West Ham Utd 5 - 0 Wimbledon
If the roles were reversed, you have to wonder whether that team playing Champions League football up the road at Stamford Bridge tonight would attract support such as this.
This is not meant to be a snipe at Chelsea's Johnny Come Lately band of fans who have latched onto the team that have been assembled with a small fortune of cash from England and Russia, yet history suggests the sell-out crowd for the visit of Stuttgart in Europe's premier competition may not have been in attendance for a game such as this.
The now ex-Chelsea chairman Ken Bates never grows tired of telling the tale that the first game of his tenure in charge of the club was a feast of action in front of little more than 12,000 fans. 'And when I found out that around 900 of those were free tickets handed out to whoever fancied, things had to change,' is the boast of the ever-vocal Bates.
It's obvious where Chelsea have found their extra 35,000-or-so fans. A few thousand will have been there in the days when Kerry Dixon was God or when David Speedie was a terrace idol, but the majority may not be so familiar with the talents of ex-Stamford Bridge heroes.
The same cannot be said of a West Ham side that has held onto remarkable levels of support despite their recent troubles. I am no Hammers fan, but when you see 29,818 flock to Upton Park on a cold night in mid-March for a First Division game against the bottom club in the league, it is a tribute to the impressive following they command. Take into account that the travelling support in that crowd was a mere 191 and that attendance makes even better reading.
Add in the fact that West Ham fans have been put through the mill by their relegation from the Premiership last May and the sale of star players that inevitably followed and their loyalty is that of a side who will thrive once they book a return to the big-time.
Walking to the ground, there was very much a feeling that West Ham are on loan to the First Division for a solitary season. That's their plan anyway, but their home form this season suggests such an elevation is far from certain at the first time of asking. So against a Wimbledon side who have not looked like scoring a goal or winning a game for some time, there could be no room for mistake and to be fair to Alan Pardew's remodelled Hammers, they never looked like slipping up.
Matthew Etherington was the star of the show with a fine hat-trick that blew away a young Wimbledon side, many of whom looked as if they should have been doing their homework. However, it's hardly Wimbledon's fault. In financial administration, the club that recently relocated to Milton Keynes looked well out of their depth and were it not for woeful finishing from David Connelly, this rout could have reached double figures.
Warren Barton was just about the only recognisable name on the team-sheet, while Nigel Reo-Coker, Jodi McAnuff and Adam Nowland lined for West Ham against the side that had to sell them for financial reasons just a few weeks ago.
For now, the jury is out over whether the contentious move to Milton Keyes will eventually prove fruitful. The Dons left their south London home in a bid to attract more fans through their turnstiles, but with such a modest level of support with them for this short trip, the danger is this football club will pass them by all too quickly.
Unless businessman Pete Winkelman's planned take-over Wimbledon goes through, there is every chance this club will fold, yet any progress in winning over a town that has not been used to having football in their doorsteps will take time. If you liked the idea of a club moving some 80 miles up the road or not, you have to wish them well.
As for West Ham, they were in a different league and Etherington looked every inch the Premiership player he was at Tottenham last season. His well-taken triple, capped by a fine third as he lofted the ball over Dons keeper Steve Banks, earned him a deserved match ball.
Etherington opened the scoring after 36 minutes with a neat back-post finish and then Bobby Zamora doubled the lead as he crashed home an unstoppable shot from outside the box moments later. Etherington added a third shortly after the re-start and Reo-Coker added insult to Wimbledon's injury as he scored against his former club, but he had enough respect not to celebrate his strike.
'We had a job to do tonight and once we got that first goal, we played some terrific football,' said West Ham boss Pardew. 'We have been threatening to bash a team for some time and unfortunately for Wimbledon, they took the bashing.
'And I'm delighted to see Mattie Etherington get his hat-trick. He would be in any First Division side this season and it was great to see him going home with a ball in his bag. Now we go into the Sunderland game feeling buoyant and putting pressure on the top two.'
Wimbledon boss Stuart Murdoch was philosophical after his side's latest drubbing and he may just have put the Hammers display in perspective. 'You have to look at what West Ham were up against,' he stated. 'I would not judge them against us as they will play much better teams than us. Of course they are a good side, they have half our players! If we had Connelly, McAnuff and Reo-Coker, we'd be half-good.'
Listen hard enough and you could almost have heard the gentle hum emanating from Stamford Bridge on a night when the eyes of Europe were bearing down on their lavishly assembled side. They may be into the quarter-finals of the Champions League, but their future depends on the health and continued good will of one Russian with remarkably deep pockets.
West Ham's traditions run much deeper and their loyal fans deserve to see Premiership football return to this stadium next season.
