Famous West Ham Fans: Keira Knightley, Matt Damon & Barack Obama Cheer on the Hammers

West Ham United’s position in the pantheon of teams based in London isn’t exactly at the top, thanks to the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, but it isn’t at the bottom either. The Hammers have not always been in the English top-flight, nor have they been one of the sides competing for the title in the modern era, but they have been there or thereabouts on numerous occasions. They are also one of the teams that those of a certain age might most closely associate with England, thanks to the fact that a few of the World Cup winners of 1966 played for them.

That might help to explain why it is that West Ham have collected a number of famous supporters over the years. You would be hard-pushed to claim that such famous fans are glory hunters, given the distinct lack of glory that the side has enjoyed, especially in more recent years. London-based clubs will always be more likely to persuade people to follow them thanks to their presence in the capital, with the Hammers being no different on that front. The list here is obviously not exhaustive, but will give you a sense of the kind of famous supporters who love them.

Danny Dyer

All you need to do is listen to Danny Dyer talk and it wouldn’t take you long to work out that he is a Cockney. The actor, who made his breakthrough in Human Traffic before later going on to star in the likes of Mean Machine, The Football Factory and EastEnders, grew up about a mile and a half away from the Boleyn Ground. He started attending matches before he’d even become a teenager, becoming a lifelong fan of the club as a result. In fact, his daughter, Dani Dyer, married a West Ham player in Jarrod Bowen to tie his family to the club in a literal sense.

Ray Winstone

Another West Ham supporter who is also an actor is Ray Winstone. Born in Homerton in London, in 1957, Winstone went on to star in the likes of Sexy Beast, Cold Mountain and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Such is his devotion to the Hammers that he became one of the first people to try on the new kit ahead of the 2009-2010 season. There is also a pre-recorded message from Winstone, which is played just before the start of each second-half, urging supporters to get back to their seats in his demanding Cockney accent.

Keira Knightley

There are countless people who probably aren’t West Ham fans, but who the supporters like to claim ownership of because of the associated prestige. A number of them appear on this list, but Keira Knightley isn’t one of them. The star of the football-themed Bend It Like Beckham, as well as the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise amongst countless other movies, knows her football and is a big lover of the Hammers. So much so, in fact, that when she took part in a Q&A for The Guardian, one of the questions she answered was about the club’s midfield.

Matt Damon

Speaking of people who may have just been claimed by supporters, Matt Damon may well fit into that bracket. It all boils down to the fact that Damon was reportedly told that supporting Manchester United was akin to following the New York Yankees, which is something that a die-hard Red Sox fan wouldn’t be keen on. He wanted a team to follow when he was filming in England, with the Good Will Hunting star saying, “I don’t like supporting teams like Chelsea, Arsenal and Man United. I liked West Ham, though. I always try and catch one of their games when I’m over here.”

John Cleese

In the case of the former Monty Python and the Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers and The World is Not Enough actor, it might well be a case of him being a former West Ham fan, on account of the fact that he reportedly turned his affections to a Bristol-based team. Nevertheless, neither the fact that he grew up in Weston-super-Mare nor that his real name was John Cheese stopped him from declaring himself to be Hammers supporter. At least, that’s what the publicity for ESPN’s The Art of Football would have us all believe.

Russell Brand

We would have preferred to ignore Russell Brand altogether in the wake of the accusations against him, along with his decision to rebrand as some sort of religious zealot, but as there isn’t an article called ‘Infamous West Ham Fans’ we thought we’d better mention the comedian and occasional actor here. Between 2006 and 2009, Brand wrote a column for The Guardian, which focussed entirely on West Ham United and the England team, offering his thoughts on where both were going wrong and what it was that they were doing right when it came to their play.

Billy Bragg

Born in Barking in Essex, singer, musician, author, poet and political activist obviously felt as though he didn’t have enough on his plate, so became a West Ham United supporter. His fandom often comes up in interviews, almost irrespective of the topic at hand, whilst his song Boy in the Bubble was read by many as a reference to the club’s anthem, I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles. He has also used his Twitter account to talk about the Hammers over the years, when he isn’t promoting his music or using it to talk about the state of politics in the UK and the US.

James Corden

Whilst football supporters will often claim famous people support their club because it offers a certain level of cachet, there are some cases in which fans would also like to disown their well known supporters. James Corden might well be one of those, given the manner in which he is seen as an irritant by so many. The actor, comedian and television host is such a big fan of the Hammers that he chose to make his character in Gavin & Stacey a supporter of West Ham too. As well as attending matches attending matches when he’s in the United Kingdom, Corden has also interviewed players in the past.

Phill Jupitus

Phill Jupitus was born on the Isle of Wight, so you’d be forgiven for thinking that he’d be more likely to support a team like Liverpool. The actor, broadcaster and one-time stand-up comedian was regularly seen at the Boleyn Ground, becoming so embroiled in the role of supporting his team that he helped to work on the fanzine, Fortunes Always Hiding. He used to live in Bow in London, which meant that he was able to attend matches on a regular basis, but nowadays lives in Scotland and once vowed that he wouldn’t watch a match at the Olympic Stadium after the club’s move there.

Dizzee Rascal

Born Dylan Kwabena Mills in London on the 18th of September 1984, Dizzee Rascal, as the rapper is better known, is thought of as one of the pioneers of the hip hop and grime scene in the UK. His fame and fortune didn’t stop him from continuing to love the Hammers, though, even taking to Twitter in 2012 to say, “I grew up supporting West Ham cos im an East Boy! #E3INDABUILDING Say Nuttin.” Nowadays, his social media is mainly used to promote his shows, rather than making declarations about formations or arguing with supporters of other teams like normal people.

Barack Obama

Now we return to the theme of people being claimed by supporters of a club because of the prestige of saying that they follow your team. The former President of the United States of America is a big sports fan, following numerous different teams in his native country. He certainly enjoyed ‘soccer’ when in the Oval Office, tuning in to games played by the US Men’s team during the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. He attended a West Ham game whilst he was in London in 2003, which was enough for newspaper reports to make claims that he was a Hammers fan from that point on.

Chesney Hawkes

When asked about celebrity supporters of West Ham United, Chesney Hawkes might well have replied, “I am the one and only.” The singer and occasional actor went out to Prague when the Hammers appeared in the Europa Conference League final in 2023, playing hits for his fellow fans that were there and later declaring it to be ‘the best gig of my life’. He has been a lifelong fan of the club, singing the anthem I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles during his gig at the fan park. When the team that he loves won the final, he said that he would be going into the streets of Prague to celebrate.