West Ham United have never been considered as a power of English football. Nor have they ever been worded in the same sentence as Liverpool, Man United, Arsenal or Chelsea.
But West Ham has always had proud supporters who have remained very loyal to their team and have turned up in force every home game to see their team give their all at old Upton Park – at least until the end of the 2015-16 EPL season.
At the end of the 2010-11 EPL season West Ham were in turmoil, being relegated to the football league championship after a last place finish in the EPL. For the first time in six seasons West Ham would drop back out of the spotlight. They would lose sponsors, TV rights and lots of money.
This period would see the Irons relying heavily on club legend Carlton Cole to get the job done each week up front. But typical to the West Ham spirit they never gave up and would be quickly back in the EPL. In the 2015-16 season West Ham would finish a club high of 7th after knocking on the door of 4th place all year, an amazing turn around in just 5 seasons.
Their power up forward was easily recognized with former Liverpool man Andy Carroll and Frenchman Dimitri Payet combining for 21 goals between them.
West Ham would score 65 goals for the year, more than anyone outside the top four. But during the reveal they would make a mistake that could be the most costly in their long history – they would elect to move games away from their traditional ground Upton Park which had been the club’s home since 1904.
Despite their impressive season I predicted after the season had ended West Ham would be relegated back out of the EPL. People I said this to said I was joking and that would never happen to a club well in its rights to be chasing top 4. I wasn’t joking.
For clubs like Man City and Arsenal who had relocated from their traditional homes in the last 15 years, it doesn’t have a big effect for their supporters because they are always near the top of the ladder and their supporters will be happy to watch them play anywhere, but for a lesser club like West Ham, your ground is everything.
The move to the 60,000 seat Olympic stadium has been a disaster. The fans haven’t liked it and the players have struggled to adapt to the new environment winning only one of their opening four matches at the ground.
Club legend and captain Mark Noble who has been at West Ham since 2004 said that he accidently drove to the Upton Park instead of Olympic Stadium for the club’s first match at the new venue.
Upton Park has now been demolished and West Ham will never return there, but so many West Ham fans wish that wasn’t the case. As do the long serving players who say the atmosphere is nothing like what it used to be at Upton Park.
Now sitting 15th, it seems West Ham have lost their spark of previous seasons with their defense all over the place conceding 13 goals in the opening 8 games. Their squad hasn’t changed much, if anything it is stronger, but their routines certainly changed a lot.
I fear relegation may hit West Ham yet again.
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