Back To The Future
- Monday, 8th November 2021
- HeadHammerShark
Singing I’ve got a foreskin, haven’t you? (f*cking Jew!)”
- West Ham Fans, Traditional Arr.
A Life Less Ordinary
- Monday, 1st November 2021
- HeadHammerShark
You'll see me through 'til the end of time”
- Ash, “A Life Less Ordinary”
The Glorious Now
- Monday, 25th October 2021
- HeadHammerShark
Kill Your Darlings
- Monday, 18th October 2021
- HeadHammerShark
I just want to change my mind"
- Gregory Isaacs, "Can I Change My Mind"
Reality Bites
- Monday, 4th October 2021
- HeadHammerShark
Such a long, long time"
- Embrace, "Gravity"
A Walk Among The Clouds
- Monday, 27th September 2021
- HeadHammerShark
From the moment that Manuel Lanzini calmly stroked in a ninth minute winner at Old Trafford, to the instant that Michail Antonio drilled home a last-minute heartbreaker at Elland Road, this has been the week of wildly improbable dreams. And haven't we been saying that a lot lately?
The West Ham A-Z: Agony and Zagreb
- Monday, 20th September 2021
- HeadHammerShark
No Time To Dive In
- Monday, 13th September 2021
- HeadHammerShark
Do you have an unpopular opinion about a sacred cow of popular culture? Of course you do, you're human.
The Timing of the Coup
- Monday, 6th September 2021
- HeadHammerShark
With life, with music, with football. It's always about the timing.
West Ham's Week of Two Halves
- Monday, 30th August 2021
- HeadHammerShark
It often feels as though the only permanent thing about football is the impermanence. Can it really only have been two years ago that Spurs were in a Champions League final, replete with a dynamic young squad and manager and with their dazzling new stadium threatening an era of modern dominance?
PAI in the Sky
- Monday, 23rd August 2021
- HeadHammerShark
Tell me you're a West Ham fan without telling me you're a West Ham fan. So goes the Twitter meme and so goes this column.
Season Preview: Where to begin?
- Friday, 13th August 2021
- HeadHammerShark
It hardly seems like yesterday that Southampton were being brushed aside and Europa League football was confirmed. Fans had returned, Jesse Lingard seemed set to stay, and Andriy Yarmolenko was like a relic of a different time; a footballing windmill at the side of the road, serving no purpose other than to remind us of how things used to be done.
The first day of the rest of our lives
- Tuesday, 20th April 2021
- HeadHammerShark
Hey folks, long time no see. Been up to much?
The 50 best games of the Premier League Era (10-1)
- Thursday, 21st January 2021
- HeadHammerShark
A couple of years ago I attempted to rank the best 50 West Ham players of all time, and ended up in more arguments about Yossi Benayoun than I expected. With that task behind me I decided that the time was ripe to spend my lockdown summer pondering the best matches I've seen as a West Ham fan...
The 50 best games of the Premier League Era (20-11)
- Thursday, 21st January 2021
- HeadHammerShark
A couple of years ago I attempted to rank the best 50 West Ham players of all time, and ended up in more arguments about Yossi Benayoun than I expected. With that task behind me I decided that the time was ripe to spend my lockdown summer pondering the best matches I've seen as a West Ham fan...
The 50 best games of the Premier League Era (30-21)
- Thursday, 21st January 2021
- HeadHammerShark
A couple of years ago I attempted to rank the best 50 West Ham players of all time, and ended up in more arguments about Yossi Benayoun than I expected. With that task behind me I decided that the time was ripe to spend my lockdown summer pondering the best matches I've seen as a West Ham fan...
The 50 best games of the Premier League Era (40-31)
- Thursday, 21st January 2021
- HeadHammerShark
A couple of years ago I attempted to rank the best 50 West Ham players of all time, and ended up in more arguments about Yossi Benayoun than I expected. With that task behind me I decided that the time was ripe to spend my lockdown summer pondering the best matches I've seen as a West Ham fan...
The 50 best games of the Premier League Era (50-41)
- Thursday, 21st January 2021
- HeadHammerShark
A couple of years ago I attempted to rank the best 50 West Ham players of all time, and ended up in more arguments about Yossi Benayoun than I expected.
The slow, dissolving dream
- Sunday, 29th December 2019
- HeadHammerShark
The West Ham board have been doing stupid things. It's The H List bat signal.
An inconvenient truth
- Friday, 15th February 2019
- HeadHammerShark
There is an issue that has been vexing West Ham fans this week...
West Ham, women and what we do in the shadows
- Thursday, 3rd January 2019
- HeadHammerShark
I often wonder what is wrong with me.
The week of waking up
- Wednesday, 3rd October 2018
- HeadHammerShark
I don't know about you guys, but I'm quite enjoying this good start to the season that we have made, whereby one must discount the actual beginning to the season and instead pretend it all kicked off last week.
Everton 1-3 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Wednesday, 19th September 2018
- HeadHammerShark
Frantically googling synonyms for "happy". Frantically trying to remember what time Match of the Day 2 is on. Our season starts today, folks!
West Ham 0-1 Wolves (And Other Ramblings)
- Tuesday, 4th September 2018
- HeadHammerShark
WARNING: This is not going to cheer you up.
In Retro: The Fifty Greatest Hammers (10 to 1)
- Friday, 31st August 2018
- HeadHammerShark
And so we come to it. The ten greatest players to have played for West Ham United, and I strongly suspect that you could name most of them off the top of your head.
In Retro: The Fifty Greatest Hammers (20 to 11)
- Friday, 31st August 2018
- HeadHammerShark
In narrowing down a list of over one thousand names to just fifty, it is inevitable that I will make some mistakes and certainly there is not a huge amount to choose between those in this section, and those who I have ranked immediately outside this list. In order to try and give some context, here are those players who just missed out:
In Retro: The Fifty Greatest Hammers (30 to 21)
- Friday, 31st August 2018
- HeadHammerShark
In narrowing down a list of over one thousand names to just fifty, it is inevitable that I will make some mistakes and certainly there is not a huge amount to choose between those in this section, and those who I have ranked immediately outside this list. In order to try and give some context, here are those players who just missed out:
In Retro: The Fifty Greatest Hammers (40 to 31)
- Friday, 31st August 2018
- HeadHammerShark
In narrowing down a list of over one thousand names to just fifty, it is inevitable that I will make some mistakes and certainly there is not a huge amount to choose between those in this section, and those who I have ranked immediately outside this list. In order to try and give some context, here are those players who just missed out:
In Retro: The Fifty Greatest Hammers (50 to 41)
- Friday, 31st August 2018
- HeadHammerShark
In narrowing down a list of over one thousand names to just fifty, it is inevitable that I will make some mistakes and certainly there is not a huge amount to choose between those in this section, and those who I have ranked immediately outside this list. In order to try and give some context, here are those players who just missed out:
In Retro: The fifty greatest Hammers
- Friday, 31st August 2018
- HeadHammerShark
Over the summer, West Ham Utd ran an interesting series of articles where they identified the “greatest” fifty players to have ever played for the club. I will confess that I find this kind of thing much more interesting than the general stuff that appears on the official site, which is usually a rehash of the previous week’s “the season starts on Saturday” article.
Let's Fix Modern Football - Pipe Dreams Edition
- Friday, 20th July 2018
- HeadHammerShark
Imagine writing a long article highlighting the ludicrous, self serving, avaricious attempt by England's self styled biggest football clubs to murder the game, and then casually chucking in there that you had some plans to address those same imbalances.
A dream of summer
- Wednesday, 16th May 2018
- HeadHammerShark
With safety comes excitement, they said. Watch us throw off the shackles and dance like it's the last night of our holiday, we thought.
West Ham 1-4 Manchester City (And Other Ramblings) - A Letter to David Sullivan
- Wednesday, 2nd May 2018
- HeadHammerShark
Dear David,
Arsenal 4-1 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Wednesday, 25th April 2018
- HeadHammerShark
I had a curious experience watching this game...
West Ham 1-1 Stoke (And Other Ramblings)
- Friday, 20th April 2018
- HeadHammerShark
Not every win comes in the form of a victory.
West Ham 3-0 Southampton (And Other Ramblings)
- Tuesday, 3rd April 2018
- HeadHammerShark
It's been a while.
West Ham 0-3 Burnley (And Other Ramblings)
- Tuesday, 13th March 2018
- HeadHammerShark
I often wonder about these articles. What value do they serve, really, beyond allowing me to engage in something I like to do?
Swansea 4-1 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Wednesday, 7th March 2018
- HeadHammerShark
Liverpool 4-1 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Tuesday, 27th February 2018
- HeadHammerShark
A march to the music of failure
- Sunday, 18th February 2018
- HeadHammerShark
The Sound and the fury
- Monday, 5th February 2018
- HeadHammerShark
Wigan 2-0 West Ham (Or The Fall of the House of Sullivan)
- Monday, 29th January 2018
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 1-1 Bournemouth (And Other Ramblings)
- Wednesday, 24th January 2018
- HeadHammerShark
Huddersfield 1-4 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Thursday, 18th January 2018
- HeadHammerShark
Spurs 1 - 1 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Friday, 5th January 2018
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 2-1 West Brom (And Other Ramblings)
- Thursday, 4th January 2018
- HeadHammerShark
Bournemouth 3-3 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Friday, 29th December 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Arsenal 1-0 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Thursday, 21st December 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Stoke 0-3 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 18th December 2017
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 0-0 Arsenal (And Other Ramblings)
- Friday, 15th December 2017
- Headhammershark
West Ham 1-0 Chelsea (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 11th December 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Man City 2-1 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 4th December 2017
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 1-1 Leicester City (And Other Ramblings)
- Tuesday, 28th November 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Watford 2-0 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Tuesday, 21st November 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Let's not fuck about. We're in desperate straits.
West Ham 1 - 4 Liverpool (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 6th November 2017
- HeadHammerShark
"When your heart is black and broken And you need a helping hand When you're so much in love you don't know Just how much you can stand" - The Stone Roses, "Ten Storey Love Song"
In Retro: Jack Collison
- Monday, 6th November 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Imagine playing a game of football for West Ham against Spurs, and all the attendant emotional baggage that goes with that.
Crystal Palace 2-2 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 30th October 2017
- HeadHammerShark
"Now I've swung back down again, it's worse than it was before If I hadn't seen such riches, I could live with being poor" - James, "Sit Down"
Spurs 2-3 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Thursday, 26th October 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Sometimes it's easy to take things for granted. Sometimes it's easy to forget what made us fall in love with people, or places, or things or even, yes, football teams.
West Ham 0-3 Brighton (And Other Ramblings)
- Tuesday, 24th October 2017
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham play Crystal Palace next week and I’m concerned that it will be a meeting of such colossal awfulness that it will somehow destroy the world. I'm not telling you to say goodbye to your loved ones, but I'm not telling you not to either.
Burnley 1-1 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Tuesday, 17th October 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Two steps forward, two steps back. And so the dance continues.
The questions they don't want you to ask
- Wednesday, 4th October 2017
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 1-0 Swansea (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 2nd October 2017
- HeadHammerShark
One of my favourite time waster websites is Awkward Family Photos which pretty much does what it says on the tin. I believe this to be the masterpiece of the oeuvre:
West Ham 2-3 Spurs (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 25th September 2017
- HeadHammerShark
In the classic three act story structure, we typically see a standard set of touchpoints through the course of the tale which give us the basic framework for events to unfold.
West Brom 0-0 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 18th September 2017
- HeadHammerShark
I am a terrible Englishman.
West Ham 2-0 Huddersfield (And Other Ramblings)
- Friday, 15th September 2017
- HeadHammerShark
As a kid growing up, one of my favourite films was "Big Trouble in Little China". Being a boy from Essex, I'm pretty sure that the attraction revolved around being shown a world totally unlike anything I had ever even imagined before.
West Ham and The Year of The Long Knives
- Monday, 11th September 2017
- HeadHammerShark
If your household is like mine, then you will have a bin in your kitchen.
Newcastle United 3-0 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Wednesday, 30th August 2017
- HeadHammerShark
"Omnes relinquite spes, o vos intrapten" - Dante Aligheri
Southampton 3-2 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 21st August 2017
- HeadHammerShark
It's impossible, it feels to me, to be able to accurately convey the feeling of being a West Ham fan to other people. We can try, certainly, but the reality is that all football fans are convinced they are on a rollercoaster journey of zeniths and nadirs that is unmatched anywhere else in the world.
In Retro: Trevor Sinclair
- Thursday, 17th August 2017
- HeadHammerShark
If the early Nineties was a test of faith for West Ham fans, then the second half of the decade was as near as we ever got to the promised land.
Manchester United 4-0 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 14th August 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Yesterday I drove for the best part of twelve hours from Essex to Southern France, which is roughly enough time to get me halfway to Manchester based on some reports I read today, and I'm completely knackered.
In Retro: Ian Bishop
- Sunday, 13th August 2017
- HeadHammerShark
I'm looking backwards - I can't face the future just yet.
West Ham - kingdom of the not quite
- Monday, 24th July 2017
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 0-4 Liverpool (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 15th May 2017
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 1-0 Spurs (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 8th May 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Stoke 0-0 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Wednesday, 3rd May 2017
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 0-0 Everton (And Other Ramblings)
- Tuesday, 25th April 2017
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 1-0 Swansea (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 10th April 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Arsenal 3-0 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 10th April 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Hull City 2-1 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Wednesday, 5th April 2017
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 2-3 Leicester (And Other Ramblings)
- Tuesday, 21st March 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Bournemouth 3-2 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 13th March 2017
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 1-2 Chelsea (And Other Ramblings)
- Wednesday, 8th March 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Watford 1-1 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 27th February 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Football, family and the link to Lincoln
- Tuesday, 21st February 2017
- HeadHammerShark
I hope you'll forgive me, but I'm straying a little off the West Ham garden path this week. Instead I'm going to go back in time a little.
West Ham 2-2 West Brom (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 13th February 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Southampton 1-3 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 6th February 2017
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 0-4 Man City (And Other Ramblings)
- Friday, 3rd February 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Middlesbrough 1-3 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 23rd January 2017
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 3-0 Crystal Palace (And Other Ramblings)
- Tuesday, 17th January 2017
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham And The Fallen Hero
- Sunday, 15th January 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Ever fallen in love with someone? Ever fallen in love? In love with someone, ever fallen in love In love with someone, you shouldn't have fallen in love with? - The Buzzcocks
West Ham 0-5 Man City (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 9th January 2017
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 0-2 Manchester United (And Other Ramblings)
- Wednesday, 4th January 2017
- HeadHammerShark
Swansea 1-4 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Wednesday, 28th December 2016
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham And The Mysterious World Of The Past
- Saturday, 24th December 2016
- HeadHammerShark
"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past" - Thomas Jefferson, 1816
West Ham 1-0 Hull City (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 19th December 2016
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 1-0 Burnley (And Other Ramblings)
- Friday, 16th December 2016
- HeadHammerShark
Liverpool 2-2 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Tuesday, 13th December 2016
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 1-5 Arsenal (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 5th December 2016
- HeadHammerShark
Man Utd 4-1 West Ham Utd (And Other Ramblings)
- Friday, 2nd December 2016
- HeadHammerShark
Man Utd 1-1 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Tuesday, 29th November 2016
- HeadHammerShark
Tottenham Hotspur 3 - 2 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 21st November 2016
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham and the art of the deal
- Tuesday, 15th November 2016
- HeadHammerShark
West Ham 1-1 Stoke (And Other Ramblings)
- Monday, 7th November 2016
- HeadHammerShark
Everton 2-0 West Ham Utd (And Other Ramblings)
- Sunday, 30th October 2016
- HeadHammerShark