Last games at the old lady Boleyn Stadium were supposed to be special events, 'the final countdown' as it were, but today's turgid entertainment that West Ham fans were asked to cough up £20-30 for was an acute embarrassment, this was gnome towers at it's absolute cringing worst! Who on earth oversaw this 'event', it all started so well, with Big Ray's 'sixties London love in' and some great archive footage, in fact media savvy observers were commenting on how well channel 5 had put the programme together, but sneaking suspicions were confirmed by the fact that the German team had NO celebrities involved and they duly humiliated a charity team there to put on a show. By show we mean the sort of thing that the Harlem Globetroppers do on a regular basis, only this time it was entirely for a worthy charity which the bookies had priced accordingly especially accumulatortips.org.uk, but they didn't predict the margin, having assumed as did the England players that this was a 'charity show piece', in fact the BBC had the match listed as an International friendly! But fans who paid handsomely for the privilege of watching a final 'bums on seat' experience at the Boleyn were sold extremely short, and it wasn't just the fans, the players were far from happy, Rio Ferdinand was furious when interviewed jesting that the organiser, an individual, not West Ham football club by the way, should be 'filled in' in a comic reference as to how a fictional character that the England legends' team of the day manager Ray Winstone would have played, and how he would have dealt with such a pernicious charlatan.
For a club that is moving forward ahead of European recognition, this was a shot in the foot event of the highest order, the sort of situation that happens when well meaning people lose the plot! It is very rare that West Ham hierarchy get things wrong, but it proves that every one is human, even owners and CEO's!
Hopefully lessons will have been learned, next time read the small print! - Ed
Comments
glad I didn't go
I was thinking about going some weeks back, what changed my mind was the line up...............one guy did it for me saving £££'s on match ticket train & tube ..........Angus f*****g Deayton.......I rest my case M'lud
Can't expect the Germans to
Can't expect the Germans to have a sense of humour about stuff, their whole culture is built on seriousness and being first to everything. "Charity, that's the other guy's problem" would be their motto! I'm surprised the current German squad wasn't rolled out!
Not called Sauerkraut for
Not called Sauerkraut for nothing ;)