The 2019/20 Premier League season marks the fourth campaign since West Ham have been at London Stadium.
And no longer is there outrage when fans step inside the athletics arena because the team are not delivering on the pitch.
You see, when we first moved to the London Stadium, the air was filled with optimism for games against NK Domzale, Juventus and the first Premier League game against Bournemouth also provided a good atmosphere.
It seemed that, although fans knew the stadium wasn’t truly a football ground, they would get behind their team and put their views of the stadium behind them.
But that soon changed as did the performances on the pitch. Alarm bells rang as soon as West Ham surrendered a two-goal lead against Watford at home to lose 4-2.
The 3-0 loss to Southampton was not helped in the slightest by a negative atmosphere from the beginning and the toxic vibes grew around the stadium.
Although many were outing the players for drab performances, the stadium became the scapegoat.
And even when that season there was terrific atmospheres against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup and Tottenham towards the end of the season, fans just couldn’t get behind the stadium move.
Now, lets fast forward to the summer of 2018. Manuel Pellegrini – a Premier League winner with Manchester City – had just been named West Ham’s new manager.
Along with the Chilean came £100million worth of talent, players such as Felipe Anderson, Andriy Yarmolenko and Issa Diop.
With the talent came more goals, better play and more optimism from fans.
Unforgettable atmospheres against Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool helped the players more than we will ever know to pinch points off of them.
No matter the distance from the pitch, or whether inside the ground they sell popcorn it doesn’t matter.
It comes down to the 11 West Ham players on the pitch, giving their all for the fans to get behind and support.
Now don’t mistake me saying for one minute that I believe the London Stadium is a football ground or it was completely the right move, but what if from the first season we moved there, West Ham were indeed challenging for Europe and winning games?
Do you really believe all the hatred towards the move would have been noticeable? Neither do I.
