There were always going to be a few tears, you know, when you consider why we are not in Europe. It never ceases to upset me.
I mean, this time last year we were safely in the Europa League's last 16. A month later it was the quarter finals. All this comes back to you this time of year when European football kicks back into action. It could, should have still been us, some might say.You try not to think too much about it, it just scrambles your brain as you look for those responsible for such a failure after three years in European competition.
But then again, I’ve had a few days in the winter sun of Lanzarote, small health issues to attend to. And I blame the wife. Unlike her, and any, I never read books on holiday, I’ve spent so much time reading for a living I have got out of the habit. But she insisted I took a book with us this time.
So I chose, after putting it off for months because I know how depressed I’d get, Peter May’s excellent book, Massive - the miracle of Prague.
Peter’s written a few West Ham books, but this one I bought some time ago to add an extensive West Ham library, something to look back on in years to come. I can see the Boys of ’86 and Brian Belton’s The men of 64 in front of me as I write this. Why has no-one done a book on the '80s winners, the last team from the old second division to win the FA Cup and get promotion the following year?
Massive was excellent. Peter’s matchday crew very much mirrors many of us out there, the mates from all walks of life we’ve met over the years and meet up with religiously for every match. From the eccentric to the excitable, guys and gals with the same love for the club.
Their daft rituals, where you meet - although the guy with the banana did throw me a bit. It proves we are all mad to some degree, but would change absolutely nothing.
Peter chronicles every match, every trip, every obscure detail we can all associate with. By the time we got to Prague there were tears rolling down my face. My wife thinks I’m mad and now she knows it, a look of tolerance as we sat by the hotel pool. We have been doing this for 50 years now, nothing really surprises her.
Prague, two years ago on 7 June, was the day anyone under 50 had never experienced as a West Ham fan. Those that were there, those watching on TVs the world over, that day tears did flow.
And you know what really annoys me? West Ham fans who still denigrate the achievement, insulting the teams we beat, their quality. The level of competition. And all because they hated David Moyes so much they couldn’t bear to give him any credit.
The man who made Prague happen, the manager who gave us three years in Europe. Memories that will live for a lifetime. And yet we still have fans who want to devalue that.
Driven by YouTube nutjobs, dressed all in black, insulting his religion, his nationality, from their back bedrooms. Really? Fans who didn’t want him to get another decent job - because I suppose it would make them look daft.
They hated him because he stood up to David Sullivan and the players he put forward for us to sign. Moyes comes from an era where managers pick players, not owners or agents. That left him at times with downright refusal and being prepared to go with what he had.
Too much whining about style of play. A little ironic that Moyes’s return to Everton sees them, momentarily, above us in the table with ten points from the last 15 and wins over Spurs, Brighton and the point this week against Liverpool.
I'm not sure those delirious Everton fans were bothered about style of play and systems. Moyes, after 1,116 matches as a manager and 633 in the Premier League and still folk claim he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
Should he have been given a new contract after Prague, maybe. Had his time come to an end at the London Stadium, probably. But since Prague, the decision-making that has brought us to this point, fifth from bottom, ten points off relegation, has been dreadful.
Julen Lopetegui was a bad appointment, Sullivan ignored advice from football experts at the club. Already he had appointed Tim Steidten as Technical Director. A decision that has seen a worrying summer transfer window, friction, bans from Moyes and Lopetegui and a toxic atmosphere around the club.
Steidten refused to engage in deals Moyes wanted and then ended last summer with a situation that saw James Ward-Prowse shunted up to Nottingham Forest because the PSR calculations were all wrong.
Lopetegui demanded that Carlos Soler and Guido Rodriguez were signed, which meant that Ward-Prowse went from being told he was going to be named club vice captain to being unceremoniously kicked out.
Players are grown ups, they know football can be a cattle market, but this was no way to treat a respected player. Inactivity may well have damaged his career these past months, we will have to see.
But when senior club officials allow themselves to be in such a mess over PSR figures on the last few days of a window, then competence must be questioned. Since then it’s been downhill at a pace.
The return of Ward-Prowse may not change all that, but the appointment of Graham Potter may do. Even though we are already hearing scare stories of the lack of cash in the summer and , guess what, that the lack of European football is damaging the club’s finances.
And are we supposed to believe that Lopetegui was not told that Europe was his target for the season? This sort of stuff can bring tears to your eyes.
Remember when Kevin Nolan got a load of abuse for daring to say that what had happened since his and Moyes’ exit had wasted four years of hard work? Getting West Ham into three seasons of European competition is as much a miracle as that night in Prague.
So here we are in 2025, a year that will see important anniversaries at the club. 3 May will be the 50th anniversary of our FA Cup Final victory over Fulham. The club are already running through a heroes of '75 list, and rightly so.
But the biggest anniversary comes on 19 May, when we will celebrate the 60th anniversary of our European Cup Winners Cup final success over Munich 1860, the greatest day in the club's history.
I recall excitingly tell my dad as we left that game that we will now go on to win the league title now. I’m still waiting. From Wembley to Prague was 59 years, with a losing final in the middle of that spell.
I think that shows how hard it is to get into Europe and what we have criminally thrown away since that night in Prague.
For me? This year marks the 66th year that I have followed West Ham. That first game in January 1959 was a home 5-3 win over Forest. John Dick and Vic Keeble scored twice each and Phil Woosnam got the other.
It’s been a long time and a lot of games since. So you can see how many tears can be shed following the Irons.
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