Farewell to Upton Park

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  • Farewell to Upton Park is a stunning new book celebrating 112 years at the Boleyn Ground
  • Sir Trevor Brooking will be in the new Stadium Store from 10-11am on Sunday 21 August to sign copies of the book 
  • Photographer Andy Hooper and Daily Mail Head of Sport Lee Clayton are co-authors

West Ham United fans will never forget the Boleyn Ground.

For that reason alone, a stunning new book celebrating the Hammers’ historic home of 112 years entitled Farewell to Upton Park should be part of every supporters’ Claret and Blue collection.

Containing more than 230 exclusive and evocative images, which will chime with every Hammer, from the characters that made the stadium great, to nostalgic scenes at the historic Boleyn Tavern and inside the ground itself, this is a book every fan will treasure for years to come.

Farewell to Upton Park will go on sale at the Stadium Store ahead of West Ham’s Premier League fixture with AFC Bournemouth on Sunday 21 August, where a very special Hammers guest will be signing copies for supporters!

Officially endorsed by the Club, Farewell to Upton Park was the brainchild of West Ham Season Ticket Holder and Daily Mail and MailOnline Head of Sport Lee Clayton, while many of the images inside were captured by the Mail’s award-winning sports photographer Andy Hooper.

To celebrate the launch, the Club and publishers have teamed up to give away ten copies in a special competition. To enter, simply follow us on Instagram @westham and follow the simple instructions!

 

The book contains many pictures of Upton Park as I remember it, lots of pictures of fans and inside and outside the ground and that matchday atmosphere that we all loved
Lee Clayton

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Together with the co-operation of the Board, staff, players and supporters of this unique football club, Hooper was given unprecedented access to bring together a truly incredible collection of photographs.

As a collection it forms a beautiful testament of what it meant to go to a game and be among the fans at a stadium that will live long in the memory of everyone who visited it.

A lifelong Hammer, Clayton is rightly proud of the publication that he and Hooper have produced.

“The book is called Farewell to Upton Park and I’ve got to say it’s a real show of Andy’s work,” he said. “He is a brilliant photographer who I have worked with for the last 13 years at the Mail and he has got a great eye for these things.

“The original idea for the book came when I was talking with a fellow Season Ticket Holder and we took a long walk around the area surrounding the Boleyn Ground and thought ‘We will never see this again’ because there are not so many reasons to return to the area now West Ham have left.

“I spoke to Andy, as he has an eye for those shots, and the Club have been brilliant in allowing us in with the Board, the players and the management and access all areas, which was a fantastic opportunity.

“All that is reflected in this book, which contains many pictures of Upton Park as I remember it, lots of pictures of fans and inside and outside the ground and that matchday atmosphere that we all loved.”

 

We wanted this to be reportage and not pose any pictures, but rather be moments in time that were observed and won’t happen again
Photographer Andy Hooper

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Photographer Hooper shared his fellow author’s pride in the publication of Farewell to Upton Park, which will be on sale in the Stadium Store and online from Sunday 21 August, and all good bookshops from Thursday 25 August.

“It is really unusual for someone outside the Club to be given such access and everyone inside was very friendly,” he confirmed. “We worked in the dressing room and tunnel area around the players and coaching staff, which is traditionally a very difficult area to work in because you can’t get in anyone’s way, but it worked well.

“Over time, you build up relationships and everyone was really friendly and allowed me to take pictures. We wanted to show everything that happens off the pitch which fans normally don’t see at a match.

“We didn’t want to set anything up because we want every photo in the book to be something that happened naturally, be it the tea lady serving a cuppa or Dimitri Payet doing keepy-ups in the dressing room.

“The book started off showing the architecture and the stadium to give fans a memory of that, but the fans themselves became the book – the goal celebrations make the most incredible pictures because the drama, emotion and the passion that came out, particularly after Winston Reid’s final goal against Manchester United, were incredible.

“We wanted this to be reportage and not pose any pictures, but rather be moments in time that were observed and won’t happen again.”

Hooper will describe his favourite images in the Official Programme throughout the 2016/17 season.

*Farewell to Upton Park – The Official Celebration of West Ham United’s Home – 1904–2016 will be published by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd on Sunday 21 August 2016.