Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #328206 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-27
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Synopsis
West Ham are back in the Premiership and, to celebrate, Pete May reflects on a lifetime of supporting the Irons. It's all here in "Hammers in the Heart", from a full account of West Ham's triumph against Preston in the Coca-Cola Championship play-off final at Cardiff on 30 May, 2005 to his early recollections of Bobby Moore, high-leg DM boots in the North Bank, Billy Bonds' pirate chic, obscene humour in the "Chicken Run", Trevor Brooking's sideburns, the FA Cup triumphs of 1975 and 1980, promotions, relegations and sides invariably 'down to the bare bones'. With the dark humour necessary to be a Hammers fan, Pete May recalls Frank McAvennie's Neighbours mullet; Paolo Di Canio's walk-off against Bradford; 'Two Bob' Florin Raducioiu, who preferred shopping in Harvey Nichols to playing for West Ham; Iain Dowie's legendary own goal at Stockport; homeboy Joey Beauchamp; John Hartson attempting to kick off Eyal Berkovic's head in training; beating Bury 10-0 and signing their centre-half; chants of 'We want a new back four!' and relegation with the most talented side ever to go down; and, of course, the sublime skills of Brooking, Devonshire and Di Canio.

You'll laugh, you'll wince, you'll probably need a cup of Rosie Tea in Ken's Cafe after reading "Hammers in the Heart", an epic tale of dreams that didn't always fade and die.

From the Publisher
West Ham are back in the Premiership and, to celebrate, Pete May reflects on a lifetime of supporting the Hammers. It's all here in Hammers in the Heart, from a full account of West Ham's triumph against Preston in the Coca-Cola Championship play-off final at Cardiff on 30 May 2005 to his early recollections of Bobby Moore, the signing of a drunken Jimmy Greaves, high-leg DM boots in the North Bank, obscene humour in the Chicken Run, Trevor Brooking's sideburns, winning the 1975 FA Cup with the most bearded side in history and the 1980 Cup triumph, which had West Ham fans dreaming of a Frankie Lampard 'when the ball came over and Frank fell over and scored the effing winning goal!'

About the Author
Pete May is a West Ham season ticket holder and author of West Ham: Irons In The Soul, Sunday Muddy Sunday: The Heart and Soul of Sunday League Football and Rent Boy: How One Man Spent 20 Years Falling Off The Property Ladder. He also co-wrote The Lad Done Bad: Sex, Sleaze and Football in English Football.

Customer Reviews

a must-read for hammers fans
From our 7-1 demolition of Hull City and Paolo di Canio's amazing skills to freezing in a snowstorm on the North Bank and relegation blues three years ago, Pete May captures all the agony and ecstasy of following the Hammers over the last 30 years. His recall of detail is amazing and his passion for the club infectious......Time for a book on the 2006 cup run?