Hello from NYC. My name is Sean and I represent the NYC HAMMERS and welcome to my new weekly column for moorethanaclub. It’s a pleasure for a proper magazine to want to hear from supporters in America who support a proper club. The NYC HAMMERS have been a supporters club since 2001 that is a lot longer than most Americans have been watching the game. Not really a joke but more of a fact sadly. However, much like their national team it has been picking up in a massive way. I’ll talk about that later.
Years ago when I first came to NYC, most people lost the whole notion of how the game is played. I once had had someone criticize the game as ” like watching some other guy read a book!” God forgive if I got down to explain the offside rule to a group of people, could have started a riot out of the disillusionment of American sports.
Through these prejudices I have been able to keep a stout supporters club of about 70 members in one of the greatest cities in the world of a non football supporting country.
What I like to introduce you to in the coming weeks is more of the New York’s attitude of how we support here. NYC is a different animal to other cities where something’s are ok to do and where as here it is taboo and vice versa I’m sure.
To tell you a little about us as a group is with the lack of ability to be able to go to every game at Boleyn Ground makes up for the fact we get all league games live on television here, better than the days when you had to read the results out of the monday newspaper. We get to see how the crowd in the stands reacts and we feel it. When our player scores we cheer to the top of our lungs with joy. When we lose we go home feeling gutted. We would not have this any other way because when we take those three points it is the greatest feeling ever and we are on top of the world. In the coming weeks I’ll like to tell you how a club in america supports a team from the East End of London. How we have actually come to meeting the heros who wear the Claret and Blue week in and week out and the opinions of how we see the club is in our the eyes.
If there is any suggestions on topics or if you have any questions you can contact me directly through twitter @nychammer or nychammers.facebook.com through Facebook. If your ever in the NYC area for holiday please visit us at Smithfield for any league game. It will alway be live and the are located in the heart of Manhattan @ 215 West 28th street near the corner of 7th Ave.