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As they descended the steps of Pudding Mill Lane station, a spattering of West Ham fans on their way to protest passed by the ABBA Voyage arena, where the sound of SOS drifted out from a nearby bar.
‘Where are those happy days? They seem so hard to find.’
They needed only walk a few hundred yards more towards the London Stadium to find fellow Hammers ready to make it clear who they believe have taken theirs away.
Thousands of supporters gathered outside the ground ahead of their side’s defeat to Crystal Palace for the first of many planned protests against owner David Sullivan and vice-chair Karren Brady.
They held up their banners, they sang their songs and they made their voices heard. They accused Sullivan and Brady of ‘lies, lies, lies’ to the tune of Slade’s Cum on Feel the Noize. They pointed to the London Stadium as they marched and lamented how ‘We sold our soul for this s***hole’. They demanded their club back and called on Sullivan and Brady to resign.
By the end of the game, however, the questions had turned to whether another senior figure would be the one to lose their job.
West Ham's downward spiral continued with protests met by another poor performance
Fans are protesting against the club's ownership and are demanding a change
Graham Potter faced chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ and cries of ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ after yet another timid defeat left him facing the sack.
Potter is under huge pressure and almost looked resigned to his fate after an eighth league game without a win at the London Stadium and four defeats on the spin for the first time since Manuel Pellegrini’s final four home matches before being sacked in 2019.
Senior sources had insisted all this week that Potter still had the board’s backing but there is already talk that potential replacements are being identified with former Hammers boss Slaven Bilic and ex-Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo among those considered.
‘I have no reason to think not,’ said Potter, when asked if he still had the full support of the board. ‘But I understand the environment, I understand the results. I have no complaints at all about the support that we’ve had, from supporters from everyone at the club.’
The pre-match protests came a fortnight after West Ham's fan advisory board, who represent more than 25,000 supporters, issued a vote of no confidence in the club's board over the failure to build on their Conference League triumph, the lack of transfer ambition, and the dreadful matchday experience at the London Stadium.
‘A world class stadium for a world class team,’ was the famous phrase uttered by Brady.
Graham Potter was unable to give dissatisfied fans reason to cheer on Saturday
‘You’re going to remember this day,’ one fan said to seven-year-old Charlie, stood alongside his dad holding up one half of a banner that read: ‘Gold, Brady, Sullivan. Sold us a dream. We are living the nightmare.’
Paul Colborne, the chairman of the club’s largest supporters group Hammers United, organised the protest and frequently boomed into his megaphone wearing his cap with ‘Long live the Boleyn’ on the front.
Prominent supporter Colborne, known as ‘Bubbles’, was banned by West Ham for life in 2018 after he invaded the pitch at the London Stadium and planted a corner flag into the centre circle.
‘They’ve ripped our guts out, they’ve ripped our soul out,’ he declared to cheers from the crowd.
Brady and Sullivan sat in their usual seats in the directors’ box and while they may have not faced the protestors outside the ground, there was no way they could not hear the chants aimed at them midway through the first half.
‘Sack the board’, came the calls from one section of the London Stadium. ‘We want our club back,’ sang another. Palace fans showed their support with their own rendition of ‘You sold your soul for this s***hole,’ before the Hammers replied in kind.
The protestors had made it clear none of this was about the players or manager Graham Potter – ‘back the team, not the regime’ – and had applauded the team bus as it turned past the crowds before the game.
That, however, did not spare the players from the thunderous boos that greeted the half-time whistle after West Ham went in behind thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s opener, a goal which, naturally, came from a corner, the seventh they have conceded from one already this season.
The sack threat is intensifying with Potter in desperate need of a win
Potter insisted pre-match that West Ham had spent all week defending them on the training ground only for Marc Guehi to nod Palace’s seventh corner of the game against the cross bar and Mateta reacted first to nod it in.
Nor were they spared the booming ones at full-time from the few West Ham fans who had bothered to stay until the end after Tyrick Mitchell had won it for them with a stunning volley after Jarrod Bowen’s headed equaliser from a corner.
Potter was certainly not spared either.
Crystal Palace weren’t at their best but, against this West Ham side, you rarely need to be to extend your unbeaten run to 17 games.
‘I think we played a very good first half, controlling the game,’ said Palace boss Oliver Glasner. ‘In the end it was a deserved win. My only criticism is that we didn’t kill the game when we had the chance.’
While the question of how close Potter is to the end will continue to rage, for those protesting fans they insisted this was just the beginning. They are urging supporters to boycott their next home game against Brentford.
As the protestors drifted off to the pubs or the turnstiles ready for kick-off, a few stayed behind with plastic bags to pick up any remaining litter off the streets. West Ham fans cleaning up their mess. How they wish their club would do the same.
