Iron Maiden have teamed up with Steve Harris' beloved West Ham Football Club for a new collaboration, Die With Your Boots On.
Heavy metal legends Iron Maiden have teamed up with Steve Harris' beloved West Ham Football Club for a new collaboration, Die With Your Boots On.
The partnership – which is named after the 1983 Maiden song of the same name – is driven by the band's founder and bassist Steve, who has been attending games at the club since a child. “I went to see West Ham play against Newcastle when I was nine and my mate was 10," he says. "We jumped on a bus and went to the game, and they won 4-3 and that was it. I was hooked!”
Of his love of the team combining with his day job in Maiden, Steve explains the feeling of being onstage and seeing the band's diehard fanbase also embracing all things West Ham: “When I’m up there playing and I see fans in the audience wearing West Ham stuff it gives me goosebumps.”
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It's not just Steve who noticed the shared love, with Tracey Stratton, Licensing Manager at West Ham, adding: “One weekend last summer our club shop was inundated with rock fans from all across the globe, and we realised that Iron Maiden were playing two sold out shows at the O2 [in London]. It makes perfect sense to launch this collaboration, and with Steve’s passion for it and attention to detail it has been amazing.”
Meanwhile, of the kit itself (which had design input from Steve, and is available to order online now via maiden.store/whu and officialwesthamstore.com), the bassist continues: “I think it’s brilliant. I really love that version and colour of the crest, and that old classic kind of kit. It’s a modern shape but with a retro design, and I like that. Up the Irons!”
Check it out below:
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