"Fortune's always hiding"

One visit to the Boleyn Ground to watch West Ham at home to Hull City at a time when both teams were struggling. Hard to believe that a match which ended 3-0 to the home team, and that saw Hull have a man sent off and be reduced to nine men by injury, could be described as 'lacking a spark'... but the match was definitely lacking a spark. Stadium was fine, though.

Location

Just a couple of hundred yards walk down from Upton Park tube. No problem.

View

The pitch seems to be raised slightly so sitting near the front in the Bobby Moore Lower Stand, for example, there can be strange sense of having to look up at the play rather than down. The regulars probably get used to it and think nothing of it.

Facilities

Enough toilets, sparkling clean on arrival but akin to the facilities of a third-world railway station at the final whistle.

Food & Drink

Food and drink aplenty inside the ground, albeit a shade pricey. The road from the tube station is one long run of pubs, burger vans, newsagents, snack bars, etc.

Police & Stewards

Very low-key policing for the match at home to Hull, which was all that was needed.

Atmosphere

In a struggling season, despite pleas by players and the stadium announcer, there still wasn't much of an atmosphere. Even towards the end of an eventual 3-0 win, the home fans were still murmuring discontentedly about the lack of cutting edge and too much passing across midfield and back to goalkeeper. English fans know the performances they like and will sing their hearts when, and only when, they see it.

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