West Ham fans were in fine voice during and after the defeat Chelsea and it was very much noted and appreciated by the manager and players.
After West Ham surrendered a deserved 1-0 lead to harshly lose 2-1 at Chelsea, Graham Potter noticed one of the many things he’d been told was true.
Hammers supporters are often wrongly painted as a fanbase that’s hard to please.
West Ham fans have been labelled fickle and unrealistic.
Especially since the departure of David Moyes and the way his time in east London ended.
When joining the Hammers, the press were sure to remind Potter of how disgruntled and expectant the fanbase was.
But there is a big difference between being hard to please and being demanding.
Irons fans would admit they can be very demanding. But what they demand is nothing extraordinary.
Sneering pundits, rival fans and journalists often belittle the ‘West Ham way’.
The inference from those dismissing the West Ham way as a fallacy is that it is Barcelona-esque tika taka football. Sometimes it seems West Ham’s fans are not allowed to have standards, expectations and opinions.
But that’s not the true West Ham way at all.
Potter sees true colours of West Ham fans
West Ham supporters will forgive most things if they see their players giving maximum effort.
It is an absolute minimum requirement as a Hammer.
The real West Ham way is fronting up when things aren’t going for you. Being brave, showing for the ball and not hiding in times of adversity.
Always giving your all regardless of how you might be playing.
The club’s Academy feeds into the essence of the true West Ham way alongside those things.
And of course combining all of those things to give West Ham’s fans hope.
The real West Ham way in truth is probably no different to how Everton, Villa, Newcastle and other big clubs outside the so-called “elite” want their teams and players to play.
New boss already loving ‘knowledgeable’ Hammers fans
Hammers supporters are too often portrayed as being impossible to please.
Potter’s West Ham is already so much closer to the club’s ideals than fans have witnessed for some time.
But after losing 2-1 at Stamford Bridge, Potter saw something else he was told to be true.
Once supporters like what they are seeing on the pitch and feel that connection with the manager and team, they are among the most fiercely loyal in football.
“I think you can see from the reaction of the supporters, they know their football, and I think the way they responded at the end of the game probably shows the effort the players put in,” Potter told West Ham’s website.
“As I said before, West Ham fans, they know their football.
“They probably had a few bad experiences here, so I think they appreciated what the players did and what they gave.”
Finally a manager that really truly gets us.
And what West Ham fans were relentlessly chanting at Chelsea sums up the entire club.
Last summer most West Ham fans could be forgiven to forgetting they’d even signed Andy Irving.
The Scot was something of a dirty little secret at West Ham at the start of this summer.
Irving’s fellow Scot Moyes was Hammers boss when the club signed him from SK Austria Klagenfurt before immediately loaning him back.
Tim Steidten led a deal which saw West Ham pay a reported £1.5m for the 24-year-old central midfielder as part of a feeder club partnership.
But there was an air of mystery and an element of the bizarre surrounding Irving at West Ham in the summer.
What West Ham fans chanted at Chelsea sums up entire club
The club never officially unveiled or announced the Scot as a signing.
There was barely any mention of the former Hearts player as he started pre-season under Lopetegui.
A lack of bodies meant Irving was used in most pre-season matches. His underdog story, and a barnstorming goal, saw Irving become an unlikely fan favourite.
He has made a few cameo sub appearances this season.
But at Stamford Bridge, Irving was handed a shock first start.
That’s when West Ham fans really showed what this football club is all about.
The Hammers are a true family club at heart.
And families rally around when they need to support one another.
Irving officially welcomed into the West Ham family
None more so than the West Ham family.
Chelsea’s increasingly touristy and corporate home crowd were nonplussed as West Ham chanted over and over about a player they’ve probably never heard of – that man Irving.
Irving would clearly have been nervous ahead of his full Premier League debut.
The away fans knew that would be the case. They know the unusual and unique journey the Scottish midfielder has been on to get to this moment. West Ham fans love nothing more than an underdog. After all they’ve spent most of their history being just that.
So they sang about Irving all night long at Stamford Bridge, including in the concourses at half-time and full-time.
West Ham away fans’ Andy Irving song list at Chelsea:
- There’s only one Andy Irving
- You’re only here for the Irving
- Irving, Irving give us a wave
- Doo doo doo doo Andy Irving
- You’ve seen the Irving now —- off home
- Andy Irving, he’s coming for you
- Oh Andy Irving you are the love of my life
- You’re just a —- Andy Irving (sung to Cole Palmer)
- Andy Irving’s having a party
If anything sums up what makes West Ham and its fans special, the treatment of Irving just about nails it.
Never change West Ham fans.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
