The sinking of the Titanic was brilliantly made into a black and white movie entitled 'a night to remember' in which the band played on as the ship was slipped in to the sea, the musicians knew they had no hope of survival because of the lack of life boats but they played on until the bitter end.
Fortunately, Hammers fans night to remember has much happier connotations as the fans and players were able to truly celebrate en masse the club's first significant silverware for over half a century with an open top bus ride through the crowded streets of East London on a glorious evening in a blazing sun more akin to much warmer climes!
The sea of Claret and Blue stretched for miles as the procession 'kicked off' from the Hammers statue of the great Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters right next to the old Boleyn Ground and proceeded incredibly slowly to its final destination outside the Old Town hall in Newham, the exact same route that Hammers previous open top parade had done all those years ago.
The atmosphere was electric and eclectic as fans of all ages and from every group you could imagine gathered to party like there was no tomorrow. It might be referred to by some as the 'Micky Mouse' Cup, but the UEFA Conference Cup is the newest of European competitions that was designed to give 'minnows' a chance but has now become a much sought after trophy least ways because the winners gain automatic qualification for the more desirable Europa League.
"fifty years of hurt"
For many fans in attendance this was the FIRST time they had seen their beloved Irons attain ANY silverware at all, watching others pick up trophies regularly had become part of the DNA of a Hammers fan, but all that changed with Wednesday evening's 2-1 win over Fiorentina in the final in Prague.
European football beckons for the club for the third year running, West Ham will be competing in the same competition as Liverpool and Brighton whereas fierce rivals Tottingham have to make do with the much derided Conference League, Chelsea didn't even make the cut for ANY of Europe's competitions!
Special European nights were nearly attained at great cost as the Irons struggled even to stay in the Premier League due to a dire domestic season that saw the club only ensure its survival with three weeks remaining. Obviously next season's domestic campaign HAS to be much better, but for now fans can revel in being one of Europe's 'top dogs' and long may it continue, it is to be hoped that fans won't have to wait another 50 years for the next trophy!
There is a vast amount of uncertainty to be cleared up with regards to player recruitment, who will stay and who will go is still very much in the air, but for now fans can look forward to the future, however uncertain, and enjoy their memories of what was a 'night to remember'. - Ed
Comments
Im afraid if Moyes stays so
Im afraid if Moyes stays so will Souchec ,the turn around in his form since he arrived has been simply
Mind boggling ,hes gone from being a world class player that lots of people were talkin about ,to a slow lethargic not interested slouch ,dont think i get any pleasure from this opinion because i don't i just like to know W T F happened to him ,sometimes it feels like we're playing with 10 men ,im as pleased as punch for him wining it on his own manor but ,adream come true but hes not premiership material ,he might make it in the chumps ,who knows .
Just one more obvsation ,we will proberbly loose Ants ,i feel so sorry for him ,hes run his heart out for this club and got little thanks ,the amount of times Benny or Bowen put good crosses into the box and only Ants there to try and make things happen .if he does go ,for myself i wish him the best of luck .
Brilliant post Burkie
Totally agree....I'm going to give Moyes a bit of credit though! No one can argue that we were shite for a year to 18 months,only the blinkered say differently imo.....but what Westham fan would have thought this would have happened a couple of months back?? I think the Arse game was the turning point,we have superb players they just need pointing in the right direction!! Is Moyes the man,Sully seems to think so! I've always said since Johnny Lyall ended his tenure at Westham I couldn't care less who is the manager Billy Bonds ( my hero) or lou macari,Slav or Glen Roeder ( God bless him) Pards or Sam,Arry or curbs...whoever is in charge I just want to see an entertaining Westham team.....BTW Wednesday was the Best night I've ever had & I'm still knackered from it!! COYI
things H65 this is a
things H65 this is a contradiction, because on weds we were awful in terms of entertainment and yet we had the best night of our lives. I'm not sure a club/team like West Ham can have both. We're always shopping for the leftovers, after the bigger clubs have had a rummage through. As much as you need a brilliant manager like the top teams have, you also need the sort of player that can produce. Paqueta as great as he is on the eye is on his own wave length most of the time. I thank Benrahma for his goal on Wednesday but I'm not having him in terms of end product, he leaves me more frustrated than satisfied most of the time. For me I'd build the team around Paqueta now, and you need a manager that would do that. Is Moyes that man? I'm not sure, but he must see the potential. Two bits of quality in that whole game came from Paqueta's sublime pass and Bowen's cool headed finish. BTW all those on here who said they didn't care about the ECL and its mickey mouse please step forward lol. COYI's
Entertainment lol
It's funny but our two FA Cup wins against Fulham and Arsenal were also dire on the entertainment front but we took both wins and enjoyed the moment. Losing to Liverpool however hailed one of the most exciting finals ever but we'd have happily settled for a dour, drawn out win that day I suspect.
Moyes will never build a
Moyes will never build a team around a smashing player like Paca ,because hes a attacking player with outstanding skill ,especially on the ball ,Moyes will always build from the middle of the back 4 ,im afraid his handle is right ," if you cant win dont loose
We have got to give Moyes
We have got to give Moyes credit here,ok he may have got us in the shit,and also got us out of it,but we also had new players to bed in and they have now,Paqueta just look at him,your right 65 the Arse was the turning point,we will move on from this,we wont struggle next season........Fixtures are out next Thursday 9am cant wait!!!!!
Agree Essex
Let's hope its a massive turning point for our club! It looks like Rice is going but we will have big bucks to spend on replacements,i just hope we can keep hold of the car dealer!! Lol
I might be alone but I'm
I might be alone but I'm actually excited about the names were being linked to for once! lol. Rice may give us a bigger gift in leaving rather than staying
I'm starting to think that too Betty
Harvey Barnes,ward prowse,the Fulham fella paulinho or whatever his name is all class acts imo
This Alvarez from Ajax is
This Alvarez from Ajax is decent too, if Rice can facilitate that lot, I'd be fairly happy. I'm interested to see hat happens with Scamacca too
I guess it's all part of
I guess it's all part of being a West Ham fan. We are on a constant rollercoaster of happiness, sadness, frustration, and irony.
The discussion and opinion is what makes all of these feelings happen.
I'm going to put my feet up on this season now and wait for the transfer madness to happen before starting next season..............................as trophy winners and aving a laugh in Europe once again COYI!!
Well said Boogers how right
Well said Boogers how right you are,great wording.
Not wrong
About that rollercoaster Boogers
I remember both
The 75 & 80 cup finals,so you weren't entertained then? You sure you watched them lol ......
Bobby Moore turning out for Fulham,Alan Taylor signed from Little Rochdale bagging a brace,Total underdogs against the Arse,Martin Allen youngest player ever in a cup final at 17 being hacked down by Willie young when he was certain to score,Trev scoring the winning goal with his head of all places!! The first half on Wednesday was really poor,but the Second half....That's entertainment as Weller once sang! LOL!!
Paul
Allen not Martin
Apologies mate
I meant Paul....
Welcome mate if you're a new member
Remember it all mate it was
Remember it all mate it was entertaining,just so effing long to come round again lol
me to essex
i was there both finals shows our ages doesn't it but gr8 times and i did enjoy this final especially the 2nd half, brought back all those happy memories up the hammers