Cockney boys my ring piece, that should be our mantle, they’re from Essex.

So a quick lesson in what is a Cockney.

Well first of all, you need to be born within the sound of the Bow bells. So the next question is where are the Bow bells?

Well as I spent 17 of the first 21 years of my life 200 yards from West ham United’s ground, I can tell you that 99% of their fans think they are in Bow, Hackney.

Wrong, the are next door to St. Pauls in Cheapside, the Bow bells are actually St Mary-le-bow.

This was because the shanty town attached to the City of London was populated by people that were considered odd by the gentry, hence the word Cockney, named after the Cockney hen, which laid an odd shaped egg, so they believed that people that lived within the sound of the bells were odd.

So if the bells could be heard from where you lived, you were considered a Cockney, now that in my book would be Shoreditch, Spitalfields, Bethnal Green, Clerkenwell, Hoxton, western Whitechapel and a bit of Islington which is where Clerkenwell is. Now Arsenal is in Islington, but Upton Park is some 8.5 miles away and that my friends would have to be some bell that could be heard that far away.

Now I was born in Bethnal Green which is 2.5 miles from Arsenal and that is why I support them, as they are my nearest team, but West Ham are in E6  (Essex) and some 8.5 miles away, that’s not local and that’s why I don’t support them.

So we need to beat the tractor boys (new name) today to go top, not always an easy task at our place, but I’m sure the boys don’t need any encouragement what with the cherry of the premiership summit cake on offer, but West Ham are also in their own fight, the one for the Championship summit, so they will try hard.

I’ve always had a soft spot for West Ham, my second team if you like, and a lot of my mates support them, but today is business and today we must try and up our goal difference, so Manuel, please take note.

5.30 kick offs are crazy as it screws up the whole evening, but a win would sort that out.

It’s all getting exciting now, our team seems to be coming back slowly and maybe the lure of playing Barca will get Robin to shake that leg, come on Robin, your team needs you.

Nikki B likes to play West Ham, I still remember that wonder pass he made at Upton Park last year to Ade the whore, the one that sealed the deal, Nikki made the difference that day, let’s hope he does again.

Go Arsenal go, this one is to go top! Have a great and rewarding day Grovers.

P.S. The weather is getting nice, t-shirt weather is upon us… so why not have a look at some of our Gooner designs here!