The False Dawn of West Ham United

“I’m forever blowing bubbles, Pretty bubbles in the air, They fly so high, Nearly reach the sky, And like my dreams, they fade and die, Fortune’s always hiding, I’ve looked everywhere...”

West Ham’s long-cherished matchday chant is a bittersweet ode to the highs and lows of relentless, undying hope. In recent years, the song has never been more relevant to the East London outfit - a swathe of mismanagement from the-top down has left fans desperately searching for any sign of the success they were promised a decade ago. As the old saying goes, it’s the hope that kills you. 

In 2019, Forbes ranked the Hammers as the 17th richest club in the world. In 2018, they ranked 14th – more than the likes of Schalke 04, Leicester City and, most shockingly, both AC and Inter Milan. In 2012, they acquired a 99-year lease of the London (then Olympic) Stadium – the fourth-largest stadium in the Premier League, which chalked up an average attendance of 58,349 in 2018/19.