Man U at home, 10th May 2016, the last ever Boleyn Ground Match Thread

Pengeman

Does anyone know why Geoff Hurst wasn't there last night? He wasn't lauded much either.

IronHerb

I thought that too Penge. Strange.

baracks_a_hammer

They should have got Katy Perry to do a set wearing the West Ham colours...

thornburyiron

Trond they are not creating news, they a re reporting it. It happened and the whole world saw it. If it hadn't been for the internal glass holding firm someone could have been seriously injured.

SuzanneClaret

The joy and the pain

First the pain:
We all knew the Upton Park area in general and Green Street in particular would be so much busier much earlier than usual last night. Social media was full of people saying how despite not having a ticket they were going to Upton Park to be there a soak up the atmosphere one last time. We arrived at 3:30ish and the place was rammed. All the pubs in Green Street where full to capacity and the street full of fans and the media [I will come onto them in a bit]. Over two hours before the original kick off time of 19:45 Castle Street was pretty full by 18:00 is got uncomfortably so. What I do not understand is the Club’s and the Police’s failure to not realise this would happen or to plan for it or when things developed not react accordingly. The ground should have been opened much sooner than 18:45 to relieve the pressure on the surrounding streets. The police should have shut of roads, redirected traffic and dealt much more appropriately with the ever growing crowds.

I would like to ask why the ManUtd coach left their hotel at 17:30 for a 19:45 kick off considering the circumstances of the game – rush hour and it being the last ever game at The Boleyn. Given that they did the same against Spurs only weeks ago this looks like arrogance. So what if we are late you can just move kick off. I don’t buy what VanGaal said about it affecting the players now that I’ve seen video footage from inside their coach. Those that threw the bottles must be found, prosecuted and banned from all football grounds for life. Why on earth did the coach have no police escort given that this is a category A game.

I found the majority of the blanket media coverage of the farewell to the Boleyn nauseating and intrusive. Whist sir_ian was happy to be interviewed by Sky, being stopped umpteen time on our way down Green Street was really annoying, I told one photographer to ‘do one’. I didn’t want keep sharing my experiences or live my last time there through a lens. There was even a photographer in the BML getting in the way of us watching the game!

Whilst I do not condone bottles and coins being thrown at DeGae he must take his share of the responsibility. It was a high pressure game and he should have known that his celebration of the ManUtd goal like that would cause trouble. Most ‘keepers over the years have celebrated with their backs to the stand. Those that thought keeping hold of or not giving back the ball when it went into the BML in the second half are idiots. Especially after ManUtd equalised, did they not know we needed to win the game? Those that threw coins should be found, prosecuted and banned from all football grounds for life.

Joy:
Absolutely everything else about the day, the match and the celebration. Moore turning out the lights was a perfect ending. It was a privilege to be there.

SuzanneClaret

Pengeman said:

Does anyone know why Geoff Hurst wasn't there last night? He wasn't lauded much either.

He has a reputation of being a total diva, terrible to work with and will charge for his time.

IronHerb

So then let them report it fairly.

What happened was wrong, totally wrong, but why are the police bringing the bus into a totally choked Green Street and Barking Road an hour and a quarter before kick off?

SuzanneClaret

That was one of my questions IH.

MrsGrey

Thanks for posting those pics, herb ;ok

Thought the fans were brilliant last night.

;ccole ;carew

grey_til_I_dye

Links to extended highlights and full match here: https://www.reddit.com/r/footballhighlights/comments/4iqsij/west_ham_united_v_manchester_united_premier/

MrsGrey

Jut seen the front page of the Sun.

About what you'd expect from a scummy rag like that.

;angry ;angry

IronHerb

It was unforgettable.

The noise, apart from a twenty minute period at the start of the second half when United had the upper hand, was relentless and, well, noisey.

Who could have thought that with the pressure both teams were under they could produce a classic. Well done to both teams.

We have goal potential all over the park which is reflected in our 64 goals to date in the Prem. We scored three but had four more clear cut chances against a United team whose defence has been pretty steadfast this season.

Top performances all round the team and especially from Kouyate, Lanzini, Antonio, Carroll and Noble.

The after game celebrations were ok but a bit drawn out.

All in all a fitting end to the one and only Boleyn Ground.

COYI

IronHerb

From the Red Cafe forum -

"We bottled that more than they bottled our bus."

Maybe inappropriate but still quite funny.

TwistandShout

What a brilliant performance. Everyone was great. But Lanzini, Noble and Kouyate exceptional.

What an atmosphere.

Bilic in tears at the end. ;bowdown

;scarf

SuzanneClaret

Kouyate was a beast

Giant_Hammer

SuzanneClaret said:

The joy and the pain

First the pain:
We all knew the Upton Park area in general and Green Street in particular would be so much busier much earlier than usual last night. Social media was full of people saying how despite not having a ticket they were going to Upton Park to be there a soak up the atmosphere one last time. We arrived at 3:30ish and the place was rammed. All the pubs in Green Street where full to capacity and the street full of fans and the media [I will come onto them in a bit]. Over two hours before the original kick off time of 19:45 Castle Street was pretty full by 18:00 is got uncomfortably so. What I do not understand is the Club’s and the Police’s failure to not realise this would happen or to plan for it or when things developed not react accordingly. The ground should have been opened much sooner than 18:45 to relieve the pressure on the surrounding streets. The police should have shut of roads, redirected traffic and dealt much more appropriately with the ever growing crowds.

I would like to ask why the ManUtd coach left their hotel at 17:30 for a 19:45 kick off considering the circumstances of the game – rush hour and it being the last ever game at The Boleyn. Given that they did the same against Spurs only weeks ago this looks like arrogance. So what if we are late you can just move kick off. I don’t buy what VanGaal said about it affecting the players now that I’ve seen video footage from inside their coach. Those that threw the bottles must be found, prosecuted and banned from all football grounds for life. Why on earth did the coach have no police escort given that this is a category A game.

I found the majority of the blanket media coverage of the farewell to the Boleyn nauseating and intrusive. Whist sir_ian was happy to be interviewed by Sky, being stopped umpteen time on our way down Green Street was really annoying, I told one photographer to ‘do one’. I didn’t want keep sharing my experiences or live my last time there through a lens. There was even a photographer in the BML getting in the way of us watching the game!

Whilst I do not condone bottles and coins being thrown at DeGae he must take his share of the responsibility. It was a high pressure game and he should have known that his celebration of the ManUtd goal like that would cause trouble. Most ‘keepers over the years have celebrated with their backs to the stand. Those that thought keeping hold of or not giving back the ball when it went into the BML in the second half are idiots. Especially after ManUtd equalised, did they not know we needed to win the game? Those that threw coins should be found, prosecuted and banned from all football grounds for life.

Joy:
Absolutely everything else about the day, the match and the celebration. Moore turning out the lights was a perfect ending. It was a privilege to be there.

Suzanne, my son has just called me and I could swear you and he were comparing notes. He questioned why the bus came past the statues where loads of WHU fans were congregating having had hours to get tanked up when there were other routes into the ground. I don't know why it was an evening fixture at such an iconic event. My lad condemned the idiots causing the trouble and, like you, criticized the late arrival of the MU team.
He told me he had never experienced a night like it and the Boleyn was rocking. He has his season ticket for next season.
I'm so glad I tortured him into a stopping being a Liverpool fan when he was little.

;lol

SuzanneClaret

;lol ;hug

SuzanneClaret

SuzanneClaret

"Carnage!" screams the Sun.

"A window on the bus was smashed" say the BBC.

SuzanneClaret

Carnage

Swissiron

SuzanneClaret said:

Carnage

how have you got a picture of my greenhouse, Suze?

chicagohammer

not condoning what happened but the way the media sensationalize everything is nauseating.

I often wonder how I will react if for some reason I am in a situation that attracts media attention.

I really do not think I would handle to very well, the paparazzi and their ilk are truly scum.

Ok rant over.

Slaven_Cups_His_Beard

Just goes to show, the Sun haven't learned have they from all those years ago, it's a gossip paper nothing more, shut it down wouldn't be a loss to anyone.

SuzanneClaret

West Ham owners and their families attacked with items at Leicester: No coverage.

Happens with United team coach yesterday: Goes worldwide.

Slaven_Cups_His_Beard

See Sully was putting his foot in it again "when they look at the coach they'll see there was no damage"

Expects them to be there at 4pm? Absolute rubbish they left themselves 2 1/4 hours to get to the ground for what is probably a 30 minute journey, maximum

As Suze says the problem was the police, route and club not opening the doors to the fans until an hour before kick off.

SuzanneClaret

A full Barking Road and not a hint of trouble.

MrsGrey

Slaven_Cups_His_Beard said:

See Sully was putting his foot in it again "when they look at the coach they'll see there was no damage"

tbf, he did explain later that he only found out about the damage later.


"When I was asked about the incident prior to yesterday's game, I was unaware of the damage that had occurred to the Manchester United team bus. I want to apologise to Manchester United for that damage and assure them that we will be doing all we can to track down those responsible and ban them for life.
Read more at http://www.whufc.com/News/Articles/2016/May/11-May/A-message-from-David-Sullivan#73tti4DblCpotfBr.99

MrsGrey

The Sun calls it 'Boleyn Battle' ;doh

TwistandShout

The twonk that is Adrian Durham thinks the game should be replayed ;lol

Everyone really does hate us don't they? ;doh

SuzanneClaret

For those with short term memories, here's United fans attacking a City bus...

For Adrian Dullard - this game was not replayed.

https://twitter.com/bmrisingtv/status/730340458547699713