Boleyn Ground

West Ham United 0

Liverpool 3
Gerrard 2, 38pen
Babbel 84

FA Premier League
Saturday 9th May 2009
Kick Off: 5.30pm
Referee: Alan Wiley
Attendance: 34951
Capacity: 35303
Admission: £45
Stand: North
Programme: £3.50 & Bossmag Fanzine a bargain £1
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Ratings (out of 5)

Value for money ***
Grub ***
Ground ****
Atmosphere ****
Entertainment ****
Referee ***
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I always thought West Ham played at Upton Park, but my trip today was to be precise to the Boleyn Ground, in the Upton park area of London. With West ham having spent a number of recent seasons outside of the top flight and a lot of recent fixtures arranged mid week, this was my first trip here watching Liverpool.

A weekend in London was planned to conincide with a trip to see the Mighty Reds on the road and a late kick off allowed for lunch and a few beers in town beforehand. A bit of disrupted underground service took me to Stratford, changed for a short trip to West Ham Station and then onwards to Upton Park.

With the majority of the train alighting at Upton Park, rather strangely, the train had to wait until most of the crowd had made its way past to allow it to safely pull away. The 5 minute walk from the station to the ground was an interesting one with various stalls selling West Ham merchandise and old programmes. The away end was situated at the far side of the ground and gave me the chance to walk round 3 sides and get some photographs.

Alf Garnett, the England team of 1966, Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, Trevor Brooking…West Ham are a club associated with all sorts of characters. Looking at the list of young players to recently come through the clubs academy is frightening and they have provided many other clubs with their talent having been forced to sell them on.

Unusually I was in the ground a good 45 minutes before kick-off and even managed to see the warm up. Situated directly behind the goal with the Liverpool players practicing their shooting into we just about managed to dodge the stray balls. The atmosphere was decent as the two teams came out however any blowing of bubbles was ended within two minutes. Fernando Torres split the home defence with a great through ball for Gerrard who had timed his run perfectly, rounded the keeper and coolly slotted home.

The main focal point of the Boleyn Ground is the facade of the DR Martens Stand. If you look closely at the crowd hanging around in front you can see the BBC’s Steve Wilson doing his stuff for MOTD2.

The home crowd and players were rightly insensed when a Mascherano foul wasn’t penalised only for Liverpool to counter attack and win a penalty after Boa Morte pulled back Torres in the box. Gerrard bagged his second of the day after Green saved his spot kick only for the rebound to land at his feet. The rest of the game was cruise control stuff for Liverpool and we enjoyed a great old sing song in the away end. Ryan Babbel made it three nil six minutes from time firing in at the second attempt from close range.

The police on horseback patrol the away end entrance although they seemed to be enjoying a trouble free evening.

The main gates to the ground which date back to the 1920's and were restored during the construction of the Dr Martens Stand.

The West Ham United club crest was updated in the 1990's including incorporating a wider castle to make the badge look more substantial.

With a capacity of 9000 the Bobby Moore stand was formerly known as the South Bank.

The Boleyn Ground ticket office.

The back of the East Stand, the grounds oldest having been built in 1969 and also the smallest, seating around 5000 fans. This two-tier stand was opened in 1993.

The end of the Bobby Moore Stand at the corner where it meets the East Stand.

The supporters club.

Club Websites:
West Ham United
Liverpool