West Ham United: What's all the fuss with this 'football' stuff?

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Kevin Wallace
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF Mildenhall, England --  Roaring crowds, cheers and festive singing could be heard all the way down Barking Road in Upton Park, London, Oct. 24 as I made my way to Boleyn Ground, home to the West Ham United Football Club.

In a spectacle that I can only compare to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, hordes of supporters literally blanketed the streets and sang club songs together.

I watched as many people stopped dead center in the middle of the Barking Road and Green Street intersection as horse-mounted police officers and a few cars tried to weave their way through the madness.

I soon made my way out into the intersection to see what was going on.

Patron after patron stopped to pay respect to the Champions Statue - a life-sized sculpture of 1966 England World Cup soccer champions Bobby Moore, Sir Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters and Ray Wilson.

I did the same.

I remember thinking, "This must be what all the fuss is about, this must be why football [soccer] remains the world's most popular sport," and at that time I'd only been to a few pubs and walked down the street ... I hadn't even made it into the stadium yet!

I watched the Denver Broncos in their prime, with John Elway throwing at his best. I've seen National Hockey League games, watched the L.A. Lakers play a home game, and been to countless Major League Baseball games.

Honestly, none of them compare to what I was about to witness.

As I charged up the several flights of stairs leading to our seats, I felt like I was swimming through a sea of claret and blue, the Hammers colors.

Everyone was wearing them.

I was too.

When my friend Danny Reed and I got to our seats, I was a bit surprised to not see vendors selling beer and snacks, as you would in almost any American sporting venue.

"Mate, you've got to wait until halftime to get that here," explained Danny.

Danny grew up less than a half mile from Boleyn Ground and knew endless information about the club's history and players. But I wasn't bothered with history at the moment, the roars of the crowd and action on the pitch kept my keen attention.

Besides, we'd have all night to talk about that stuff.

Though we had actual seats to rest our buttocks on, I soon discovered they were not needed as the non-stop action kept everyone aloft. Now I understood why we had to wait until halftime for snacks.

The Hammers came out strong and put in a goal around the 12-minute mark. The crowd went absolutely wild. About 10 minutes after that, visiting Newcastle United came back to score, and an equal amount of celebration streamed from the away stands.

Though it was freezing cold out and I had a sweatshirt under my West Ham shirt, many of the visiting supporters removed their black and white tops, and went bare chested right there in the frigid London evening air.

"What is wrong with those guys," I asked?

Danny soon explained that going shirtless is a tradition for many Newcastle fans, and they do it at every game - in the sun, rain or snow.

"That's mental!" I said ... but actually respected their dedication.

West Ham went on to lose the match 2 - 1, which I admit I wasn't very pleased by. Still, that day, on those stadium grounds and in that city, there was no way my mood could have sombered. In fact, the entire atmosphere seemed to stay extremely positive, despite the loss.

Back on the streets after the match, shops and pubs overflowed with people, which continued to carry the festivities up and down Barking Road.

There I was once again, an American standing in front of Bobby Moore's statue and marveling at the upbeat party all around me.

"So this is it, this is what all the football madness is about," I remember thinking again. I wondered how I could ever explain the feeling to other visiting American forces.

Even sitting here now at my desk, I really can't. It's something you'd have to experience for yourself to truly appreciate.

But trust me on this: there is a genuine reason why the sport remains so popular across the globe.

If and when you go to a match, and I recommend you do, be prepared to see the intersection where Mardi Gras meets the NFL and MLB head on, and merge into a world-class environment - prepare to be engulfed by the sheer and utter madness of match day.