I was released by Chelsea at 14 years old. I remember it, a Tuesday night. On the Wednesday, I was training with Fulham, five minutes from my house, and then on the Thursday, I was training with West Ham. After one session at both clubs, they both wanted me.
I had a slow start at West Ham, that’s right. I came here and expectations were high because the fans were not quite happy with it. But as football players we have to deal with the pressure.
‘J’eet jet?’ is still the standard way for a Pittsburgher to ask if you’re ready for a meal, but the meal itself is no longer limited to chipped ham and an Iron City beer.
‘Pump Up the Volume’ was a film and character that I really responded to. That was a movie about a guy trying to take down the establishment using a ham radio. I feel ‘Mr. Robot’ has a similar value. This show is about taking down a global empire. I was an anarchist then. I’m getting to be an anarchist again.
If the real radical finds that having long hair sets up psychological barriers to communication and organization, he cuts his hair. If I were organizing in an orthodox Jewish community, I would not walk in there eating a ham sandwich unless I wanted to be rejected so I could have an excuse to cop out.
Playing left midfield a lot at West Ham has been tough but the manager has put me there and I’ve got every faith in what he’s doing.
An old ham like me needs to be on stage.
If I’m forced to leave West Ham, it will be done according to the rules – the club will have its share of the cake.
I went to West Ham and I had a manager that played me out of position. To be honest with you it was very tough to take.
Reggae was always playing at home in East Ham when I was growing up. Loud music would be coming from the bedroom, and downstairs all you’d hear was the bass. My uncles had sound systems and we used to go to Jamaica a lot as a family.
I love every minute of being at West Ham.
On Christmas morning breakfast is always thick slices of ham, thick white toast, butter and pepper – oh and a glass of fizz!
I went to West Ham in order to play against Arsenal as often as possible.
My absolute favorite hors d’oeuvres are tiny white lily flour flat Smithfield ham biscuits… bite-size and delicious. And being southern, I would never have a New York party without my signature pimento cheese spread.
Without a doubt, the plan was always to stay at West Ham.
I do a mean beef Wellington. Gordon Ramsay’s is a phenomenal recipe. But that’s a lot of prep. The secret to wrap it in Parma ham before wrapping in pastry. I’m so pro smuggling more meat in.
I can only tell you that eggs, country ham, biscuits, a pot of coffee, a morning paper, a table by the window overlooking the veranda and putting green, listening to the idle chitchat of competitors, authors, wits and philosophers, hasn’t exactly been a torturous way to begin each day at the Masters all these years.
I think I’m capable of doing the job at any club in the world, so I’m sure I can do it at West Ham.
I wish to play again for West Ham before I finish my career.
I love making buckwheat crepes with ham, Parmesan cheese, and a fried egg on top. It’s my go-to breakfast.
I hope we’re not barred from Argentina – I’d quite like to go back for another ham and cheese sandwich.
Call me All-American, but I love Ham and Cheese sandwiches. And not just any old ham and cheese sandwich… My mother’s is the best. I’ve tried many times to make these sandwiches on my own, but it’s never the same.
In Porto, you have to eat francesinha. Translated, it means ‘little French girl.’ It’s this sandwich of bread, ham, and a lot of beef sausage or other meats. Then you put melted cheese on the top. The special thing about it is the sauce. Each house makes a special secret sauce, and it’s usually a bit spicy.
The pig is not just pork chops and bacon and ham to us. The pig is a co-laborer in this great land-healing ministry.
My all-time favourite children’s book is ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ by Dr Seuss. Even as an adult I still appreciate it – what a masterclass in writing.
The guy who made the shoes for ‘Hairspray’ said putting shoes on me was like putting a pump on a ham. I found out that if I ever was to dress like a woman, I would not be buying off the rack.
When I get home after being away for work, my wife always stuffs the fridge with loads of what she calls ‘nibbles’ – all the great things you can eat straight from the fridge, like chunks of cheese, slices of ham, bowls of hummus.
I felt the same when I went to Manchester United, to Madrid, to Leverkusen, and now at West Ham. The only pressure I have is my pressure. That’s it.
There are two kinds of ham: raw and cooked. Raw ham is cured with salt and/or smoke over time; cooked ham is boiled. Every culture that makes ham has its own unique and various methods.
My mom always knew I was going to be an actor because I was a ham from the very beginning, so she would push me toward it, which is really unconventional for Indian families to do.
When I left Liverpool, my aim was to get into the top six, and I was looking for a team that could get involved at that level. West Ham were brilliant at the time. They’d signed a lot of players, had a lot of money. But they’ve had problems since then.
I hope that the future is great for West Ham.
The whole London football scene is now financially more powerful and ambitious than ever before. That reflects the city’s economic might and its multiculturalism. Now West Ham have a new , and Spurs and Chelsea will follow. And the London clubs have widened their areas of support.
My parents read me some typical children’s books: ‘Green Eggs and Ham,’ ‘The Little Engine That Could,’ ‘Peter Rabbit.’ But I quickly developed a preference for nonfiction books about baseball and math, by the likes of Bill James and Martin Gardner.
I was at Arsenal as an 11-year-old. I really enjoyed it but I was at school and my dad used to drive me there after work. Sometimes we were in traffic for two hours. They wanted to keep me but I wasn’t getting home until nearly 11 P. M. I loved it there but it wasn’t right, so I came to West Ham and haven’t looked back.
I guess I’m a born ham.
Hors D’oeuvre: A ham sandwich cut into forty pieces.
I’ve been on and off with West Ham, I’ve had some good seasons and some not.
I signed for Reading and then West Ham where people called me ‘The Invisible Man’ or a ‘poster’ because I was on the bench for three months. I turned down opportunities to go on loan because I’d achieved everything I wanted in the Championship.
A sandwich needn’t be loaded with bacon or ham to make it a serious feast.
It feels special to me to be a West Ham player.
Before refrigeration, most food was heavily salted. Many of these salted foods have persisted, such as sauerkraut, pickles, cured anchovies, cheese, salted butter, ham, corned beef, sausage, and bacon. We still eat these things because we like them. But they are no longer the mainstay of our diet.
I remember Googling operations to make my calves slimmer, and I ate only ham for a week to try and become skinny.
When I cook for my family on Christmas, I make feijoada, a South American dish of roasted and smoked meats like ham, pork, beef, lamb, and bacon – all served with black beans and rice. It’s festive but different.
Although my dad Harry is the manager of West Ham, we get on very well.
Macaroni and cheese was my mother’s special dish. She’d also make jambalaya and dirty rice and bake a ham that would be incredible. And greens. But if you were looking for vegetables and healthy things, there weren’t a lot of those.
I love this club and I will always love this club no matter what. You have decisions you have to make in life, but I say from now it doesn’t matter what happens I will always love West Ham and it will always be a big part in my life.
I have very special memories of the West Ham fans.
My family have always been West Ham fans, so growing up, I used to go and watch them, and so I was a West Ham supporter.
When you think about a post-swim snack at the local pool, you’d be forgiven for thinking ham and cheese toasties, finger buns and red frogs before cassava fries, arepas and Latin tunes.
I’ve been in some small parades where they have turned down some side street and a few people are sitting on the curb with a ham sandwich and a beer. Waving to them is like walking into a living room and waving.
I am an official slow-roasted, honey-baked ham. Ever since I was a kid, my thing is that I love attention. All my report cards are like, ‘He would be wonderful, but he just can’t stop being a clown in class.’
Ham and cheese between two slices of bread do not make a great sandwich. But add some creamy mayonnaise, maybe some bright pickles, and some crunchy vegetables, and we got a decent lunch going on.
Matthew Williamson has always been a favourite of mine, and I am definitely also rooting for up-and-coming designers like Michael van der Ham.
Obviously when you grow up in the area you love playing on the street, and to go from playing on the street with my mates to playing at Upton Park is a bit surreal, and 15 years on to still be in the heart of the West Ham midfield is quite good going!
I don’t like apartments – the idea of other people living, copulating and defecating above me – they make me feel as trapped as a slice of ham in a sandwich. When I was a student in Paris, I always rented attics right at the top of buildings, and as soon as I was making enough money, I bought houses.
