Review: Home From Home by Brian Williams

Here’s something for your claret and blue Christmas stocking. Brian Williams’ Home From Home uses the format of contrasting games from the final season at the Boleyn Ground with games during the first season at the London Stadium. It’s written in the same urbane tone as Brian’s previous book Nearly Reach The Sky, and comes littered with quips such as, “Phil Jones was horizontal for so long there was enough time to have screened the first four episodes of Star Wars.”

Williams is no fan of Stratford. He books for the London Stadium late and finds himself breathless in Row 73 at the back of the stand, looking down at what appears to be a Subbuteo pitch. Home From Home records all the initial problems with stewarding, standing fans, Chelsea hooligans and West Ham playing crap. Things improve a little after a consultative meeting with Baroness Brady (which is described very amusingly and I’d have paid good money to see) as Brian and Di are moved forward to Row 54, saying goodbye to incontinent minors, self-appointed experts who go to one game a season and the Super Furry Coat Boys from Billericay in identical parkas. He does admit that the London Stadium starts to feel a little more like home after beating Spurs and that the Martin Peters Gents is pretty good. Though the white elephant in the room remains the running track.

Another good feature is the interviews with opposition fans of West Brom and Swansea on their stadium experience, along with West Ham figures such as Blowing Bubbles Monthly’s David Blackmore, blogger Sean Whetstone, Graeme Howlett of Knees Up Mother Brown and a great emotive piece on her childhood spent standing by the players’ tunnel from Upton Parklife's Jacqui Hughes. And to declare an interest, there’s even some nice words about myself in the section on the Newham Bookshop, for which I owe Mr Williams a round of popcorn.

It’s also a very effective love letter to the Boleyn, with lots of detail on trips to the Overdraft pub, the Stevie Bacon burger bar and of course the matches, including that epic final win against Man United and a French midfielder who sounds quite good. Fans of all clubs might appreciate this book as it’s a lament for the way football is changing, with nearly two thirds of league clubs having left their old stadiums and their old communities. Home from Home certainly gets over just how painful such a move can be.