I feel cheated

As a fan who has been going to West Ham since the early '90s, I’m not new to seeing a poor side that's lacking belief, fight or passion. I’ve seen the previous relegation fights and struggles.

But added to all of that was a enjoyable experience in the Championship and a couple of decent seasons under Big Sam. Also the fifth place finish and the flair of that Harry Redknapp team. The promotion side in the Billy Bonds era. And of course the final season at the old place!

But now, I feel that the heart has truly been ripped out of our club.

Embed from Getty Images


I wasn’t expecting instant success but we have been fed a string of lies. Getting us to accept that leaving our home of more than 100 years was what we needed, it now seems a bitter pill to swallow.

So, January 2010. Gold and Sullivan purchased the majority sharehold in the club, and brought along with them Karren Brady. Everyone was jumping from the rafters, the club saved from the rack and ruin of the Icelandic bank disaster.

Their first priority was to take over the Olympic Stadium and move us out of Upton Park and onto the infamous 'next level'. A year later and relegation under Avram Grant, when it was there for all to see - he was no longer the man to ‘keep us up’ and still they didn’t act.....so, relegation.

Nonetheless, we accepted our fate and rebuilt in the Championship under Big Sam. With the deal for our move to Stratford now rubber-stamped, the process began of convincing the fans.

No vote allowed, but we were told we would take up residence for the beginning of the 2016/17 season. Fans forums galore and the promise of a home that we would leave us "in no doubt was the true home of West Ham United".

Images and drapes of former players and the glory days gone by. The statue of our three World Cup winners! We were even going to have ‘claret and blue’ seats.....what a future it looked!

Instead, the truth. Wven on the eve of our final home game at Upton Park, the talks had started with our MARQUEE £40 million, 20 goal a season striker. Yet, somehow the 'marquee striker' turned out to be a Millets pop-up tent.

Embed from Getty Images


So, in the form of Zaza, we had another of the famous loans with view to a permanent deal on our books. We were told "we have never seen David Sullivan work so hard in a window", then "we tried our best". They only used that one on us three times!

Anyway, the first game in our new 'home' and I couldn’t help but be totally underwhelmed with what we have been delivered:

- No sign of the digital wrap
- No drapes of former players
- No statues
- No free wi-fi
- Barely any claret and blue seats
- Rubbish non-retractable seating
- And changing our badge to adopt the word ‘London’

Plus:

- Scaffolding
- Concrete blocks
- Rows of empty white seats
- Black and claret tarpaulins
- Gaps behind the goal the size of the old Chicken Run

The Board show little, if any, respect to our former players. Many of whom now feel so unwelcome that they will not step foot inside the place. The players you have chosen as 'Club Ambassadors' hardly set the pulses racing.

"A place where you are left in no doubt that you have arrived at the home of West Ham United," is how the stadium was described by Karren Brady.

If that’s what she thinks is fitting, then Lord Sugar should call her out on her own ability to deliver a product. He should be able to fit it in whilst slagging our club off and making a laughing stock of us to his BBC audience.

But still, you could forgive them the first season and put it down to the massive change, but what’s to follow, for me, was the final straw.

We had three away games to start the season, when we were told West Ham United would be the 'main tenant' and that we would have PRIORITY when it came to our fixtures.

Embed from Getty Images


Any sign of what little identity we had in our 'home ground' was stripped for the Anniversary Games. In fact they couldn’t even be bothered to put it back to how they found it when we left in May.

The Sir Trevor Brooking Stand's claret tarpaulin sign is still half covered in white, empty seats. We’ve been made to feel as welcome as the staff and stewards make you feel at the kiosks. And let’s not get started on the Westfield security!

Moving on, there will be no home game on Boxing Day for the Hammers for the foreseeable future. Great!

Our recent visit to Wembley showed what can be achieved. Spurs have made the Wembley surroundings more like 'home' for just one season than we have done with our 99-year lease.

Their former heroes are at every game proudly wearing club ties and jackets. But it’s ok, we have put up a tribute to the late great Bobby Moore - that should appease the 'customers', at least.

On to the squad and manager. If Slaven Bilic wasn’t fit for purpose and they had question marks over his position going into his final season, why was he not replaced in the summer!?

Embed from Getty Images


The players all knew he has just the one year left, it's there for all to see. There was a serious lack of effort, as was the case with Big Sam in his last six months in charge once they knew he was going.

If, three years ago, someone had offered me the squad we have now I’d have bitten their hand off. But in truth, we have an aging defence and the lack of real investment (as shown by our net spend) has left us lagging behind other, comparable teams.

These are teams that we should be more than competing with, but instead we are currently looking up at. This is hardly "the next level"...

To compete with the 'big clubs' we were informed that we must sell Upton Park and move - that’s what they said. And as someone who doesn’t expect instant success, I’d buy into what I was sold, but this is far from the dream.

So I put it to Mr Gold, Mr Sullivan and Lady Brady - you haven’t delivered on so many levels, so in the words of Lord Sugar:"YOU'RE FIRED!"

I don’t trust you! I don’t believe in your lies! Lie after lie after lie... broken promises galore... you can call yourself fans, but no fan of this club would have delivered to us what you have! You’ll never really care like what we do. FACT!

Embed from Getty Images


Terrence Brown and those before you never promised the earth, so we didn’t expect it. But the constant rubbish you have fed us has now taken its toll!

I can’t even motivate myself to come to watch. I don’t want to watch the club I love any more, in a stadium David Sullivan claimed 95 per cent of us are happy in! You don’t know or respect your fans customers and you don’t want to, either!

And if your statement of intent regarding moving us to "the next level" is Mr David Moyes, then you're even worse than I thought you could be.

Now, not everyone will agree with this but it’s all about opinions - and this is mine! Anyway, rant over. I must now go and look for the heart and soul you have ripped out of me.

* Like to share your thoughts on this article? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.

* Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the highlighted author/s and do not necessarily represent or reflect the official policy or position of KUMB.com.


More Opinion