West Ham United

West Ham's nicknames "The Hammers" and "The Irons" both date from the club's foundations in the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd, who employed many riveters whose main tool was a hammer.

The club would remember its roots when the club badge was created featuring crossed hammers on its crest.

The modern media, and many football fans, mainly refer to the club as "The Hammers", although West Ham fans themselves very rarely sing or chant this at games, preferring the club's original nickname of "The Irons."

The team's supporters are famed for their passionate rendition of the chorus of their team's anthem, I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles, the lyrics which are as follows:

I'm forever blowing bubbles, pretty bubbles in the air
They fly so high, nearly reach the sky
Then like my dreams they fade and die
Fortune's always hiding, I've looked everywhere
I'm forever blowing bubbles, pretty bubbles in the air
United! (clap hands) United! (clap hands) United! (clap hands)

There is a slight change to the lyrics sung by the Upton Park faithful though. The second line's nearly reach the sky is changed to they reach the sky by the crowd. Then like my dreams is also changed to And like my dreams. However, the 1980 FA Cup Squad's version (released as a single that year) - which contains the original lyrics - is always played before home games, with the home crowd joining in.

In the last five years these lyrics have been also heard to be sung to the tune of the theme to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, changing the first line to end pretty little bubbles to allow scansion.

Another popular chant is, Come on you Irons or simply Irons! Irons! Irons!

As with many clubs, a rhythmic clapping chant incorporates the current manager's name and team colours. For the present day West Ham, the chat is Alan Pardew's Claret and Blue Army. Interestingly this chant can reflect the crowd's overall satisfaction of the manager, with ommittance of the manager's name something of a rebuke.. At the end of Glenn Roeder's stewardship the chant had changed to East London's Claret and Blue Army. Before West Ham's successful Play-Off campaign, Pardew's name had been dropped in favour of We are West Ham's Claret and Blue Army.

A popular chant heard at home and away matches (especially in London derby games) is East, East, East London, a pronouncement of the pride that West Ham fans have for their area.

As with most football clubs, West Ham have strong rivalries with other clubs. Most of these are with other London clubs such as Chelsea (East London versus West London rivalry) and Tottenham Hotspur (near neighbours). However the strongest rivalry is with Millwall. The rivalry began before either club was formed, in the days when the Thames Iron Works and Millwall Iron Works shipbuilding companies were rivals for the same contracts. What continued as a local rivalry between football clubs developed into open hostility during the General Strike of 1926. The shipbuilders and dockers of the Royal Docks on the north bank of the River Thames (West Ham) went on strike but Millwall Docks and Surrey Docks continued to work. The intense feeling of conflict between those dockers working and those striking was transferred back into the club rivalry.

During the 1970s and 1980s (the main era for organised football-related violence) the hostilities continued as "firms" associated with the clubs continued to fight. West Ham gained some notoriety for the amount of hooliganism in their fan base; the Inter City Firm was an infamous West Ham-aligned gang. The firms' violent activities were not confined to local derbies, however - the hooligans were content to cause trouble at any game, though nearby teams bore the brunt of their venom. During the 1990s, and to the present day, sophisticated surveillance and heavy policing has reduced the level of violence, though the intense rivalry with Millwall remains. The 2005 film Green Street (Hooligans) depicts an American student who becomes involved with a fictional firm associated with West Ham, with an emphasis on the rivalry with Millwall.

The Premier League club located closest to West Ham is Charlton Athletic and, perhaps strangely, no significant additional rivalry appears to exist at all, Charlton being one of the more family-orientated clubs.

The League club which is located even closer than Charlton are East London team Leyton Orient F.C., but the two clubs have only occasionally played each other in both League and Cup competitions. However, when they do meet, it is usually a very special occasion; Orient's club record attendance was against The Hammers in an F.A. Cup tie in 1964.