West Ham United F.C.

• Type: Muggle Sporting Organisation (Football Club)
• Location: East London, England
• Owner/Residents: Known wizarding supporter is Dean Thomas.
• Key Features: A professional football team that competes in the top tier of English Muggle football, known for their claret and blue team colours.

West Ham United F.C. is a professional Muggle football club based in East London. In the wizarding world, the club is known primarily through its most vocal supporter at Hogwarts, Dean Thomas. For wizards unfamiliar with Muggle culture, such as Ron Weasley, the concept of football and its teams was entirely foreign. The club's real-world presence in the 1990s as a team in the FA Premier League provides the context for Dean's passionate support.

West Ham United's presence in the series serves as a key cultural touchstone representing the Muggle world and highlighting the diverse backgrounds of Hogwarts students. It is featured exclusively through Dean Thomas.

• In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Dean decorates his space in the Gryffindor dormitory with a poster of the West Ham team. Harry Potter observes this as one of the few ordinary, non-magical items in the room. Later, Dean attempts to explain the sport of football to Ron Weasley, who is baffled by the concept of a non-magical sport played by kicking a ball.
• In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, while arriving at the campsite for the Quidditch World Cup, a Ministry of Magic official is seen confiscating a football from a group of wizards. Dean Thomas, recognising the team's claret and blue colours on the ball, happily exclaims, “West Ham!” This moment underscores his consistent connection to his Muggle upbringing, even when surrounded by the spectacle of a major wizarding event.

Not Applicable.

In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the exchange between Ron and Dean is slightly different. When Dean mentions West Ham, a confused Ron asks, “Is that a disease?” (film). Author J.K. Rowling is a known supporter of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., a London rival of West Ham United (J.K. Rowling interview).