After West Ham beat Sunderland 1-0 in the early kickoff on Saturday at Upton Park, courtesy of a Michail Antonio goal, Hammers boss Slaven Bilic wasn’t alone when he arrived at the post-match press conference. Alongside him was a young fan wearing a West Ham jersey.
As he pointed to the seat, asking the youngster to sit alongside him, Bilic announced to the assembled media, “Matthew is our big fan. He’s 18 today. He’s going to join me here on stage, yeah?”
Young Matthew was all smiles as the press officer joked that he would be taking “all the difficult questions.”
Bilic even corrected a journalist who called him ‘Michael’ by mistake and then explained what he was doing there. “He came here, it is his 18th birthday. He was with us before [the] game in the dressing room.
“And... We like each other, right?” Bilic asked Matthew who agreed wholeheartedly with another big smile.
As the journalists laughed, one of them even cheekily asked the teenager what he thought of the Hammers’ performance.
“I think they played very well,” Matthew said. “I think they're a great side and I think they're great players that Slaven has signed.”
Bilic was over the moon at the comment and said: “I love him even more!”
Truly a birthday young Matthew will never forget!
