i am a yank who grew up in the punk and hardcore music scene of the 1980s. i started out in the skinhead subculture before moving on to different genres within hardcore, notably the straight edge scene. i had an early appreciation of oi! bands like cock sparrer and the cockney rejects. i knew about 'bubbles', the west end stand, 'the firm' long before i had ever seen a match. when it came time that i started watching football, of course west ham was the one i was drawn to. now i am an airline pilot and i run into people all over the place who notice that my airline ID is hung from a WHU lanyard, it's like a secret handshake.