I never walk out of a game early.
Whether I’m at the ground or watching a match on TV, I’m always determined to stick it out until the end.
Don’t get me wrong, following West Ham often makes every moment of viewing torturous, and the prospect of leaving after five minutes extremely tempting. But by remaining steadfast it either means I can applaud the team in, or exert some degree of satisfaction from booing and heckling as loud as I can after stumping up the best part of 50 quid for the dissatisfaction of being there.
The only time I have bailed early is when I was watching West Ham away at Tottenham in 1998, when Hammers fans kicked off after Samassi Abou was shown a red card. There were chairs and drinks flying everywhere, and my uncle thought it best we left five minutes before the 90 with the safety of a thirteen-year-old in mind.
But some of the performances this season have made it far too appealing to cut the experience short. However the past two results have summed up the reasons why we stick it out.
A frustrating game against Leeds was made worse at about 3.40am our time when they opened the scoring. The prospect of getting to bed ten minutes earlier was an extremely appealing one.
We were in the end rewarded with the equaliser, which sent the Hammers contingent at the Royal Exhibition into ecstasy, and we surprisingly headed home in decent spirits.
So in the hopes that was to be a springboard, we arrived at Cheers Bar at 6am for the Middlesbrough game.
Sadly, as so often at home in midweek, we under performed and were frustrating throughout. Sure, leaving early would have meant we didn’t have to witness the equaliser or the two chances they had to win it, but I’ll tell you why I again stay.
One, in the delusionary hope we nab something in the last minute. Two, because the support of the Sydney Hammers and the post-match debrief amongst us keeps me somewhat sane. I for one have no idea how I would behave in the office later in the day if I hadn’t got the moans, questions and frustrations out of my system. So thanks for that lad.
Back home, the result was greeted with the increasingly familiar sounds of discontent around the ground.
There has been a lot about booing fans, and I believe it has its place at the end of the game, if justified. We as fans expect results, performances, and passion, and too often we haven’t seen it this season.
But we as the Sydney Hammers have remained committed to the cause, turning out in great numbers whatever the time of kick-off, and blowing bubbles until the very last minute, whether celebrating, or counselling.
The booing can be detrimental IMHO, but depends on the player and manager. The ‘We Want Di Canio’ chant was a bit out of order.
Other than that, agree with every word, you stay til the end and support the team!
I’ve generally stayed until the end of the game but there’s been times when I have left early. I’ve travelled all the way to Blackburn and seen us thrashed 7-1 for example and I don’t think anyone could blame me for leaving 5 minutes early to make a slight headstart against the traffic. I can remember missing goals a few times by leaving early for various reasons. The first I can remember was a last minute goal by Burnley’s Billy Hamilton at Southend (lots of us Essex boys used to visit Southend or Colchester games as kids on a Friday night). I remember John Wark scoring a 90th minute winner for Ipswich just as I got out of the stadium when they beat QPR 3-2 in the Milk Cup. I also missed the 5th goal as Sheff Weds killed us 5-0 just before xmas one year. I have no shame in those games as I was forced to leave early by my dad, or my friends dad in 2 of them….and at 5-0 down I had to do the Harry Holt against Wednesday!! However my worst one was away to Newcastle. I think it was a New Years Day or the 2nd Jan. We played them away and I drove up there on my own. It was a long way and I had to go back to work the following day after the Christmas break . My parents had paid for the ticket as a birthday present for me. Anyway, we were outplayed all afternoon. I remember Marc Keller being the only player to have even shot. With 84 minutes gone, we were 2-0 down so I decided to leave. I got to the multi storey car park and before I knew it I was on the A1 heading South. I was pleased that by missing those remaining minutes i’d probably avoided an hour in the queue’s and i could get home at a decent time. When I was on the A1 I decided to put talk sport on. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when they said that a fella that 10 men couldn’t carry and Igor Stimac had both scored and we’d drawn 2-2. I rang the talk sport phone in and told Alvin Martin all about it and he pissed himself laughing. I dont think i’ve gone home early since then. COYI