West Ham United's pre-season visit to Switzerland has been welcomed by the club's fans living in the country.

The Hammers travel to the land of Heidi, fondue and Roger Federer this weekend for an intensive six-day training camp.

Sam Allardyce will also get the opportunity to run the rule over his squad in a match environment at the Uhren Cup tournament, with West Ham tackling Swiss Super League champions FC Basel and UEFA Europa League qualifiers BSC Young Boys on Monday and Wednesday respectively.

The club's visit has gone down particularly well with Swiss trio Sacha and Christophe Clement and Sebastien Bardet, who will make a 90-minute drive to Grenchen to watch both matches.

The Hammers fans travelled to the home matches against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Birmingham City and Blackburn Rovers last season and told whufc.com how much they are looking forward to seeing their heroes in action in their homeland for the first time.

What were your feelings when you heard West Ham United were coming to Switzerland to play in the Uhren Cup?

Excitement and pride! Excitement fast turned into action as we ordered our tickets immediately after the publication of the schedule.

In recent years, several English teams have come to Switzerland for preseason training and we secretly thought that West Ham could be the team to come this year around. Our wishes came true!

We had been to the Boleyn Ground several times over the past year, but attending a West Ham game on our home soil, in Switzerland, is obviously special as well.

Have you ever seen West Ham play in Switzerland before?

No, we have never seen the club play outside of London. We had heard about the 2009 training camp in Austria, but London is easier to access than Austria for us, so we kept our emphasis on travelling to the Boleyn Ground for league competition rather than pre-season camps.

Which players are you looking forward to seeing in action?

Although we're not sure which West Ham squad will be presented in Grenchen, discovering new signing Kevin Nolan will surely be interesting, while seeing other players such as the legendary Scott Parker would absolutely wonderful.

We would also like to discover new faces from the Academy, just to see which youngsters will make the breakthrough to first team action and soar in the upcoming season!

What sort of test do you think will be provided by FC Basel and BSC Young Boys? Both did well in the Swiss Super League last season and have bought some new players, so they will both be difficult matches, do you think?

FC Basel and BSC Young Boys are both regular qualifiers for European competitions, so they are to be treated with respect.Both have international experience, and have ranked well in the Swiss league in the past terms.

FC Basel have top-notch international players in their ranks, including young prospects such as Xherdan Shaqiri and Taulant Xhaka. They will be surrounded by experienced players in the likes of Alexander Frei, Marco Streller and perhaps Radoslav Kovac, the recent signing from West Ham.

Also, both BSC Young Boys and West Ham have new managers on their benches, so we can expect to see players trying to earn starting XI places for the new season. This could bring some additional attraction to these matches.

Are you excited about the future with Sam Allardyce as manager?

Absolutely!We were delighted to see Big Sam appointed. We thought hiring an English manager was key, in particular with regards to historical knowledge of the game, West Ham United as a club, and, of course, its supporters.

Allardyce has a nice resumé, understands the game well and has the leadership abilities to push the team back to the Premier League. We trust Big Sam will do his share, pick the best squad to propel us to new heights and build the foundations for a new and promising era.

What do you think West Ham can achieve in the 2011/12 season?

Promotion! There is no alternative, we must go straight back up this season, just so we can begin our Olympic Stadium time in the Premier League, riding on great momentum.

We are expecting an exciting season, with its shares of ups and downs, but with the obvious goal of reaching the Premier League once again - a division West Ham must long live in.