Nine months ago I had the idea of forming a fans group dedicated to improving things for West Ham fans.I asked around and the general consensus was that to create such a group and to achieve some form of success was nigh on impossible and at best an enormous and extremely difficult task.
Nevertheless with the help of my trusted friend Lee Rogers I decided to give it a go.I headhunted those who appeared like minded by their comments on social media,arranged a meeting and Hammers United was born.
Right from the start I insisted that failure was not an option and that i did not want to be ‘the main man’ but that we needed 10 ‘main men or women’ backed up by 10 others.Bit by bit,slowly but surely we have added to our team,one notable acquisition being Tross who we asked to join us after some notable contributions on social media and an inspirational speech at one of our members’meetings.
We were ridiculed and attacked by some on social media and I personally found this upsetting as I couldn’t understand why other West Ham fans attacked us as all we were trying to do was make things better.Indeed only a few days ago on the eve of us going into a meeting with West Ham, Sean Whetstone (on Claret and Hugh) insisted that the club would tell us that they would only talk to us through the OSB.-Insinuating that we were wasting our time.Thankfully this has not proved to be the case and Mr Whetstone’s sources have been shown to be incorrect.I cannot give an exact quote because he has taken the offending article down.
All along the club insisted that they would not talk to us as they would only engage with the OSB. However we have now had an introductory meeting with the club and another has been arranged. Tross will be posting a full report soon but I understand the meeting was constructive and encouraging.
We are fully affiliated to the FSA.and have 7000 members with more joining each day.We charge no membership fees and our costs to date have all been paid for out of the committee’s own pockets or by the generosity of friends and supporters.-Thanks all.Our excellent website was built free of charge by a committee member.
We accept that with the exception of our Stewarding Initiative which is easily found on our website www.hammersunited.com we have achieved nothing yet.But the foundations have now been laid for us to move forward and seek change from the club.By working together things could improve not just for the fans but for the Board too.-The whole football club could become a happier place.
We are now talking to a number of influencial West Ham fans,fans groups and social media groups to forge a united campaign for change.This would be a fantastic achievement and I believe we are nearly there. The platform will be in place to launch a vigerous ,sustained and well planned campaign.-unitedforchange.
Those of you who are members please help us by spreading the word and by encouraging your friends to join.-Those who are not members please check our website and facebook page out and if you like what you see please consider joining us.
On behalf of Hammers United I wish all West Ham fans a wonderful Christmas and happy new year.Family is most important to all of us but to most West Ham is our second great love, so lets wish for a successful new year for our beloved club.-An FA Cup win would be nice.
God bless you all.
Paul(Bubbles).
