Upton Park (West Ham FC)

Upton Park or the Boleyn Ground? Before my visit I was completely oblivious to the ground being called the Boleyn Ground as most people and the media call it Upton Park. After leaving the train station you can see the ground is located in a fairly run down area of London with a lot of small shops. The walk to the away end was particularly unpleasant, where we were sent down some small alleyway by the police, good job it was the middle of the day. Outside the ground it is a decent space with there being just about enough room for a few key facilities inside. There were enough pubs around for both sets of fans to be selective and be under control and happy. The ...

Last season grabbing three points away from home was a pipedream. Far from the doom of being a premiership struggler, there was always the FA cup to look forward to. Instead of being drawn against someone from league one or two, we got West Ham away. We had played them the previous season and both times ended in a 1-1 draw. Needless to say I was less than confident on current form that we would get an easy passage through to the next round. Come final whistle we had lost 1-0 to a late Marlon Harewood goal, back we would go to East Anglia with coaches humming with despair. Anyway at least this a chance to visit Upton Park, a ground I doubt I’ll be seeing next ...

Are plans for an 80,000 seater stadium in Stratford really gonna help West Ham reach the holy grail status of becoming one of the 'big 6'? At the moment you couldn't get 800 people to watch that rag-tag bunch of rabble, let alone the projected 80,000. And all so we can help the Great British Olympic Bid for 2000 and something. Let's stay at the Boleyn, with its square pitch and morgue-like atmosphere. So we're having extra tiers put onto one of the stands - big deal, just so another 3,000 fans can pay up to £40 a game and then just sit back mute with their arms folded... Nothing's ever dull at The Hammers though, eh?!? ...