London city trip · Football history
The History of West Ham United: A London City Trip Guide for Premier League Fans
From a Thames Ironworks shipyard team in 1895 to a World Cup-winning captain, the Boleyn Ground and the London Stadium, the story of West Ham United, and how to plan a London city trip around a Hammers matchday.
Some clubs are about trophies. Others are about identity. West Ham United is firmly the second kind, and that's what makes a Hammers matchday one of the most rewarding ways to build a London city trip around football. This is a working-class east London club with a global fanbase, a World Cup-winning legend at the heart of its story, and a home in Stratford that drops you right into one of the best-connected, most exciting corners of the city.
Here's the story of how a shipyard works team became one of English football's most distinctive institutions, and why a trip to the London Stadium belongs on your itinerary.
Born in a shipyard: Thames Ironworks, 1895
West Ham United started life in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC, formed by workers at the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company on the banks of the river in east London. That shipyard heritage is the reason West Ham fans are still called "the Irons" and "the Hammers" today, and it's why the crossed hammers sit at the heart of the club crest. In 1900 the club was reorganised and renamed West Ham United, and a London institution was born.
The terrace anthem, "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles," has been belting out around home games since the 1920s and is one of the most recognisable sounds in English football. For visitors planning a London city trip around Premier League football, that pre-kick-off moment alone is worth the journey east.
The Boleyn Ground years
From 1904 until 2016, West Ham played at the Boleyn Ground on Green Street, almost universally known as Upton Park. It was a tight, intense, atmospheric old ground tucked into the streets of east London, with the famous castle-style turrets above the main entrance. For more than a century it was the heartbeat of the community, and for many fans it still defines what a West Ham matchday should feel like.
The Academy of Football
West Ham earned its nickname "the Academy of Football" by producing and developing some of the most influential English players of the modern game. The crown jewel is Bobby Moore, the club's greatest ever player and the man who captained England to its only World Cup, lifted at Wembley in 1966. Two of his teammates that day, Geoff Hurst (who scored a hat-trick in the final) and Martin Peters, were also West Ham players. Three Hammers in one World Cup-winning team. No other English club can say the same.
The production line never really stopped. Trevor Brooking, Billy Bonds, Paolo Di Canio, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Jermain Defoe and Declan Rice all wore the claret and blue at some point, alongside cult heroes like Paolo Di Canio's volley against Wimbledon, still one of the great Premier League goals.
FA Cups, Cup Winners' Cup and big European nights
West Ham have lifted the FA Cup three times (1964, 1975 and 1980) and won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965, beating TSV Munich 1860 at Wembley. The 1980 FA Cup win, with a young Trevor Brooking heading the only goal against Arsenal, remains the last time a side from outside the top flight won the competition, a record that nods to the club's stubborn streak.
Modern European nights have followed too, with deep runs in the Europa League and Europa Conference League under David Moyes, including lifting the Europa Conference League in 2023, the club's first major European trophy in nearly 60 years.
From Upton Park to the London Stadium
In 2016, West Ham left the Boleyn Ground and moved into the London Stadium in Stratford, the former centrepiece of the 2012 Olympic Games. It was a huge step up in size: a stadium that holds around 62,500 fans for Premier League football, with a sweeping bowl, the Trevor Brooking and Sir Trevor Brooking Stands, and a setting inside Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The move has divided fans, especially those who grew up on the tight intimacy of Upton Park, but there's no arguing with the scale and the location. For visitors planning a London city trip, the London Stadium is one of the easiest grounds in the country to reach.
Recent history: chasing a return to the Premier League
The 2025/26 season was a hard one. After 14 consecutive years in the Premier League, the Hammers were relegated, ending a long top-flight run that included that 2023 European trophy and several mid-table seasons that punched above their weight. It hurts, but it's not a chapter the club is unfamiliar with: West Ham have always been a bit of a yo-yo when the cycle turns, and the fanbase has seen this before.
The focus now is rebuilding for a return to the Premier League. Big stadium, big fanbase, big history, and the platform is there. For travellers, it also means that across 2026/27 there's a strong chance of seeing the Hammers in the Championship at the London Stadium, with a derby calendar that includes promotion rivals and a packed schedule of midweek games.
Planning your London city trip around a West Ham matchday
This is where West Ham really shines for visitors. The location in Stratford turns a matchday into a proper London city trip in its own right, with transport, attractions and food all on the doorstep.
Getting there
The London Stadium is in Stratford, east London, with one of the best transport setups of any football ground in the country. Stratford and Stratford International stations are served by the Central line, Jubilee line, Elizabeth line, DLR, London Overground and National Rail. From central London you can be at the ground in 15 to 20 minutes. The walk in across Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is part of the experience.
Where to base yourself
Stratford itself is a strong base, with plenty of hotels right next to Westfield and the park. Staying in Shoreditch, Liverpool Street or anywhere on the Central or Elizabeth line keeps the journey to the stadium short and puts the rest of your London city trip within easy reach.
Make a day of it
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park surrounds the stadium, with the ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture and slide, the London Aquatics Centre and the Lee Valley VeloPark all within walking distance. Westfield Stratford City is right next door for food and drink before kick-off. Get there early, walk in through the park, and soak up "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" as the teams come out.
Beyond the football
East London rewards exploration. Hop one stop west and you're in Hackney Wick, with its canalside craft breweries and street art, or in Shoreditch for some of the city's best food. Head the other way and you're a short ride from Greenwich and the river. A West Ham matchday slots into a London city trip more easily than almost any other Premier League club.
The bottom line
West Ham United is a club built on identity: on shipyard roots, claret and blue, bubbles in the air, and a fanbase that follows the team through every twist of the cycle. From a Thames Ironworks side in 1895 to a World Cup-winning captain, a European trophy in 2023 and a future built around a return to the Premier League, the Hammers offer history, atmosphere and one of the most accessible matchday locations in the city.
Build your next London city trip around a matchday at West Ham. Up the Irons.