A new West Ham United Official Supporters’ Club is being launched just in time - and place - for the 2025 Premier League Summer Series.
The New Jersey Hammers is the brainchild of Hammer Tim Skinner, whose love affair with the east London club began in 2010.
Fifteen years on and numerous trips to the Boleyn Ground and London Stadium later, West Ham have repaid the favour by visiting Skinner’s home State to face Manchester United at MetLife Stadium on Saturday night.
There, the 28-year-old middle school teacher will be joined in the stand by thousands of his fellow Hammers - many of them from New Jersey - including his father, Chris, 59, who stays in touch with all things Claret and Blue from his home in the South Carolina beach resort of Myrtle Beach.
For both, it will be the climax to a special few days that began with Tim presenting his hero, Tomáš Souček, with a special Souček 1/1 Sapphire Topps trading card at the Premier League Summer Series show at New Jersey’s American Dream Mall on Thursday afternoon.
The fun will continue on Friday evening when the Skinners join the NYC Hammers at their fan party at Smithfield Hall in New York City, at MetLife Stadium on Saturday, then at Soldier Field when West Ham take on Everton in Chicago on Wednesday.
Tim’s girlfriend Carly and Chris’s wife Lisa have caught the Claret and Blue bug too, and both could not stop smiling as they spoke to whufc.com…
Tim, tell me about yourself. How come you've got a West Ham shirt on?
“So I got into the sport in 2010, following the World Cup, and I was instantly hooked. And I just wanted to pick a team that I didn't know. I knew the teams like Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United. In 2010, the Premier League was not what it is today in the United States, and I just picked West Ham, and I started watching that season.
“I know this sounds strange, but what got me so intrigued during that year after we didn't do good was I had no idea what relegation was. It instantly intrigued me, the fact that we were playing for our lives, but unfortunately we got relegated.
“After that, that year in the Championship, there's no comparison to anything in the United States to the Championship, we went out there that year, and that season was so magical. It's just the most authentic league, authentic football.
“We went to Upton Park, and it was everything we wanted. And ever since then, we've been hooked. All the ups and downs and everything, we've seen this team come from the second league up to winning the [UEFA Europa] Conference League [in 2023], and there's just nothing like it.
“It's the best Club out there. And everything about this Club, I just adore.”
When you went over to London in the 2011/12 season, who did we play that day?
“So, the first game was Birmingham [on Good Friday 2012]. We tied the game 3-3. So we're down 2-0, then Ricardo Vaz Tê pulled one back right before half-time. The second half starts, we gave up a goal straight away, then Carlton Cole scored and Vaz Tê got a penalty.
“The next game [three days later] was just spectacular because we played Brighton. In the first three minutes of the game, we scored twice. Vaz Tê from about 30 yards out on the left-hand side, ripped one into the corner, and we absolutely obliterated Brighton 6-0!”
“Let me tell you something that's crazy. The next game I went to, there were five goals. It was the game we played against Tottenham when Gareth Bale scored from 40 yards out.
“Then the game after was the 3-3 game against Arsenal in the last year at Upton Park, the Andy Carroll hat-trick! If you want goals, invite me over!”
Have you been to London Stadium?
“Yes, in 2023, we saw three games in a week, including the FA Youth Cup semi-final win over Southampton. That was actually the best experience I had at that stadium. Everyone there was proper West Ham. To see the kids come up was great, because that's what West Ham is about. It's about the youth.
“It's about the East End incorporating these kids. Even this year, this pre-season, that's what I'm looking most forward to seeing: Freddie Potts, Ollie Scarles, Callum Marshall and Lewis Orford.”
Talk to us about the night you watched us win the Conference League!
“I was at my house. I was by myself because my girlfriend did not want to be home with me watching it. Because she knew that I might be screaming a little bit. I just remember when Jarrod Bowen scored, just falling to my knees. It took me ten or 15 minutes after the game until it just hit me. You just never would have thought this would have ever happened.
“Especially after the year before. I still think about that game in Frankfurt. To do that in Prague, there's just no words. Especially, like I said, being there from relegation to that. Being there the whole journey, there's nothing like it. And I've still never experienced anything quite like it.”
And now you're forming the New Jersey Hammers?
“Yeah, we are. Reach out to me here! We're going to try and get this started, find places to meet up, and really try to make this into something. Anytime you're around West Ham fans, no matter what background you're from or how old or young you are, we all have something in common: we always have a great time.”
