Born to be a Hammer?

I was speaking to a friend of mine a few weeks ago who's a Manchester United fan (I know, he's a nice guy though).  He asked me whether I will be pushing my 2 year old son into supporting West Ham.  My response to this was to say that I will never push my little boy into supporting West Ham.  I will never push him in to doing anything.  He may even decide that he doesn't like football (God forbid!).  Having said that, I will take him to his first West Ham match as soon as he's old enough.  To be honest, I can't wait for that moment.  There's something very special about going to a football match, especially for the first time.  The buzz of the crowd as you approach the stadium, the smell of burgers and hotdogs in the air, walking up the steps to your seat and that very first look at the hallowed turf.  Thousands of people are brought to this one place for the same reason, the love of our club.  The look on his face and the excitement in his eyes will be a joy to see.

The point of this article is to determine how we become supporters of West Ham.  For me, I never consciously decided to be a West Ham fan, I just was.  My father supported them and my brother is also a huge West Ham fan.  It was just a natural progression. I guess you could say it was in my blood.  Unlike my Manchester United friend, he decided to support Manchester United simply to be different from all the other kids in school - is that a reason?  It just seems to me that there's no emotional attachment to start supporting a club in that way.  Why would you support a club that you have no emotional attachment to? 

Where I live near Maidstone, you see kids walking around with Manchester United shirts on.  I just think to myself, why do you support them?  Will they ever experience the true emotions of supporting a club in which they have a true affiliation too?  Probably not. Will they change their allegiances when Manchester United become less successful?  Probably.  Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to pick solely on Manchester United supporters.  There are thousands of fans that support our more succesful rivals that have supported their club through the good times and bad.  They all share the same passion as we do.  It would be unfair and slightly arrogant of me to suggest otherwise.  I am referring to, as I call them, the "plastics".  What I mean by the "plastics" is people that support a club just based on their success.  People that change their team more times than they change their pants, just so they can been seen as supporting a successful club.  I guess they do this because they have a fear of supporting an unsuccessful club and they don't wish to be associated with failure.  That's not what being a football fan is all about though, not a true football fan anyway.

Going back to my son and whether he becomes a West Ham fan, I like to think he already is - even at this early age.  I would like him to experience what I have experienced.  The adrenalin rush and anticipation of seeing your first game, the feeling of sheer elation when we score as well as the anger, frustration and the feeling of bitter disappointment when we concede.  Added to this there are the massive highs of winning Play Off finals, to the depressing lows of relegation and the heartache that brings.  It may sound terrible that I would wish heartache on my little boy because we all know how painful that can be, but the reason I want him to experience all these emotions is because they will be real.  It's all part of growing up and discovering what it means not just to be a West Ham fan, but what it means to understand that in life you can't always take the easy option.  It's all too simple to support the club that wins all the time, but in reality it will mean nothing.  It will not come close to sharing the emotions of a "true" football fan. 

As I said earlier, I can't wait to take my little boy to his first game, and hopefully many games after that.  When he's older, I would like him to look back with the memories we shared together, be it good or bad, and always be thankful that I introduced him to West Ham. 

James Wallis