Our coverage of the beautiful game continues! And it’s time for our first foray into East London to see two of England’s quintessential working-class titans duke it out for a few points in the middle of the Premier League table. Today, we’re seeing West Ham v. Everton at London Stadium.
For the unindoctrinated, Everton is a Liverpool-based team coming to play on West Ham’s home turf. This is an interesting season for Everton because they were docked 10-points in what the football world has unanimously agreed is an injustice of the highest order. After that, death (i.e. relegation) seemed inevitable, but they have harnessed their collective spite to mount a revenge-fueled run of wins that has put them comfortably in the center of the table, safe from the relegation zone. If it wasn’t for those 10 points, they would be a strong contender for European qualification right now. Unfortunately for West Ham, this would ultimately mean a home-defeat for them. So there were lots of angry fans in East London on this day, but that’s part of the magic of the game. ✨
Here’s London Stadium on the map for you so you can get a sense of location.
Experiencing London Stadium
Our heroes approached London Stadium on a gray, cold, rainy October day. If you watch Premier League often, you will know that these boys play through the elements. I’ve seen games played amidst a torrential downpour, and now it was my turn to partake in the grand tradition of defying England’s sour weather for a football match.
Luckily for us, all we could afford were nose-bleed seats, which meant we were well-sheltered by London Stadium’s circular overhang. While the people in the front rows suffered through the rain alongside the players, we got to watch the game from our nice, dry perch, whilst enjoying stadium food and hot chocolate. However, by the end of the game the weather had cleared and the skies were blue.
Here are some snaps from game time inside London Stadium.
West Ham lost this game, much to the dismay of the crowd sitting around us. Just as I did in the Chelsea v Brighton game at Stamford Bridge, I took the liberty of writing down a few of the hilarious things that were screamed by fans in my immediate vicinity.
“For fuck’s sake!”
“Absolute shit”
“PISS OFF!” (in response to cheers from Everton supporters)
“Stuart bloody Atwell!” (Stuart Atwell was the referee for this match)
“Fucking useless!”
And my personal favorite…
“WHY DO THEY PUT US THROUGH THIS AGONY??”
It’s worth noting that 3 days later West Ham absolutely trounced Arsenal here in London Stadium to make it to the knock-out round of the EFL cup. But it was a poor showing in this particular match.
But at least the sun came out by the end of the match! Here’s a couple of shots with a blue-ish sky overhead as London Stadium cleared out at the end of the match.
It was a beautiful autumn day for a long crowded walk back to the tube at the end of this match. Here’s a few shots from our walk through Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Stratford back to the tube station. This weird-looking red-ish structure you see towering over the crowds next to London Stadium is called ArcelorMittal Orbit. It was built for the 2012 London Olympics games and in addition to its aesthetic functions, it’s also a very long tunnel slide that you can go down.
So… if you’re into the slides… this is a slide.
Here’s a hot take for you—and I feel like my perspective on this matter should carry some weight because I have spent the past 8 years working in marketing… I think West Ham has all of the raw materials to be massively commercialized as a “hipster” brand. It represents the working class. The Hammers logo is an absolute classic. It’s got a great set of colors that most people look good in. There is already some vague awareness of West Ham internationally. And it’s a genuinely historic brand (they were founded in 1895). With the right marketing team, they could really do something with their brand!
Additionally, West Ham is already somewhat known beyond the confines of soccer fandom in the U.S. because of the 2005 film Green Street Hooligans. If you want to understand West Ham’s hard-scrabble reputation and get a glimpse into the “hooliganism” that plagued European football until recently, this movie is for you. Today, thanks to judicial efforts across the UK, hooligans seem to be (mostly) a thing of the past, but it wasn’t long ago that this movie trailer was an accurate depiction of a particular British subculture.
Oh, and back to the matter of branding—West Ham has one of the best chants/songs in the whole Premier League. The song is called “Bubbles” and is derived from a tune called “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” which was written and released in the U.S. in 1918 as part of broadway show. It made its way across the pond to West Ham as early as 1920, and over the course of the ensuing decades became one of the most recognizable songs/chants in English football. It’s a ‘thing’ at West Ham games that people in the stands will literally blow bubbles during the game with the ring and a bottle of soap. It’s very unique.
However, what I like about this song / chant the most is how bleak the lyrics are. Here’s the lyrics to the song:
I'm forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air,
They fly so high,
Nearly reach the sky,
Then like my dreams,
They fade and die.
Fortune's always hiding,
I've looked everywhere,
I'm forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air.
“Like my dreams they fade and die.” WOW. The juxtaposition of the hopelessness of these lyrics with a the electric atmosphere of a stadium full people singing these words is interesting. It has layers. There’s a resigned, working-class solidarity embedded in this tradition that is quite arresting to see in action. Here’s a good example of the chant/song “Bubbles” in its prime.
Up until this point, I would just root for whichever players are in my fantasy lineup each week, but now that I have relocated to England, my Premier League fandom/allegiance is up for grabs this year. I’m in the market for a team to support and I’m ready to get swept up in a Green Street Hooligans-type situation! In all seriousness, I don’t feel like I’ll ever be a part of this particular demographic of fans, but I respect the hell out of them.
So, for the Track of the Day, I’ll leave you with a re-imagining of this song that I really enjoyed.
UP NEXT: Tottenham Hotspur v. Bournemouth @(New) White Hart Lane.
