Waking up to the Bobby Moore 'south' end view......

Waking up with the Bobby Moore 'south' end outside the window is pretty surreal for a Hammers fan. If the glass doors weren't locked it would have been a midnight kick around for the lot of us!

For the record, this is the story so far.....

Flight to Heathrow from Indy via Philly worked - silly English lady at Philly got mad at the bus waiting for a plane to clear the jetway. Obviously she needs to be a Jedi to move a plane - cos tapping the window and pointing doesn't work.

Picked up at Heathrow after grabbing 5 hours sleep on the flight. Took a cracking drive to Upton Park around the A406 and marveled at Londoners enduring pleasure to sit in traffic.

Arrived at Upton Park. Magic. Walked in the fancy doors - checked in and spent a while just looking at the view from the room.....

We spent time talking with Ben Illingworth, Operations Manager at West Ham United and Mike Kelleher, Manager of the International Academy. The duo keep the US based work moving on either side of the pond, but obviously Ben's role here at Upton Park takes on many aspects of the club.

A short drive over to the Chadwell Heath training ground proved the east of London has not changed; congested, ethnically diverse and on the go. Public transport is supposed to help traffic but you could get off at a stop and run to the next one before the same bus got there. No, I didn't try it. Only Millwall fans do stuff like that.

Met Paul Heffer, Academy Assistant Director at the training ground. Alongside Nick, Ian, Trevor and other academy coaches. Nick is the Education Officer and ensures a smooth link between the schools. Up to a certain age only boys living no more than a one hour drive from Chadwell Health can train there. All academies have specific rules and West Ham is no exception.

Paul is a long time friend. He played alongside Bobby Moore in the 60's and is responsible for developing some of England's outstanding talents; Ferdinand, Lampard, Cole, Johnson etc. As ever, Paul has a magic blend of humor and seriousness.

You get pretty quickly why this place is special. We all coach the game - but the attention to detail, careful review of coaching techniques while respectful of the 'West Ham' way and coaching style all make it work. I know many of us get out there and do a good job each day but this place is to youth football what Mecca is to Islam.

We watched some coaching sessions - U10 and U12, plus some 6 year olds. The standard of play is frightening - and then you pick out kids like Teddy who quite simply has 'got it' even within this group. Ian and Trevor put the kids through their paces making sure the boys are working hard, extending themselves and having fun. The attention to detail and individual player input is impressive.

Earlier we sat with Mike, Ben and Paul in the press room - with Avram Grant's office door to the right. It opened during our q & a session - everyone held their breath.....but only a security guard poked his head out. Shame, I was ready to ask for a trial.....

The day ended with dinner - pie followed by apple crumble. Come on, that makes a grey east London day worth it! Good discussion, some funny banter and a plan to get on the pitch this coming Sunday, which I'll leave till the end of this post.

First impressions? Well this....
- I love the club and especially Paul and his team. You forgive the first team when you see how their work turns out such talent.
- The simplicity of it all. Coaching methods, drills expectations.
- The family feel to everything
- Quality despite, at times, use of simple facilities. No Chelsea-esque budgets here.
- The people. Especially people like Paul.

I hope to add more details as I go along. I take pictures and video of all I can - I writing this on an Ipad and dependent upon Jill and Stacy to stick the visuals in for me along the way. If you can see a pic above thank them!

There'll be no pics or video of the kids. That's strictly of the table in the UK. There are very clear guidelines for child protection on that. Even at West Ham. Even at a place where to be accepted means $500 of personalized gear for your son. That's right folks - parents don't pay a penny. And how much are you paying for you children to play...?

Final two notes.

1) Planning to, at least take pics of David Gold's Bentley in car park this morning. May test the thing if the door is open.

2) Worked out one way to get on the pitch this Sunday. Make a suit out of turf - then at night dig a 'Matthew' shaped divot in the pitch and lie in it for a few days. I could jump up as Gerrard is about to shoot and nick the ball. Must plan carefully for pigeons and mowers however.

More tomorrow.....