and immersed in the local football brand and its culture. However, to this day I can still hear my dad walking around the house calling out things like “Up the ‘ammers” with his cockney accent. My dad died at a pretty young age so I never got the chance to understand his connection and consequent affection for ‘is ‘ammers. About five years ago I began digging up a bit about my family history and background. I was able to discover and make contact with a number of modern day cousins of whom I had previously no knowledge. It turns out that many of these are total fanatics when it comes to the Hammers – it’s almost a family thing (although there are a few miscreants amongst us). I have since learned that my dad’s dad, my grandfather, was also a hammers fan. In fact he had been so since the first days. My understanding is that he was a supporter of the Thames Iron & Steel Works team; West Ham United's previous incarnation. Apparently there were some family connections to that company and its football team during the 1890s. It’s strange, but learning of these things began to help me understand a little of where my dad was coming from and made me somehow develop a desire to follow the fortunes of the club myself. Well, you wouldn’t want to know it; it only took 54 years for the seed to sprout, but I am now something of a fanatic myself – if one can be so from this distance. I am on the WHUFC website daily, I scan the news and web for information daily (it’s how I found this site) and whenever they are playing, if not being televised, I am looking at a text commentary of the match on the net. This could be seen as odd behaviour when you consider that they are usually playing during the very small hours of the morning our time. One of these days I will make to The Boleyn Ground to watch a match - hope they don't move beforehand. Having cable TV, I usually get to see most games live on the box; again during the small hours. I just love it and wouldn’t miss a game for quids. I’m always there in front of the box, drinks and snacks at the ready. All I need is a scarf and a clapper. If my old dad was here now, he would be absolutely gob-smacked to think that he could watch his ‘ammers ‘live’ and in full colour on TV here in Oz. In those early days of the 1950s and 1960s, all you could hope for, if you were lucky, was for the match scores to be printed in the paper three or four days after the event. Here’s an invitation for Melbourne Hammers fans. If you do not have access to cable and you feel inclined to sit up during the small hours watching them, I’d be happy to host one or two at my place to share a beer, a snack and talk a whole lot of rubbish about the hammers when they are playing. I’m out in the east of Melbourne - Glen Waverley way. Cheers Bill