Claret & Hugh would like to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas and thank everyone for sticking with us.
It has been a tough year for the website after losing founder and my dear friend, Hughie Southon, who I miss daily. I often ask myself, “What would Hughie think?” The truth is, I know, because we were so close.
So close, in fact, that I can almost hear him praising captain Jarrod Bowen or growing frustrated during certain games. I used to speak to Hughie every day—multiple times, too. We’d discuss West Ham but also life in general.
We supported each other during tough personal times in recent years and got to know each other very well. My old mate Hugh was the most generous man anyone could hope to meet. He bailed me out of more than one sticky patch when my business folded during Covid, and I’ll always be eternally grateful for that.
Hughie passed away very suddenly earlier this year. While he wasn’t in great health generally, there was no sign he would decline so rapidly. Just days before his passing, he complained, “I can’t seem to shift this bloody cold, dear boy.”
Last Christmas, Hughie spent time with his brother Eric. They had an absolute blast, reminiscing about their childhood and cherishing their quality time together. Hughie felt reinvigorated after that, so much so that he had big plans for the website, which he always referred to as “the daily West Ham newspaper.”
Newspapers were Hughie’s world. He was a Fleet Street sports journalist for most of his life, writing for all the big red-top papers and even ghost-writing for Hammers legend Bobby Moore. Hughie attended countless matches with Bobby, meticulously noting the great man’s observations about the games they watched together.
Not everyone agreed with everything Hughie wrote, but he was a skilled and experienced journalist who knew how to headline and frame an article. It was always going to be difficult to keep the website running without him.
Hughie was the heart and soul of Claret & Hugh, and his writing was irreplaceable. Yet, he wanted the site to continue as part of his journalistic legacy. He created it so he could work from home and care for his beloved wife Sandra, whose loss he never really overcame. His main concern was ensuring his daughter Katie and his two grandchildren were looked after in his absence.
When Katie asked me to oversee C&H, it was a daunting task. How could anyone replicate what Hughie did? The truth is, no one can match his skill, experience, or the 100-hour weeks he devoted to the site. To survive, C&H had to evolve.
I must thank Martin and Simon for their incredible efforts. Finding writers who can publish 10+ stories a day isn’t easy, but they’ve poured so much time and energy into the website. Despite occasional accusations of not being true Hammers fans, I can assure you they are.
I understand some readers get frustrated that C&H isn’t exactly how it used to be. Losing Hughie was a monumental blow. It’s worth remembering that Claret & Hugh is the family greengrocer of West Ham websites, competing with some multi-million-pound corporations that run sites for every Premier League club and beyond. The fact we’re still here is nothing short of a miracle.
And yet, here we are—just as Hughie would have wanted.
A huge thank you goes to Sean Whetstone, Matt Kemp, Petr (our technical wizard), and Jason & Andy for all their behind-the-scenes work. Martin and Jason, in particular, keep the site running daily, and I only wish Hughie could have known them better.
Katie Southon has been incredible. She shares so much of her father’s kindness, instincts, and loyalty. That’s how I’d sum up Hughie—loyal.
As for the future of Claret & Hugh, we’re simply trying to keep the ball rolling. Yes, we get accused of negativity at times, but we’re West Ham fans—grumpy when we lose and overjoyed when we win.
We don’t believe every transfer rumour we relay, which is why we quote and link their origin so as you can check for yourselves. Still, thanks to Hughie’s incredible network of contacts, we’ve landed some major exclusives this season on Fullkrug, Kudus, Guilherme, Orford, Steidten, and Lopetegui—stories even picked up by the national press. Hughie would have been buzzing about that.
If you’ve made it this far, you’re one of the diehard Claret & Hugh readers—a big reason why the site and Hughie’s legacy live on.
From the whole team at C&H, thank you. Have a very Merry Christmas, and let’s hope Santa brings us three points tomorrow
