The Hammers
In the early 20th century, West Ham played their home matches at the Memorial Ground in Canning Town, but after a dispute over the rent they were forced to look for a new home. They found a bare field used by a Roman Catholic school and soon reached an agreement with the Catholic authorities for its use.
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West Ham played their first match at the Boleyn Ground on the 1st of September 1904. Just over 10,000 spectators saw the home side beat Millwall 3-0.
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The Boleyn Ground received its name from a house that stood next to the ground, called Boleyn Castle, and which supposedly had been home to Anne Boleyn. These days Boleyn Ground is more commonly referred to as Upton Park.
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The ground was initially a basic affair, but got soon expanded – first in 1919 with a new East Stand and later in 1925 with a new West Stand and terracing at the short ends. This lifted capacity to about 40,000 places.
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The Boleyn Ground was heavily damaged in the Second World War when it was hit by a V1 bomb, but was soon rebuilt.
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In 1961 a roof was added to the North Bank, which meant that all stands had cover. The ground underwent its last major pre-90s change when in 1969 a new East Stand was built.
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The Boleyn Ground recorded its highest attendance of 42,322 during a match with Tottenham Hotspur in 1970.
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The stadium underwent a major redevelopment in the mid 1990s when it was converted into an all seater ground. The works included the construction of two new stands at the short ends and major refurbishments on the other stands. The West Stand was opened in 2001.
Photo: Unknown • Believed to be in the Public Domain (Age - Copyright expired)
The Boleyn Ground 1925
Photo: Oxyman/Wikimedia • Licensed for reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0
The Boleyn Ground 2008
Photo: Egghead06 at English Wikipedia • Released into the Public Domain
Panoramic view of West Ham's Boleyn Ground from the East Stand.
Source: www.stadiumguide.com/boleyn • wikipedia.org
Images: Believed to be in the Public Domain or used with permission
The Olympic Stadium - The future for West Ham United
Despite the renovations, the Boleyn Ground remained a limited structure with few options for expansion. West Ham therefore started looking into the options of moving away to a new ground, with the London Olympic Stadium soon appearing as the prime candidate.
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After a long and drawn out bidding process, West Ham were finally granted a 99-year lease on the Olympic Stadium in early 2013 and they moved into their new home at the start of the 2016-17 season. The stadium had undergone several adjustments, which will included the reconstruction of the bottom tier and the construction of a new roof. The resulting capacity is 54,000 seats.
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