Hammers fan and motorsport commentator David Croft is relishing this weekend’s Race of Champions at the new Stadium
Hammers fan and motorsport commentator David Croft is relishing this weekend’s Race of Champions at the new Stadium...
Hello everyone,
I have been lucky enough to be asked to act as the PA announcer, interviewer and commentator at our new home in Stratford this weekend for the Race of Champions.
I visited the Stadium earlier this week to prepare and make the draw and I certainly wasn’t going to pass up the chance to have a snoop around our new home!
I have say it was all very exciting. I had not been inside since the 2012 Olympics and it looks completely different now and it will look different again when we move in next summer, as obviously the pitch won’t be covered in tarmac!
It looks like a proper home for a proper football team. I know it’s not the Boleyn and it’s very different, but when the floodlights came on and the rain started falling, I could just imagine Aaron Cresswell flying down the left flank, Dimitri Payet delivering free-kicks and Diafra Sakho or Andy Carroll getting on the end of them!
There is almost a feeling that the Stadium itself is anticipating our arrival. It’s had the Olympics, it’s had the Rugby World Cup and it will have the Race of Champions this weekend, but the Stadium needs West Ham United to come along and deliver some top-class sport every other week.
All the concerns about the sightlines not being great, fans not being able to see the action, and about the atmosphere will evaporate very quickly, once people get to see the Stadium for themselves.
While the experience will be new and different, it will become better and better as we become part of the fabric and history of that Stadium.
What could be better than seeing your team performing on the best stage possible and sharing it with your family, your mates and 54,000 others?
I am really excited now I have gone and seen it for myself. What’s more, it’s a brilliant opportunity for me to be the official MC for the Race of Champions, welcoming some of the world’s best drivers into the Stadium – that’s if I can be heard over the cars!
I am looking forward to standing in the middle of it all and I’ll take a few photos which I’ll tweet @CroftyF1 for everyone to see!
Hello everyone,
I have been lucky enough to be asked to act as the PA announcer, interviewer and commentator at our new home in Stratford this weekend for the Race of Champions.
I visited the Stadium earlier this week to prepare and make the draw and I certainly wasn’t going to pass up the chance to have a snoop around our new home!
I have say it was all very exciting. I had not been inside since the 2012 Olympics and it looks completely different now and it will look different again when we move in next summer, as obviously the pitch won’t be covered in tarmac!
It looks like a proper home for a proper football team. I know it’s not the Boleyn and it’s very different, but when the floodlights came on and the rain started falling, I could just imagine Aaron Cresswell flying down the left flank, Dimitri Payet delivering free-kicks and Diafra Sakho or Andy Carroll getting on the end of them!
There is almost a feeling that the Stadium itself is anticipating our arrival. It’s had the Olympics, it’s had the Rugby World Cup and it will have the Race of Champions this weekend, but the Stadium needs West Ham United to come along and deliver some top-class sport every other week.
All the concerns about the sightlines not being great, fans not being able to see the action, and about the atmosphere will evaporate very quickly, once people get to see the Stadium for themselves.
While the experience will be new and different, it will become better and better as we become part of the fabric and history of that Stadium.
What could be better than seeing your team performing on the best stage possible and sharing it with your family, your mates and 54,000 others?
I am really excited now I have gone and seen it for myself. What’s more, it’s a brilliant opportunity for me to be the official MC for the Race of Champions, welcoming some of the world’s best drivers into the Stadium – that’s if I can be heard over the cars!
I am looking forward to standing in the middle of it all and I’ll take a few photos which I’ll tweet @CroftyF1 for everyone to see!
While the experience will be new and different, it will become better and better as we become part of the fabric and history of that Stadium.
Of course, the weekend will also see us travel up to White Hart Lane for a big London derby with Tottenham Hotspur.
At this stage of the season, we’ve had some amazing results and I think we need to get back to winning ways again, and what better place to do it?
The last couple of games have been a bit disappointing, both in terms of the results and losing Dimitri Payet and Enner Valencia to injury.
It’s going to be hard on Sunday, because Dimitri has been massive for us this season. He’s been the star performer in my Fantasy Football Club team, helping me to the top of the table ahead of experts like Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Thierry Henry, fellow Hammers Bianca Westwood and Ben Shephard and former West Ham players Iain Dowie, Neil Mellor and Tony Gale.
I won the title in 2014 and have been Manager of the Week in the last two gameweeks, so if Slaven Bilic ever wants a weekend off, I’m here!
Slightly more seriously, if Alex Song is fit to start, is this the chance for him to come into the team and play a massive part? Let’s hope he can reach the same level he showed at the start of last season.
Manuel Lanzini also has a massive role to play. He’s been an amazing loan signing and I hope we can wrap up his signing permanently, because he’s been superb.
Losing Enner puts more pressure on our strikers, but Diafra Sakho and Andy Carroll will show that they can score the goals for us, because we are playing the sort of football that forwards thrive off.
There have been plenty of plusses this season, and Slaven has the team playing with the confidence to win anywhere, so let’s hope they can do it again on Sunday.
Come on you Irons and let’s have three points at White Hart Lane!
Crofty
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of West Ham United.
At this stage of the season, we’ve had some amazing results and I think we need to get back to winning ways again, and what better place to do it?
The last couple of games have been a bit disappointing, both in terms of the results and losing Dimitri Payet and Enner Valencia to injury.
It’s going to be hard on Sunday, because Dimitri has been massive for us this season. He’s been the star performer in my Fantasy Football Club team, helping me to the top of the table ahead of experts like Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Thierry Henry, fellow Hammers Bianca Westwood and Ben Shephard and former West Ham players Iain Dowie, Neil Mellor and Tony Gale.
I won the title in 2014 and have been Manager of the Week in the last two gameweeks, so if Slaven Bilic ever wants a weekend off, I’m here!
Slightly more seriously, if Alex Song is fit to start, is this the chance for him to come into the team and play a massive part? Let’s hope he can reach the same level he showed at the start of last season.
Manuel Lanzini also has a massive role to play. He’s been an amazing loan signing and I hope we can wrap up his signing permanently, because he’s been superb.
Losing Enner puts more pressure on our strikers, but Diafra Sakho and Andy Carroll will show that they can score the goals for us, because we are playing the sort of football that forwards thrive off.
There have been plenty of plusses this season, and Slaven has the team playing with the confidence to win anywhere, so let’s hope they can do it again on Sunday.
Come on you Irons and let’s have three points at White Hart Lane!
Crofty
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of West Ham United.