The West Ham Syndrome

Irons in the Ink - Interview with Author Pete May | Season 2: Episode 5

This week on The West Ham Syndrome, Andrew and Max are joined by Pete May - journalist, author, blogger and lifelong Hammer - for a wide-ranging conversation about three decades of writing West Ham United. Pete has written five books solely about the club, from Irons in the Soul (2002) and Hammers in the Heart (2005), through to Flying So High: West Ham's Cup Finals (2015), Goodbye to Boleyn (2016), and most recently Massive: The Miracle of Prague (2024). His Hammers in the Heart blog has been running since 2008 and is approaching four million views. We talk about what compelled Pete to write about the turbulent 2001/02 season, the emotional weight of leaving the Boleyn Ground, and how Prague fits into the broader story of West Ham's identity. Along the way, we get into some of the more eccentric corners of the club's history - including the short-lived West Ham Hotel and the club's own branded Chardonnay wine. We also touch on David Sullivan's resignation and Monday night's Panorama documentary before getting into Pete's quick-fire answers, where he tells us his favourite West Ham player, best game he's seen live, and what the West Ham way means to him. Pete's blog and Substack can be found at hammersintheheart.blogspot.com. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2542518/support] Thanks for listening to The West Ham Syndrome. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to follow, subscribe, and leave us a review, it really helps the show grow. Stay connected with us:  📧 Email: thewesthamsyndrome@gmail.com 📱 Follow us: @thewesthamsyndrome (Instagram & Twitter/X)

The Boys of 86 and the Greatest Season You Never Saw with Christopher Lepkowski | Season 2: Episode 4

This week, Andrew and Max are joined by journalist and author Christopher Lepkowski to discuss his book The Slum Sport, which tells the story of the 1985-86 football season - the year that came closer to producing a West Ham title than anything before or since. We explore the extraordinary context of a sport in crisis: the aftermath of Heysel, the Bradford fire, and the total absence of football on television for half a season. Chris explains how Margaret Thatcher's government treated football fans in much the same way it treated the miners, and how Ted Croker famously pushed back in Downing Street. We also get into how the European ban robbed a generation of English players of an education, and why the stirrings of a breakaway Super League were already happening in 85-86. Then we turn to the West Ham specifics: the story of how Frank McAveney almost signed for Luton, the Stringfellows encounter that tells you everything about the Cottee-McAveney partnership, the 8-1 win over Newcastle, and just how close John Lyall's side came to pulling off something remarkable. Chris also talks us through the chapter song titles, the players nobody had heard of, and why that season planted the seeds of what would eventually become the Premier League. The Slum Sport is available now. Search "The Slum Sport" or find Chris on X at @_ChrisLepkowski. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2542518/support] Thanks for listening to The West Ham Syndrome. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to follow, subscribe, and leave us a review, it really helps the show grow. Stay connected with us:  📧 Email: thewesthamsyndrome@gmail.com 📱 Follow us: @thewesthamsyndrome (Instagram & Twitter/X)

From Despair to Where - Relegation Unpacked | Season 2: Episode 3

Well. Here we are. In what is easily their least enjoyable recording session to date, Andrew and Max sit down to make sense of the unthinkable - West Ham United's relegation to the Championship after a season that was, in truth, a long time coming. Taking inspiration from A Christmas Carol (the Muppets version, naturally), the lads split this one into three acts. The Ghost of West Ham Past takes us back to January 2010, when David Sullivan and David Gold walked through the door with the proceeds of a Birmingham City sale and a plan that always had more to do with profit than passion. From the stadium deal that lined their pockets while breaking fans' hearts, to the criminal mishandling of David Moyes and the Declan Rice windfall - Andrew and Max unpick exactly how the seeds of this relegation were planted long before a ball was kicked this season. The Ghost of West Ham Present surveys the wreckage: £350 million spent since the Rice sale, a revolving door of managers, a squad built by committee (if that committee was one man on his phone), and a boardroom that has haemorrhaged its senior leadership faster than the team haemorrhaged points.  And the Ghost of West Ham Future? Sullivan won't sell cheap. Kretinsky lurks. The finances are brutal.  Scrooge, in the end, changes his ways. Whether David Sullivan will do the same is, frankly, less certain. COYI. Whatever league we're in. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2542518/support] Thanks for listening to The West Ham Syndrome. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to follow, subscribe, and leave us a review, it really helps the show grow. Stay connected with us:  📧 Email: thewesthamsyndrome@gmail.com 📱 Follow us: @thewesthamsyndrome (Instagram & Twitter/X)

No Place Like Home - Joseph Fordham on Documenting the Last Days of Upton Park | Season 2: Episode 2

In 2015, with West Ham's move from the Boleyn Ground to the London Stadium announced, photographer and creative director Joseph Fordham set himself a task: to collect 112 portraits and personal accounts from fans, players and club figures - one for every year West Ham had called Upton Park home. What followed was 374 days of matchday photography, interviews over email, recorded conversations in the club bar, and one memorable trip to Gloucester to photograph Sir Geoff Hurst. The result was No Place Like Home, a self-funded, self-published book that sold 2,000 copies and captured a moment in time that can never be repeated. In this episode, Joe joins Andrew and Max to talk through the making of the book - how the idea came to him on a train, how Tony Carr opened a door that led to Sir Geoff Hurst, how David Gold gave up 45 minutes of his time and lit up talking about the old days, and why it took him nearly a decade to look back at the finished product with genuine pride. We also get into the fanzine that followed - 10 issues of irreverent, offbeat fun produced out of the Truman Brewery - Joe's complicated feelings about the London Stadium and what No Place Like Home has grown into since. Plus the quickfire round: first game, favourite player, best goal, worst heartbreak and what the West Ham Way really means. A proper love letter to the Boleyn Ground and the people who made it home. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2542518/support] Thanks for listening to The West Ham Syndrome. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to follow, subscribe, and leave us a review, it really helps the show grow. Stay connected with us:  📧 Email: thewesthamsyndrome@gmail.com 📱 Follow us: @thewesthamsyndrome (Instagram & Twitter/X)

The 2006 FA Cup Final, 20 Years On | Season 2: Episode 1

We're back! Season 2 of The West Ham Syndrome is here and we're kicking things off with a special episode marking the 20th anniversary of the 2006 FA Cup Final. On 13 May 2006, West Ham United faced Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in a match now widely regarded as one of the greatest FA Cup finals ever played. We take you through West Ham's road to the final, the context surrounding that season, and every moment of a game that had absolutely everything. We also take an honest (and slightly painful) look at how close West Ham have come to a final in the twenty years since. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2542518/support] Thanks for listening to The West Ham Syndrome. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to follow, subscribe, and leave us a review, it really helps the show grow. Stay connected with us:  📧 Email: thewesthamsyndrome@gmail.com 📱 Follow us: @thewesthamsyndrome (Instagram & Twitter/X)