Supporters
The team's supporters are famous for their rendition of the chorus of their team's anthem, "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" introduced to the club by former manager Charlie Paynter in the late 1920s. At the time, a Pears soap commercial featuring the curly haired child in the Millais "Bubbles" painting who resembled a player Billy J. "Bubbles" Murray in a local schoolboy team of Park School for whom the headmaster Cornelius Beal coined singing the tune "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" with amended lyrics.Beal was a friend of Paynter, whilst Murray was a West Ham trialist and played football at schoolboy level with a number of West Ham players such as Jim Barrett. Through this contrivance of association the clubs fans took it upon themselves to begin singing the popular music hall tune before home games, sometimes reinforced by the presence of a house band requested to play the refrain by Charlie Paynter.
There is a slight change to the lyrics sung by the Upton Park faithful. The second line's "nearly reach the sky" is changed to "they reach the sky", "Then like my dreams" is also changed to "And like my dreams". In addition the fans begin a chant of "United, United!" to cap it off.
The 1975 FA Cup version – which contains the original lyrics, and features vocals from the teams then current players – is always played before home games, with the home crowd joining in and carrying the song on after the music stops at the verse line "Fortune's always hiding". The song was originally released as a single by the 1975 Cup Final squad and has been covered on occasion by such as the Cockney Rejects.
Like other teams (such as Liverpool's adoption of "You'll Never Walk Alone") the team also have a history of adopting or adapting popular songs of the day to fit particular events, themes, players or personas. These have included serious renditions of theatre and movie classics such as "The Bells are Ringing", along with more pun laden or humorous efforts such as chanting former player Paolo di Canio's name to the canzone La donna è mobile by Verdi, or D.I. Canio to the tune of Ottawans D.I.S.C.O., or singing That's Zamora to the tune of Dean Martins 1953 classic That's Amore in honour of former Iron striker Bobby Zamora (this chant was originally created by the Brighton fans when he was at the club).
On the fans' darker side, they gained national attention after giving a torrid time to David Beckham in his first away match of 1998–99 the season after the England midfielder was sent off for a petulant foul on Diego Simeone. Coinciding with the game there were claims (and an image taken) that fans, organised by a hardcore, had hung an effigy of the player outside a local pub. Although it was later revealed that the pub was in South-East London, the heartland of West Ham's greatest rivals Millwall. The West Ham fans did boo Beckham's every touch of the ball during the game, however.
They have also displayed a particular zeal when it comes to abusing former players particularly those who are perceived to have abandoned the club, or performed some disservice. Famously Paul Ince ("Judas, Judas"), Frank Lampard ("Fat Lumpolard"), Jermain Defoe ("You're just a small Paul Ince"), Craig Bellamy and Nigel Reo-Coker[ have born the brunt of verbal assaults and a guaranteed hostile reception at Upton Park. However, players such as Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Rio Ferdinand, Bobby Zamora and Carlos Tévez receive applause and even standing ovations in honour of their contributions during their time at the club.
West Ham fans display their rosettes, scarves and novelty hammers at an FA Cup match in 1933 On 6 September 2009 the Daily Mirror newspaper carried a report that HM Queen Elizabeth II had admitted to being a long time West Ham supporter. She had overheard staff discussing football, one admitting to being a Millwall supporter.
The origins of West Ham's links with organised football-related violence starts in the 1960s with the establishment of The Mile End Mob (named after a particularly tough area of the East End of London).During the 1970s and 1980s (the main era for organised football-related violence) West Ham gained further notoriety for the levels of hooliganism in their fan base and antagonistic behaviour towards both their own and rival fans, and the police.
The Inter City Firm were one of the first "casuals", so called because they avoided police supervision by not wearing football-related clothing and travelled to away matches on regular "Inter City" trains, rather than on the cheap and more tightly policed "football special" charter trains. The group were an infamous West Ham-aligned gang. As the firm's moniker "inter city" suggests violent activities were not confined to local derbies – the hooligans were content to cause trouble at any game, though nearby teams often bore the brunt.
During the 1990s, and to the present day, sophisticated surveillance and policing coupled with club supported promotions and community action has reduced the level of violence, though the intense rivalry and association with Millwall, Chelsea and other major players in the 'firm' scheme remains.
The 2005 film "Green Street" (an allusion to the road on which the Boleyn Ground stands) depicted an American student played by Elijah Wood becoming involved with a fictional firm associated with West Ham, with an emphasis on the rivalry with Millwall. The two teams and their Chairmen moved to distance the clubs from the movie at the time. West Ham hooliganism was again highlighted in film in 2008, with the film based on the life of well known former hooligan Cass Pennant, Cass. Also a gang of armed robbers who supported West Ham were portrayed in the 2008 episode "Are We Not Men?" of the British sitcom The IT Crowd.
RivalriesWest Ham have strong rivalries with several other clubs. Most of these are with other London clubs, especially with their neighbours Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham, Arsenal and also with Chelsea, which sublimates the age-old East versus West London rivalry. The rivalry between West Ham and Tottenham has been fueled by players such as Jermaine Defoe leaving the Hammers to join Tottenham. Most of the matches are well contested. The rivalry has also deepended as former Hammers manager Harry Redknapp is Tottenham's manager.The "Champions" statue, of Moore, with the World Cup, Hurst, Peters and Ray Wilson, boarded-up for protection before the visit of Millwall on 25 August 2009
The strongest and oldest rivalry is with Millwall known as The East London derby. The two sides are local rivals, having both formed originally around the works sides Thames Ironworks and Millwall Ironworks shipbuilding companies. They were rivals for the same contracts and the players lived in the same locality The early history of both clubs are intertwined, with West Ham proving to be the more successful in a number of meetings between the two teams, resulting in West Ham being promoted at the expense of Millwall. Millwall later declined to join the fledgling Football League while West Ham went on to the top division and an FA Cup final. Later in the 1920s the rivalry was intensified during strike action started by the East End (perceived to be West Ham fans) which Isle Of Dogs-based companies (i.e. Millwall fans) refused to support, breeding illwill between the two camps.
The rivalry between West Ham and Millwall has involved considerable violence and is one of the most notorious within the world of football hooliganism. Most recently, they were drawn against each other in the second round of the 2008–09 Football League Cup and met on 25 August 2009 at Upton Park. This was the first time in four years that the two clubs had played each other, and the first ever in the Leauge Cup. Clashes between hundred of fans occurred outside the ground, resulting in violence erupting up to half a mile away from the stadium, with serious injuries, damage to property and several arrests reported by police. There were also several pitch invasions which brought a temporary halt to the game.
Another rivalry which developed is with Sheffield United. The Blades have tried to sue West Ham and the Premier League for damages, over their claim that West Ham had an unfair advantage by playing Carlos Tévez. In April 2007 The FA fined West Ham a record £5.5 million for a contract allowing third party influence (illegal in the Premier League) and for attempting to conceal the existence of such a contract in the deal that brought Tévez and Javier Mascherano to Upton Park. The day after West Ham were fined, they continued their fight to stay in the Premier League by defeating Wigan Athletic 3–0. In their last nine games West Ham picked up 21 points by winning seven games and losing only two. Sheffield United only won two of their last nine games, one of which was by defeating West Ham 3–0 at home to initially go five points above them. Their 2–1 defeat by Wigan on the last day of the season sealed their relegation. Meanwhile, West Ham won 1–0 away to Manchester United, with Carlos Tévez scoring the only goal, to ensure that they remained in the Premier league.
The FA has sat twice on the matter and has thrown the case out twice. Settlement was reached between West Ham United and Sheffield United on 14 March 2009. The settlement amount was undisclosed but has been quoted as anything from £10 million to £25 million. This action by Sheffield United has increased fan and club rivalry and they are now seen as rivals.
