West Ham Online

Hi there,

I’m not sure how many people who were around in the early days are still
using this forum, but I wanted to share this news in case it’s relevant to
a few. Alex Van de Weyer, who founded this site back in the day, died
unexpectedly last month. He was only 52 and was found at home; he died of
natural causes. He was my partner for many years, and we have a daughter
together.

I think it was in the late 1990s that Alex decided to teach himself PHP
coding to create a West Ham forum. He launched WestHamOnline.com. He wrote
weekly match reports, while I contacted opposition fans with a
questionnaire to create match previews. I remember a column by “Billy
Blagg,” player injury updates, transfer rumours, and fan votes. One
December I even made advent calendar picture posts. There was Steve Potts
in his bedroom full of West Ham merch, plus plenty of other silliness! Alex
V spent huge amounts of time working to make the site a success, coding any
features he thought it needed. His posts were always full of wit and strong
opinions.

Alex was a football stats nerd, and even contacted the club to point out
that Crysencio Summerville could be classed as a home-grown player when
they hadn’t spotted it. This was apparently due to a complex detail
involving birth dates and Covid-era season rules. He was proud of that
spot, and maybe it made a small difference to the club.

Alex later gave up his season ticket and moved out of London, but he still
followed the team with passion. He posted about club strategy on social
media and stayed involved that way. My daughter believes the last message
he read from her was about West Ham being ahead in a recent match. That
feels fitting.

Alex V will be missed by all who knew and loved him.