Hundreds of excited youngsters celebrated the Hammers’ historic victory over Chelsea by meeting three of their heroes at the Club’s Romford store on Thursday afternoon.
With the queue spilling out of the shop and round the corner, Sam Byram, Arthur Masuaku and Toni Martinez proved hugely popular at the Liberty Romford as they signed autographs and posed for photos with avid Hammers.
With the trio all working hard to regain their fitness, they took time out of their busy schedules to repay the faith that the thousands of supporters give them and their teammates every week.
Speaking at the end of the successful event, Byram said: “It’s always great for us to show how much we truly value the support we’re given.
“Everywhere we go, there are always West Ham fans so to have the opportunity to give some of our time back to them is great. We have very passionate supporters, and obviously, to show that we really appreciate that is really good.”
For Masuaku and Martinez, it was their first opportunity to meet some of the adoring claret and blue followers since joining the club in the summer.
Having clearly enjoyed the event, Masuaku beamed: “It was very nice experience to meet the fans. They have shown me a lot of support and respect since I started here, so to meet them and say thank you was very important for me.”
Meanwhile Martinez added: “Of course, the fans are very important, so it is a nice thing for us to do.”
Following the triumphant victory over Chelsea – the first London derby at the Hammers new home –the Hammers will now face a mouth-watering quarter-final tie away at Manchester United.
Yesterday’s win, the Hammers’ third consecutive victory, has now extended their unbeaten run to four games in all competitions, and the buoyant mood during the store signing was palpable among the players and fans alike.
Aaron, 8, from Chadwell Heath said: “Now we beat Chelsea, I think we’ll come top five! With the players we’ve got, why not?
“I’ve never met any West Ham players before so it was amazing, I couldn’t believe how nice they were!”
Zoe from Braintree was equally delighted to meet some of her heroes: “We’ve had to queue for a while but it was definitely worth it! Sam Byram is one of my favourite players so to get a picture with him really good.
“Hopefully I’ll get to come to more of these events in the future.”