Hammers worldwide: from Malta with love

My name is Norman Galea. I'm 52 years old and come from the islands of Malta.

I have been following the Hammers since 1975 - which was obviously the year that West Ham United won the FA Cup, beating Fulham 2-0 at Wembley thanks to an Alan Taylor brace.

I was a young 11-year-old at that time; we used to watch the English Football League once a week on a program called Big League Soccer and read magazines like 'Match' and 'Shoot'.




My first live experience of the Hammers was the 1980 FA Cup success against Arsenal when I travelled to London as a teenager, just going into my 16 birthday. That was it! I loved the city and my blood changed into claret and blue.

From that day on I began to travel to London two or three times a year and my love for West Ham United and its fans kept on growing and growing. Visits kept on increasing until about seven years ago, when I became a season ticket holder in the Bobby Moore Lower.

Here I may be seen most of the time carrying my Maltese flag with the crossed Hammers and the words 'Maltese Hammers' emblazoned upon it. Now I travel to most home matches and a few away days which never seems to disappoint.




I meet loads and loads of Hammers fans from east London and match days are becoming more enjoyable. I've also met so many Hammers fan from all over the world and thanks to social media, it’s much easier to keep in contact and share stuff.

Through the years I formed the West Ham United Fan Club here in Malta and Gozo. This year is our 20th anniversary. During this time I've met Chairmen, managers, players and staff.

I travelled to Cardiff three years in a row for the two consecutive play-off Finals and the FA Cup Final. I also attended the last famous play-off Final against Blackpool at Wembley.




I will close by repeating the famous words which I really treasure: If you’re not one of us you will never understand, because we are Moore than just a football club.

ps. My family are all West Ham fans too. Well, they had no other choice...

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