Dean Ashton may not have had the longest career at West Ham United, but the time’s he had at the football club still live with him today.
Speaking exclusively to Read West Ham via BetGoodwin, Ashton has been reliving those two goals that saw the Hammers beat Manchester City to book a place in the FA Cup semi-final.
“I had a decent start to my West Ham career but that helped to catapult me in supporters eyes, that I could become an important player and it was worth the money that was spent on me in the window and also to feel like I was part of it.
“I hadn’t played in the tournament much and here I was in the quarters so it was nice to finally feel a part of the FA Cup run and to think that I’d actually helped the team get into the semi-final.
“Once you retire, you look back and I’ll never forget the away end at the Etihad that night, of how special it was to get to a semi-final.”
West Ham fans are up there with the best, according to Dean Ashton
Ashton knows what it is like to play for West Ham and even admitted that he did not know just how big the club was until he’d truly seen what being a Hammers is like.
“They’re up there in the top three, they have to be. The one thing I was so naïve about when I joined the club having grown up further north. I knew it was a big club and had a good history but I didn’t realise just how huge the support was.
“I suddenly didn’t go anywhere, and I mean anywhere in the world without West Ham supporters coming up to me. It took me six months to a year to truly realise the size of the support.”
Having scored some big goals at Upton Park, Ashton knows just how good an atmosphere you could get in the ground but says the Hammers can get close to it at the London Stadium, if the football on the pitch is also good.
“I think it’s going to be very difficult, we’re talking about years and years of history at Upton Park that can’t just simply be recreated, you know, how difficult it was for opposition players to go play there.
“Me being one of them, that atmosphere at Upton Park, if you ask many people, many supporters and players it would come up in everyone’s top five for atmosphere to be part of so to recreate that, is not easy.
“You then land in a giant ground that’s just not the same and not built for that type of atmosphere. You’ve gone from being five yards from, sometimes abuse, and tasty supporters to feeling like you could not be further away from them.
“But there has been some incredible days there, certainly on the European run, so it shows it can be there, but what’s on the pitch has to match it and it hasn’t been consistent enough.”
Nuno staying would be a good thing, says Ashton
With West Ham heading into the Championship, Aston say’s Nuno Espirito Santo staying at the club would be a good thing, and could help the club keep hold of some of their stars.
“If he’s got the hunger for the task, if it was to happen, I think he’s got the experience of getting a team out of that division and I think he would certainly have an influence on keeping some of the players and that’s going to be really important.
“As a player, if a manger like Nuno stays, going into the Championship, I think it could have a big impact on the club and the possibility of bouncing straight back.”
