London Stadium - West Ham United

West Ham United - London Stadium

West Ham United Football Club
London Stadium
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Stratford
London
E20 2ST




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West Ham United Official Website

Last match I went to see: West Ham United 3-0 NK Domzale, Thursday 4th August 2016, Europa League Qualifier 2nd leg.

HISTORY/FACTS ABOUT THE HAMMERS:

• West Ham United Football Club were formed in June 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC. in 1900, they were renamed as West Ham.
• West Ham United are nicknamed The Hammers and also The Irons. This is because the club started in a London Ironworks.
• West Ham United have won the FA Cup 3 times. 1964, 1975 and 1980. In 64, they beat Preston North End at Wembley 3-2 in a crowd of 90,000. 75, they beat Fulham 2-0 in a crowd of 100,000 at Wembley and in 1980, they beat Arsenal 1-0 with the same crowd of 100,000 with Trevor Brooking getting the winning goal.
• West Ham are also known as winning the Football League War Cup. They won it in 1940.
• The club have reached two major European Finals, in 1965 winning the European Cup Winners Cup beating 1860 Munich 2-0. They were runners-up in 1976 losing in the Final to Anderlecht 4-2. The club also won the Intertoto Cup in 1999, beating French club Metz 3-2.
• The Hammers are also known for being the main topic on the film Green Street, which was released in 2005. It is about football hooliganism where an American College Student falls in with a West Ham Firm run by his brother in law's younger brother. A good film it is, a well worth watch,
• The club moved to the Boleyn Ground in 1906 and stayed there until 2016. The Boleyn held 35,016. Luckily I managed to go to the Boleyn twice, it was a lovely ground to visit as well. Since then they have played at The Olympic Stadium which holds 60,000.
• West Ham have rivalries with quite a few number of clubs. The main one I'd say is with Millwall. When the 2 have faced each other in recent years, there have been known as a lot of violence and is one of the oldest and fiercest rivalries. Tottenham Hotspur is another one with East vs North London derby. Also West Ham have rivalries with other London clubs, including Arsenal and Chelsea.

MY VISITS:

VISIT 1: West Ham United 3-0 NK Domzale 4/8/16 (Europa League Qualifier)

MY VISIT:

West Ham United 3-0 NK Domzale
Thursday 4th August 2016
Europa League Qualifier

My visit to the Olympic Stadium came about just a few days before West Ham's qualifier game with Domzale when I noticed a couple of mates I know from Gills post up on Facebook about the game as of course it's a new ground of the 92. Anyway 1 of my mates posted up a status on Facebook asking if anyone would like to go with him to the game, so I thought I'd check ticket prices as the Olympic Stadium was on my agenda to tick off this season anyway, plus my girlfriend is a West Ham fan, so I'm sure I was bound to tick it off eventually. Anyway after discovering prices, there was a section in the ground where tickets were a tenner, and other sections were a bit more. So after thinking about it, I thought stuff it, why not! Luckily as well I've been working all week and Thursday just happened to be on my day off and I didn't have much planned during the day, so a chance to watch a bit of footy, why not. Anyway after spending time with my other half, I left just after 5pm and got into Strood just before 6 and met up with a good mate of mine, Barnsey. Left just after 6, and got to the ground about half 6ish. And of course, I was expecting it to be fairly packed. Anyway queued up for about 10 minutes or so for a programme, I thought I'd get myself one as of course it will be worth something in the future. Then we got into the ground around 7ish. My thoughts on the ground, I'd say it's a nice ground, but of course it wasn't Upton Park. To read on my previous 2 visits to Upton Park, you can do so, by clicking on the link here. I can understand why West Ham moved, more capacity but I think in the long run, it will be better for West Ham, so we shall we. Anyway onto the game itself, Domzale didn't play too badly, just on the night West Ham were quite strong and took their chances when it came to them. Plus being the first ever game at the Olympic Stadium, I was expecting West Ham to go through comfortably anyway and they did. 2 goals from Cheikhou Kouyate and a goal from Sofiane Feghouli with 9 minutes to go saw West Ham through to the next round. Overall, it was a decent night, another ground off the list!





THE GROUND:

West Ham United moved to The Olympic Stadium or otherwise known as The London Stadium in August 2016 after previously playing at the Boleyn Ground (Upton Park) for 112 years. The London Stadium has a total capacity of 66,000 but can hold more for concerts. Stratford International station and Stratford station are within walking distance of the ground, between 10-15 minutes.

GROUND PHOTOS: