sport news David Gold's family lay wreath outside his childhood home after he died aged 86 ... trends now
The funeral for West Ham's late joint-chairman David Gold took place this afternoon following his death last month.
Gold passed at the age of 86 and his emotional send-off today will include stops at West Ham's old and current homes, both the London Stadium and at Upton Park.
Tributes for the lifelong Hammers fan have flooded in across recent weeks, with a particularly moving tribute being paid during West Ham's clash with Everton two weeks ago, prior to the funeral commencing today.
The funeral cortege departed West Ham's current home, the London Stadium, at 12.45pm and made the 20-minute journey to 442 Green Street, Gold's childhood home.
It is just a few hundred yards from the site of West Ham's iconic former stadium, the Boleyn Ground, where they played between 1904 and 2016.
Born in September 1936, Gold grew up in difficult circumstances in London's east end. The introduction to his autobiography is entitled 'The Stench of Poverty' as he described the stink that permeated the house thanks to a leaky roof.
West Ham have published the route Gold's funeral cortege will take on Wednesday afternoon
Gold, a qualified helicopter pilot, pictured with the original FA Cup trophy, which he bought at auction for almost £500,000
Gold played football for West Ham's boys' teams up to the age of 16 and was offered an apprenticeship by the Hammers - only for his father, Godfrey, to apparently refuse to sign the parental permission forms.
He took jobs as an apprentice bricklayer on £3 a week in what Gold described as 'nothing short of slave labour' as he fetched brickies' coffees and copies of the Daily Mirror.
Despite these immense challenges in his early life, Gold's
