Oh Such A Perfect Day
I’ve finally fulfilled an ambition and have seen West Ham play at Wembley. It’s been 31 years since we played there, I’m just hoping it’s not another 31 years until the next time!
The day started with the journey into London and down to the Golden Eagle pub on Marylebone Lane to meet up with friends and fans of the West Ham Podcast, including the hosts Phil Whelans and Jim Grant. I’d listened to the latest epsiode of the ‘cast on the way into town, and had been giggling like a mental person all the way up. The mood inside the pub was generally positive and we all felt that we should get the right result at the end of the day. It couldn’t have been the beer talking, they’d only been there a couple of hours!
We strolled down to the tube with a quick stop off for some sausage (not a euphamism!), and jumped onto the Jubilee line for the train all the way to Wembley Park. On the journey we came across (not a euphamism) fans of both teams and after invading a carriage with about a dozen or so ‘Pool fans in it enjoyed a bit of banter and a sing-song with them. Had it been a competition, we would have won the sing off!
Arriving at Wembley, the sight of thousands of fans walking up Wembley Way was a glorious sight. Everyone was in good spirits, singing songs throwing insults at each other. The cockney boys sang about the dirty northern bastads and vice versa. After picking up a programme we all went our separate ways into the ground and I reluctantly joined the Tangerines to find my seat in the Blackpool end.
After grabbing a cheeseburger and chips and a beer (all at extravagant prices – £4.70 for a bottle of Calsberg!) I wandered down to my seat and sat down quietly. Being in with the Blackpool fans I couldn’t really make it known that I was a West Ham fan, and so when Carlton Cole opened the scoring I kept my mouth shut and did my best not to let my happiness appear across my face. Three blokes a few rows down in the block next to me weren’t so subtle!
The West Ham fans outnumbered their opponents and the noise coming from their end drowned everything else out. At half time it was back up to get another drink and because it was taking ages to get served, the second half kicked off with loads of fans still milling around the concourse. As a result, they and I missed the Blackpool equaliser. For me that was a good thing as everyone around me would have gone mental and I would have just sat there looking glum.
For the rest of the second half it seemed as though Blackpool were on top and I was getting nervous. I sat on my hands for most of it – it stopped me biting my nails and showing any emotion. But then I nearly gave myself away when Kevin Nolan hit the crossbar with a cracking volley. Luckily I don’t think many people noticed as I leapt a little bit out of my seat and let out a “Ooohhh!”.
Just when it looked like the game would be heading to extra time and penalties, we finally made the breakthrough despite being under pressure for most of the half. Carlton Cole managed to knock the ball out to Ricardo Vaz Te while under pressure from the ‘pool keeper and he rifled it into the roof of the net. We were heading back to the Premier League! Or we were once they’d played nearly six minutes of injury time.
The scenes in the West Ham end were fantastic. Bubbles rang out for the umpteenth time as everyone went mental. The Blackpool fans slowly left and I was able to make it over to next to where the West Ham fans were to join in the celebrations. The trophy was lifted and then paraded around the ground as we went into party mode, singing and dancing along to Bubbles (again!), Twist And Shout, We Are The Champions (we weren’t, we’d finished third!) and Bubbles again.
After the players left the pitch it was time to make the journey back into town, it took about 40 minutes to get to the tube stadium and onto a train. Back in town I headed back to the Golden Eagle to meet up with everyone again for a celebratory drink or two. We all shared our experiences of the day and started making plans for next season; who would we buy, who would be shown the door and what games we’d be looking forward to.
It was soon time to head off home, and so after wishing everyone good luck for the summer, I headed back to the Euston Road to catch a bus. It had been a brilliant day out, I’d met some great people and most of all, we’d won at Wembley. Here’s hoping I can get a seat in with my own fans next time!
Here’s some of the celebrations after the game…
