Iron Men Page #4

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pie-and-mash shop like this one.

[man] If the Olympic Stadium

will be the prestigious stadium

and the new generation

of the Premier League,

then these stallholders

aren't going to get a look-in.

Hello, David.

How are you, mate?

- I'm good.

- Yeah, basically, I am a trader.

I've been a trader here

for the last 16 years.

You know, you come from the same

background as what I did.

I mean, that's how

I get my living.

I had a stall outside of 442

Green Street just like you.

Really? You understand

where I'm coming from.

- No, no, I do.

- I've got a mortgage,

two kids to look after

and all I want, David, is no

more than what I've got now,

the opportunity to work.

We are aware of those situations

and are looking to do everything

we can to help you guys.

OK.

Well, appreciate your time.

- No problem, my friend.

- Thank you. Good luck.

[David]

It's a very delicate situation

where there are going to be

winners and losers.

We're coming

to the Olympic Stadium

and people there

with their businesses

are going to benefit

because, you know,

there'll be 60,000 fans

coming to a match.

By the same token,

when we leave,

there are going to be

people here

that will sadly lose

35,000 fans.

[man] Five or seven?

Spicy or barbecue?

Yeah, small and spicy.

Cheers, my man.

My name is Mark Gevaux.

I am known as the Ribman.

I've been selling

my rib sandwiches, rib rolls,

to West Ham fans here at the

Boleyn for about five years.

Can you wrap it up?

Wrap it up.

We are literally 200 meters

from the ground,

so as soon as you sell out,

that's it, we pack up

and I go and see the game.

Leaving the Boleyn,

leaving all of this behind is,

you know, very nerve-racking.

I lost my leg

after a car crash.

20 years ago, the car crash,

ten years ago,

they cut the leg off.

The prosthetist at the hospital

very kindly made me a leg

from a West Ham shirt.

I had signed by Julian D*cks

and Slaven Bilic.

And, yeah, it's a pride-and-joy.

I believe it's the only one

in the world.

It may be not but I think is.

See you later.

I used to work as a butcher

after the crash.

After about four months,

they told me they couldn't

insure me anymore.

That was the end of my career.

I had to look

for something else to do.

I mean, I could have sat at home

depressed, get fat, whatever,

but I thought, "I still want...

I need to get out and work."

And the only thing

I could think of doing was ribs.

This is my converted

shipping container.

This is where we keep

all the ribs and all the sauces.

It's where we make all the

sauce. Got extraction, water.

Pride and joy, actually.

I love my shipping container.

I've got two loves.

Cooking ribs and hot sauce,

and West Ham.

It's going to be sad to leave,

without a doubt, but...

You know what? We need to.

We do, if you want to be a club

in the top

or whether you want to be a club

that fades into obscurity.

There's so much money

coming into football now

that it's going to be hard

to keep up with it, you know?

Really, really hard.

As much as I'd love to be

in a kiosk outside the stadium,

from what I hear, the rent

is just astronomical.

It's not something

I could ever pay.

It's a nightmare, you know,

it really is.

It's going to be really hard

to actually get in there,

but I'm never going to give up.

How many we got? About 40?

Whether it be on a milk

float outside the park

or whether it be on a canal

boat on the canal next to it,

I will be there

one way or another.

Without a doubt, I'm going to

be the Ribman of West Ham.

If I can put that on my tomb,

I'll die a happy man.

How are you doing?

It just sort of fell on a day

we were playing at home,

we've been looking forward to it

for months.

It's a special day, you know,

I think, when you're hundred.

No, no, everything is fine.

Everything's going fine.

You'll love it there.

[chanting]

- Alright? How have you been?

- I'm good, mate, I'm good.

Myself and Matt, my brother,

have been coming to West Ham

for about 26-27 years.

So, Reid and Ogbonna, Antonio

and Cresswell at the back.

Kouyat, Lanzini, Moses

and Noble.

Because he's in a routine

of Upton Park,

he's very nervous

about the Olympic Stadium

and the new stadium

where the pitch is in terms of

the dug-out and the goals

and sort of the stadium size,

and just appreciating

how big it is.

Cheers. Cheers.

- Hi, Jane, you're alright?

- I'm good.

Good, darling.

[Matt] My brother, James,

has been commentating

for 15 seasons

for visually impaired

supporters that go to the game.

Are there any lights?

There is no light?

Oh, it goes on, yeah, he's on.

[indistinct]

...smothers the ball.

[Matt] The atmosphere is

the most important thing.

Having the crowd

all around you...

- Pushes it in too far...

- [crowd gasps]

Terrible. Terrible.

[singing]

...hearing the players

shout on the pitch,

sometimes hearing

the crunching tackles go in...

If West Ham score now,

two to get.

[Matt] That's what

it's all about for me,

the atmosphere

and being part of that.

[singing

"I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles"]

[Gary]

West Ham fans are unique.

There's no one like them.

They're the most pessimistic....

- He ain't gonna make it.

- What is going on?

Whole of my life, that's

the worst referee I've seen.

...slash optimistic.

[chanting]

They will take you through every

spectrum of emotion in a minute.

[cheering]

[jeering]

When the sh*t hits the fan,

it really doesn't matter.

Oh!

The West Ham fans have all been

together where they are.

When the club move,

that ain't gonna happen.

People are going to be moved

around all over the place.

It's a unique, special place,

Upton Park.

You know, for us, it's an end

of an era, end of a lifetime.

Disaster for West Ham.

Disaster for Slaven Bilic.

Swansea are gonna win this 4-1.

- [groaning]

- You gotta be kidding me.

- Oh, God!

- Bloody hell!

[man] That is bad, isn't it?

[man] We've just been beat 4-1

at home.

I just didn't see any fight

in the players, not at all.

I mean, you'd think

they would want to perform

in the last games at Upton Park

and I just didn't see that.

But I'll tell you what,

if we played like that

against Man United, 4-1?

It could be five, six...

They're going to come to ruin

our last game at Upton Park

at the Boleyn ground.

I don't want that.

I don't know anyone

who wants that.

[Mark] My real first memories

of playing football

was a couple of neighbors,

boys around the same age as me,

and we sat here all day every

day, straight from school,

over the field, playing

until Mum used to call me

for dinner

or sometimes I used to skip that

and go straight to bed.

This is Hermit Road

Recreation Ground.

This is where West Ham

used to play before the Boleyn

and we used to be over here

constantly,

smashing balls about

and just having fun, really.

You know, you learn your trade

in places like this.

Mate over the road,

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