Football is more than 22 players, a referee and 90 minutes. It’s something that brings us together, builds and binds communities, and turns strangers into lifelong friends.
That is certainly the case for Pride of Irons - who create a safe, welcoming space for LGBTQ+ individuals and allies to express themselves, and their love and passion for West Ham United.
There is no quota you have to hit to be a Hammers fan, and that’s why we are United By More.
To celebrate the release of our 2025/26 Home Kit, we invited supporters from across our fanbase, representing different generations, backgrounds and experiences, to be part of our launch shoot - including Pride of Irons.
“West Ham United is our team”
For Amanda Riley - a nurse from east London - West Ham United is everywhere. A former Season-Ticket Holder who still has her seat from Upton Park, Amanda found a community with Pride of Irons and reminisced about how supporting the Club gave her a sense of escapism after working on the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When I think back to that time, I was working on the frontline as a nurse, and we (Pride of Irons) used to have Friday-night Zoom calls, quizzes and we’d watch the games. That was a real highlight of the week, that time we had together.
“It’s a bit of a rollercoaster [to support West Ham], isn’t it? I’ve seen us get relegated but also win the UEFA Europa Conference League. It’s a whole whirlwind of emotions. But it’s our team, we support them whether we win or lose.
“My brother lives in Toronto and it was him who started taking me to West Ham games. They have Toronto Hammers [out there]. There’s not just one or two people, there’s groups of them that go to games.
“Wherever you go, if you see someone in a West Ham shirt, you shout ‘Irons’. It’s that little bond, it’s really nice.”
“The fanbase is at the heart of the Club”
Max Rowley felt excluded from his friendship group, the people who got him into supporting West Ham, when he came out as trans at 13 years old. But being part of Pride of Irons aligned his identity with his football club and now he runs the group’s social media channels.
As for many fans, one of his favourite Claret and Blue memories in recent times was our UEFA Europa Conference League victory in 2023. However, his experience of that night in Prague is different to many others’.
“I came home from Oxford and watched it in a pub. My Grandma was very sick at the time and the last day I saw her was just before I went and watched the final. It’s special to me because it was a weird joining of two events on the same day.
“I think West Ham is a community club. People who love West Ham are like magnets, we will find other people who love West Ham no matter where you are. I live in Oxford now and there’s a surprisingly high number of West Ham fans in Oxford.
“When you’re discovering your queer identity, you take a step back from football. That’s what I found when I came out as trans at 13. I felt like I was even excluded from my friendship group, who were West Ham fans, when I was coming out as trans. The lack of visibility makes you feel you’re not able to be part of that community, so it took me a good three years to align myself as a trans person and West Ham fan. But Pride of Irons made that compatible. You don’t have to be a certain type of person to watch football, you can be whoever you want to be."
“You’re in it together as a family”
Pride of Irons secretary Megan Sifford - from Peterborough - may not live in east London, but the heartbeat of West Ham still rings as strong wherever she goes.
“My Dad put me in West Ham baby grows when I was a kid and it’s just gone on from there. Me and my dad try to go to a couple of games together every year. You win together, you lose together, you’re in it as a family. I went to the last game at Upton Park, and being there was incredible.
“I went on holiday to America and I went to Disney wearing a West Ham shirt. The amount of people that shouted ‘Irons’ was crazy.”
“West Ham is home no matter where you’re from”
Georgia Whitney’s whole family is West Ham. Like Max, being part of Pride of Irons helped Georgia reconnect with her identity. A women’s team Season-Ticket Holder, who adores Hammers stalwarts such as Kate Longhurst, Mark Noble and Dagný Brynjarsdóttir, Georgia started going to West Ham games at six years old - and has never looked back.
“West Ham is something you wear. I met the Baltimore Hammers recently and they’re an amazing group. The way they treat Baltimore is how I treat east London, but they feel at home here and I think West Ham can be a home no matter where you’re from.
“I’m quite new to Pride of Irons, I only joined last season, but it was like reconnecting with a part of my identity. All of my queer friends are Arsenal fans. It’s fun to hang around with them and have football queerness, but there was this missing part, and that piece was West Ham. So to come in and have those two places collide made me feel complete. I finally feel at peace now with West Ham and with how I feel as a queer football fan, and that’s because of the dual community.”
The 2025/26 West Ham United Home Kit is available to purchase online and in store now.
