The Boleyn Tavern has never been the same since West Ham United relocated from Upton Park to Stratford in 2016. But a group of supporters still insist on making it part of their matchday experience.
It is 2pm on a Saturday and many have gathered here ahead of the Premier League fixture against Arsenal that evening. It is a 15-minute drive from the Boleyn Tavern to the London Stadium and roughly 40 minutes via public transport. Yet many view Stratford with disdain. Upton Park, where West Ham played from 1904 to 2016, was a ground they loved, a place where they made friends and memories.
On Saturday, the owner of the pub was unavailable. But having asked how West Ham leaving has affected business, the bartender points to a family of seven, who could give a more informed answer. Andy Slight, 58, a lifelong fan, is happy to talk.
“Upton Park was easy to get to,” he says. “You didn’t have to wait in a long queue like at the London Stadium to get searched by security. It’s not a football ground and it doesn’t feel like West Ham. I still come to the Boleyn Tavern on matchdays. I live local, I prefer it here to the pubs in Stratford. Plus, most of them are overpriced.
“I’d rather spend my money here to help the pub. Think about all the customers they’ve lost over the years. West Ham moving has impacted the area hugely.
“When people ask me, ‘Are West Ham at home this week?’ I say, ‘No, they’re away at Stratford’. We don’t have a home ground anymore. The atmosphere at the London Stadium is terrible. The away fans drown us out every week.”
The World Cup sculpture of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters and Ray Wilson still stands outside the pub. It has been here since 2003, although West Ham wanted to move the statue to Stratford. The club lost a two-year legal battle in July 2018 when Newham Council announced it would remain on the junction of Green Street and Barking Road.
“I was part of the group that pleaded for the statue to remain here,” says Slight. “We started a petition and at the town hall we were given three minutes each to plead our case.
“The decision-makers sided with us. That is a World Cup statue and so much went into it. In the first game we played at home after winning the World Cup, we lost to Chelsea. Those three West Ham players never looked over Stratford; it was this area and they deserve to remain here.”
There are other reminders of West Ham’s history.
At the junction of Priory Road and Barking Road is a mural of Billy Bonds and Sir Trevor Brooking. Nathan’s Pies and Eels — a matchday institute — was once on this high road. That closed down in 2018 after 80 years in business due to loss of income. Along Barking Road, many of the business owners are reluctant to speak on the record. One, however, is happy to speak anonymously on how his business has coped in the last eight years.
“Most of us struggled initially,” he says. “We used to have one or two days of matchday trade every week. We lost that with the club moving to Stratford. The new flats have helped bring in customers so it’s levelled it out a little bit. But I prefer how it used to be when West Ham played here. It’s been a big loss to the area and it’s changed a lot since 2016 because it’s not as busy.
“Most of the other business owners are in the same boat. You have those who sold and moved elsewhere, and some people, like myself, who toughed it out and stayed in the hope that things improve. But it will never be how it used to be, and that’s a shame.”
Most of the residents The Athletic speaks to are aware their apartments used to be a football ground. Some of the flats are named after former West Ham players. Lyall House is named after ex-manager John Lyall. There’s John Charles Tower, after the ex-defender and first Black player to play for West Ham. Adrian White, 62, Robin Mackenzie, 47 and Damon Mackenzie, 19, are also exploring the area and have noticed how much of it has changed.
“It’s my first time here in eight years and these apartments look fabulous,” says White. “But I miss the atmosphere that Upton Park generated; the London Stadium will never be home. Too much is going on when you walk from Stratford station to the ground. Here, you could feel the crowd and everything starting to build up as you got closer.
“We used to go down Barking Road and go to the Boleyn Tavern, or Denmark Arms near East Ham. The closeness of the community is what made this ground really special — and the history of coming here.
“We did a tour of the London Stadium for Damon’s birthday. It was a nice experience being pitchside but there’s no history at that ground. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some big nights like the European game against Sevilla. But Upton Park was closer to the pitch and an intimidating ground.”
“Sadly, I never got to experience matchdays here,” says Damon. “It’s one thing I wish I would’ve. Just hearing from everyone else, it’s obvious Stratford will never replicate what Upton Park meant to supporters.”
The place would have been rocking ahead of a London derby against Arsenal. Instead, it is quiet with locals carrying shopping into their flats. Viviana Cabral, 35, explains how she has benefited from West Ham relocating.
“I knew it used to be a football ground before I moved here, and there is a lot of West Ham heritage in the area,” she says. “I know some fans aren’t fond of people who live here (in the flats). They feel they got a bad deal (with the stadium move), but that has nothing to do with us.
“The reaction isn’t positive whenever I tell a West Ham fan where I live. I did Help to Buy and that (scheme) doesn’t even exist anymore. But when you’re doing that scheme, you’re limited to what you can afford.
“I’m grateful that there was affordable living here because I was priced out of south London. A taxi driver dropped me off once and said, ‘Do you know this used to be a football ground? Now there’s a lot of well-off people here’. But that isn’t the case and he was surprised when I told him. Most were in the same boat as me.
“But if West Ham fans had it their way, they’d be back here in a heartbeat.”
(Top photos: Roshane Thomas/The Athletic and Getty Images)
