Fans are back, anticipating another exciting season at West Ham

The new football season is upon us - it seems like it has never been away, with the excitement of the Euros, following the climax of last season. Football has done a great job during the pandemic, providing many people with a focus and distraction during dour daily life. The games have been on TV for those who want to access. What has been missing, though, has been the fans. Empty stadiums, hosting games with a training ground atmosphere - the shouts from players and those on the sidelines being clear to hear. The TV coverage has rather disguised this element of the games, often dubbing on crowd noise. Toward the end of last season, the fans started coming back, bringing passion and atmosphere with them. It will be great to see full stadium once again as the new season begins. The last season was a great one for West Ham, finishing sixth and only narrowly missing Champions League qualification. Manager David Moyes did a superb job with scant resources. He motivated the players to go above and beyond. Strangely, at time of writing there seems to have been little activity in the transfer market to strengthen the squad. In the background, there has been talk of takeover bids but nothing has yet materialised. It must be hoped that the owners of West Ham learn the lessons of the past and provide Moyes with transfer funds. In 1985/6 season, West Ham finished 3rd in the old First Division, failed to strengthen and ended up fighting relegation the following year. Harry Redknapp's side that included the likes of Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Jermaine Defoe finished 5th in 1998/9. Then, not only did the club not strengthen but instead sold off their outstanding talents over the following years - good news for Manchester United and Chelsea it turned out. Most recently, there was the final season at the Boleyn ground (2015/16), which saw a Dimitri Payet inspired team finish 7th. New poor quality players came in, which saw the team struggle the following season - the first at the London Stadium. Moyes has pledged to bring on the young players, which is another thing that will please the fans. It will not go down well with the returning fans, if the owners let down the manager, when it comes to providing those transfer funds. The manager has more than earned the right to be given the resources to strengthen. With the fans coming back there is much anticipation around the London Stadium - an exciting new season beckons - let's hope its another great one.