This is Upton Park, Home of the Hammers: What Makes the Boleyn Ground Special?

The Boleyn Ground commonly known as Upton Park due its location is the home football stadium of West Ham United since 1904. It is fair to state that for all West Ham fans the Boleyn Ground has been the only home ground associated with their club. Recently the club owners have had plans to relocate away from Upton Park to the newly built Olympic Stadium in Stratford. These plans have brought mixed reactions from the fans whether the club should relocate away from Upton Park, which has been their home for over 100 years. This article will examine what makes Upton Park special to the West Ham fans starting with a brief history of the Ground.

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Before West Ham United became a limited company, the club was known as the Thames Ironworks and played their home matches at the Memorial Grounds in Canning Town. The team was full of ship workers that worked at the East End docks and the club’s nickname the ‘Hammers’ symbolised the tools of a shipyard worker. Arnold F. Hills, the founder of the club was un-happy with the Memorial Grounds because the club did not make enough profit. He decided to relocate the club away from the Memorial Grounds to a new site one mile to the east, the Boleyn Ground on Green Street in Upton Park.

 

The club started to rent Green Street House and grounds from the Roman Catholic Church. Built in 1544, the Green Street House was known locally as the Boleyn Castle because of its association with Anne Boleyn. Many believed that she had either stayed at, or as some believe, owned the house. Hence, the name Boleyn Ground came into being. The Boleyn Ground was everything the Memorial Grounds had not been. It was easily accessible for large numbers of spectators, it was much closer to the residential areas surrounding Upton Park and the ground was close to a railway station.

By the 1920s the club drew a level of support which peaked by 18-22,000. The team were performing well in the league and competed in the first F.A Cup Final to be staged at Wembley. The excitement of reaching the Cup Final propelled the club into the light of publicity it had never witnessed before. Media coverage caused people to notice the club. The civic reception brought West Ham into the mainstream of local conversation. With the final being held in London, West Ham managed to attract enormous amount of spectators.

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The success of the club in 1923 convinced the directors that they had a new status in football and decided to invest more money to improve the club and its image. A 5,000 person capacity double-decker grandstand was built and was the largest in London. The East Stand became known as ‘Chicken Run’ by the West Ham supporters. The stand got labelled the ‘Chicken Run’ because it was surrounded by a similar wire that was used on chicken runs. When the stand was viewed from the opposite side of the ground it resembled just like a chicken run. The ‘chicken run’ was a drab, wet bank where the wits seemed loudest and crudest. However, despite its lack of creature comforts, it was the sentimental home of many old supporters.

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During the 1960s, many fans were regularly attending the ground to watch West Ham players Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters. These players helped the club win their first major trophy in 1964 and helped England win the World Cup in 1966. The club enjoyed their most successful period on the field, winning the F.A Cup in 1975 and 1980, and winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1976. During this period the fans started to develop emotional attachments for the Boleyn Ground.

Similar to how FC Barcelona became the symbol of Catalan identity, West Ham United and the Boleyn Ground become the symbol of the ‘Cockneys and East-Enders’. The East End community would turn up in their numbers to watch the club play attractive football, which become known as ‘the West Ham way’. This style of football was rooted in simplicity, slick football, passing the ball along the ground, entertaining the crowd and most importantly, a deep commitment to the team. This blend of football was pioneered by the club’s two legendary managers: Ron Greenwood and John Lyall. The Boleyn Ground become the space where the East London community would gather and watch this form of art being showcased by local East End boys, such as, Trevor Brooking, Frank Lampard and Billy Bonds. Supporting West Ham and going to Upton Park was a way of staying a true East-Ender.

The Boleyn Ground is never merely the physical construct on Green Street in E13. It is the place where Ron Greenwood and John Lyall managed, where World Cup winners, Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters played week in week out, where Billy Bonds and Julian Dicks strode with commanding dominance, where opposing players and fans were intimidated by the notorious Chicken Run crowd and a site where ashes of loved ones are scattered. The place is a repository of memory from those games under the lights at Upton Park against special foes or the event of witnessing a great game, a game-breaking move, or the debut or final game of a great player. Stands at the South End and North End of the stadium are named after West Ham legends Bobby Moore and Sir Trevor Brooking respectively. These special moments, memories and players can form a fan’s identity related to the ground.

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Although majority of times the fans will leave the ground in distress because of the bad result (particularly in recent times), they will turn up again in full hopes for the next game. This is because they have emotional attachments for the ground. Seeing the same people week in week out, travelling down the same route, sitting on the same seat for many years and following their family’s club defines the fans love for the club and the Boleyn Ground.

The club has not been as successful as the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United however, the fans have constantly turned up in their numbers to the Boleyn Ground for many years because it is a expression of staying a true East-Ender. This makes West Ham United a distinctive football club and the Boleyn Ground a special place for the fans. If the club does relocate to the Olympic Stadium it will lose its uniqueness. However, the club may need to ‘sacrifice’ the Boleyn Ground in order to ‘progress’ to meet the growing commercial demands of modern football.