A British playwright, screenwriter and producer, with extensive credits in television, Tony Grounds has never been afraid to write home about his love of West Ham United.
With writing credits for all four of Britain’s main channels – including the ongoing critically acclaimed BBC series, Our Girl, and other BBC films such as A Class Apart and The Dinner Party – Grounds is an avid Irons supporter, often referring to the east London club in his plays and works.
Grounds sat down to chat with broadcaster Mark Webster to shares his favourite things about being a Hammer in episode five of The Six Factor…
Tony, thank you for agreeing to join me – and you’ve certainly done your bit for West Ham posterity, because in Our Girl, the Boleyn Ground has been captured forever in an episode!
Yes, in the pilot, we filmed there, and in the first series Lacey Turner’s house was overlooking the ground. Then, of course, there was the scene where Smurf came and died on the pitch at Boleyn Ground, basically… I’ve killed a few people there, actually! I’ve filmed quite a lot at the old ground.
I’m going to guess you’re a lifelong fan – so who was your favourite player as a kid?
I remember Bobby Moore and was fortunate enough to go and see him. I was young and the memory was hazy, but one of my first memories was standing on the Chicken Run with my Dad, and the crowd passing and Bobby Moore coming over to take a throw-in. I remember the big No6 on his back and my Dad said, “that’s Bobby Moore! I don’t want you to ever forget this moment!” – and I never have.
Then, with my first drama called Gone to the Dogs, I was able to get Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters in it! We needed three celebrities in the story to come and open this video store, and Bobby, Geoff and Martin agreed to come along. I got quite friendly with Bobby during the day, and I said “we’ve got some other scenes, we’ve got this wedding scene” and he said “I’d be very up for coming!”
I got to know him over a few weeks, we met up at the screening, and I regaled him with that story. He was such a humble guy – he was much more in awe of all the actors and the set and working with us.
And in the present day, who’s your favourite current Hammer?
Mark Noble holds his own. I’m obviously very fond of Declan Rice and Lukasz Fabianski in goal does a very good job for us.
I think we also always need a fancy player, somehow, and I don’t know quite what I mean by that because I’m very much a football spectator rather than academic, but you do love somebody who comes on and gets the crowd going, like Paolo di Canio! Just give him the ball, and there’s that character!
Mark Noble brings continuity and heart – he wants to win as much as we do. I’m sure all the players want to win, but sometimes, when you’re 2-0 down, you sense that Noble would always dig in.
Moving on, who is your all-time favourite West Ham United manager?
Obviously I just about remember Ron Greenwood, and I certainly remember John Lyall and his Claret and Blue army! I so wanted Billy Bonds to do well. He was the one I would’ve loved to do well.
Fourthly, what’s your favourite West Ham United shirt in history?
I did like it when we had Dr Martens on the front [in 1998/99], and it seemed to suit us, didn’t it?
Before advertising and sponsorship, I did like the double Claret and Blue hoop [away kit in the 1970s] – it became iconic because I think we had a few terrific wins in that. It looked so different.
When you’re going about life, you often find a West Ham fan because you’re from that area, or you meet these strange people from far away who like the shirt – they like the colours!
Fifth question – what’s your favourite West Ham United goal in history?
Obviously Di Canio’s was one of the best goals you’ll ever see, and I would say every goal is great, but it’s the goals from those moments, isn’t it? If you’re winning 3-0 and you score another goal, yes it can be spectacular, but…
I remember Julian Dicks hit a penalty once which meant we drew 2-2 against Man United at home [in December 1996]. I don’t think it had any particular significance, except we got a draw against – in those days – the mighty Man United, and Dicks hit this penalty so hard it looked like it had hit the bar! That was quite exciting.
Ravel Morrison’s away at Tottenham [in 2013] was a great goal as well!
Finally, what’s your favourite West Ham game ever?
If you’re looking for a fine technical game, I don’t know – I much more go to football for the heart and the passion, which would lead me to the very last game at Boleyn Ground, 18 May 2016.
Playing Manchester United, I thought we had no chance of winning – and all those memories, my father’s death, ashes scattered on the pitch, and I was with my two sons who were in their early 20s – it all seemed to be focused on this 90 minutes.
The crowd were so fantastic that day – that’s how we’ll remember Upton Park. I turned to my boys and said “we’re not losing this. We’re going to win this match.” And even when we were 2-1 down, I thought we were going to win the match. We had to. We were sucking that ball into the goal. When we went 3-2 up, it was absolutely amazing.
We moved around a bit when the kids were little, and we got to that back row of the lower tier, right on the halfway line, behind the dugout. It was perfect.
Tony Grounds, thank you very much!
*Check out previous episodes of The Six Factor with Peaky Blinders star Jack Rowan, broadcaster Nat Coombs, darts referee Russ Bray and presenter and mathematician Bobby Seagull!
