In this week’s edition of our weekly throwback segment, we speak to Ian, 56, a lifelong West Ham fan and season ticket holder about a very special night, a year ago yesterday.
“I’ve been a West Ham for 50 years and a season ticket holder for the last six years with my two sons. On Tuesday 10th May we were heading for Upton Park for the last ever game at the Boleyn Ground. We had an hour’s drive ahead of us due to relocation from our roots in the east end of London.
On the journey I told my two sons how fitting it was for me to have this last game against Manchester United because in 1970 my first ever visit to the Boleyn also featured the Red Devils. I stood in the north bank with my dad and was transfixed by the sight of Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst, my two idols. It was a fantastic occasion even though the two teams fought out a hard earned 0-0 draw.
Little did I know what was to come for the final match. We arrived early and parked just off of Barking Road and walked up to the ground to buy our programmes. Even at this early stage, the roads around the Boleyn were heaving and already an unbelievable atmosphere was brewing. We walked back towards the car and kept up our match day tradition of having pie and mash before the match.
Back at the car to read the programmes we could hear singing and chanting even from over half a mile away. We left the car and headed for the most memorable night of football ever. Thousands of fans that couldn’t get tickets had lined the streets making it quite difficult to get our seats in the Trevor Brooking upper, the very same end of my fist experience all those years ago. We all had t-shirts to put on commemorating the occasion and producing a claret and blue effect all around the stadium.
The kickoff was delayed 45 minutes owing to the crowds outside and traffic congestion held up the Man United team coach. This added to the drama of the evening with singing going on inside and outside the ground.
Finally, the players from both sides were coming out to Bubbles which was sung with such fervour, unlike any other match. The game was under way and the atmosphere was incredible. In the 10th minute the moment we were waiting for saw Diafra Sakho shoot low into back of the net and send us all into raptures. Andy Carroll missed a golden opportunity soon afterwards to make it 2-0 but there was to be no other goal in the first half.
Into the second half of the match and so far things have been fairly even. On 51 minutes, Anthony Martial cuts in from wide and squeezes the ball between the near post and Darren Randolph’s outstretched arm to confirm parity in the match. 20 minutes later Martial again proves to be a thorn in the West Ham defence and puts United 1-2 ahead to stunned silence apart from the travelling faithful. We were all dreading the thought of defeat in our last ever match but thankfully four minutes later Michail Antonio leapt majestically to head past De Gea and again the roof was lifted with a monumental cheer. The belief was back and the team responded with extra pressure on the United defence. In the 80th minute Payet crossed and Winston Reid glanced a header to make it 3-2. It was met with probably the loudest cheer ever witnessed at the Boleyn. The last ten minutes were probably the longest ever for every West Ham fan, either in the ground or at home or around the pubs and clubs.
We made it, massive relief when the ref finally blew the whistle. The celebrations were immense and the closing ceremony was about to begin. Fireworks and pyrotechnics graced the famous old ground and former greats were making pitch appearances. The stadium was suddenly plunged into darkness and we waited for what was to come next.
The big screens flickered into life and showed one of the greatest goals ever to be witnessed at Upton Park. It was Paulo Di Canio’s against Wimbledon. A spotlight suddenly beamed towards the pitch and revealed Paulo standing on the very spot where that fantastic volley occurred. It was a brilliant touch that was repeated with Trevor Brooking when he scored a brilliant goal on a famous European night.
After more celebrations and appearances from players past and present it was the moment when we had to leave this fantastic home for the last time. My sons and I savoured the moment and were ones of the very last to leave our stand. Lingering looks over our shoulders on the way out and still shell shocked from the evening’s drama. It was hard to leave and a place that we will never forget for the rest of our lives.”