There is no love lost between West Ham and Chelsea on or off the pitch but several players have called both home.
Everyone knows the history between West Ham, Chelsea and Frank Lampard junior.
Fewer perhaps know that Lampard’s fellow Blues legend John Terry also left West Ham for Stamford Bridge.
Declan Rice went the other way, from a Chelsea reject to Hammers hero before moving on to Arsenal.
Joe Cole, Glen Johnson, Carlton Cole, Kurt Zouma and Emerson Palmieri are other stars who have swapped east for west and vice-versa.
The rivalry between West Ham and Chelsea was actually one of the fiercest in London.
After Millwall, Chelsea were always big rivals for West Ham before the money started pouring in at Stamford Bridge.
Spurs are fiercer rivals for both clubs nowadays. But make no mistake West Ham and Chelsea supporters don’t mix well.
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It was always so galling for Hammers fans to see their top homegrown stars like Cole, Lampard and Johnson doing so well with the Blues.
Chelsea's Carlton Cole and Joe Cole celebrate
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC Via Getty Images
Cole on what Chelsea fans did that made West Ham his true home
That’s why it felt so good for West Ham to enjoy the reverse with Rice’s rise to prominence for club and country.
Not to mention making £105m out of him too.
Another player who came from Chelsea and became a Hammers cult hero is the other Cole – Carlton.
The striker seemed to have the world at his feet when came through the ranks at Chelsea.
But things didn’t work out for him at Stamford Bridge and after a series of loans he eventually ended up at West Ham.
Cole didn’t get off to the greatest of starts by declaring he saw the Hammers as a ‘stepping stone’ in his first interview on arriving in east London.
A goal on debut would set him on course to become a true West Ham cult hero over the next nine years.
Cole is often used as a pundit for Chelsea and West Ham games.
Now he has made it clear which club means the most to him.
Chelsea's Carlton Cole (l) , Joe Cole (c) and Frank Lampard
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC Via Getty Images
‘It doesn’t sit right with me’ Cole says of Chelsea chant
Cole has explained what Chelsea fans did that made him see West Ham as his true home.
The former Hammers forward turned youth coach got together with Anton Ferdinand, Jimmy Walker and Paul Konchesky for a West Ham Christmas feature.
The quartet discussed their time at the club and when discussing the love from West Ham fans and their ‘Cole’ chant, the ex Hammer recalled one memory that disappointed him most but showed him where he’s truly loved.
“Yea my West Ham song is great,” Cole said.
“I’ve had some bad ones (from fans) but the worst one was when I went back to Chelsea.
“Because obviously I started at Chelsea.
“Then the fans were singing “Chelsea reject, Chelsea reject”.
“That actually hurt because that’s where I’m from, that’s where I started. So when your fans – your ex fans – sing something as bad as that, saying you’re a reject in your own house basically, it feels bad.
“It doesn’t sit right with me.”
Ferdinand interjected to say ‘Good job you’re loved at a proper club then’, to which Cole responded: “Exactly. That (disrespect from Chelsea fans) is actually what spurred me on to do better here.”
Just when West Ham fans thought they couldn’t love Coley any more than they already do.
Hammers fans will love this.
Especially as Joe Cole refused to pick a side when he discussed where his loyalties lay.
Always believe in, Carlton Cole.
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