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‘It’s soulless here’: why West Ham fans are in revolt

When a football club moves from its historic home to a shiny new stadium, it leaves more than memories behind – as West Ham supporters are discovering at the London Stadium

It’s a mild Monday evening in April and 56,795 people, officially at least, have come along to London Stadium at the Olympic Park in Stratford to watch West Ham United play Stoke City in a bottom-of-the-table Premier League match. That’s a large crowd, by any standards, but judging by the fans milling around the huge concourse outside the ground, it’s not a happy one.

Of course, football fans are not renowned for their cheery optimism. By and large, it’s a grim business being a supporter, a forlorn struggle between daydreams and despair. As Nick Hornby wrote in Fever Pitch: “The natural state of the football fan is bitter disappointment, no matter what the score.”

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2JCxhwq
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