“Rituals have shifted” | How watching West Ham has changed

“Rituals have shifted” | How watching West Ham has changed

It used to be different. You’d come in through Green Street, elbow past the pie shop, and hear the hum before you even saw the ground. Upton Park wasn’t grand, but it was dense. The old stadium pressed tight into the neighbourhood like it had grown there by accident. On matchdays, the streets swelled. Flat caps, paper tickets, pints sipped in plastic cups. If you arrived ten minutes late, you missed the mood. Now it’s newer. Bigger. The sound ro…