The last game at the Boleyn was on 10 May 2016. West Ham beat Manchester United 3-2. Ask anyone who was there and you'll get the full story, whether you wanted it or not.
That night is a good place to start, because the first thing to work out is which ground your fan thinks of as home. A grandad who stood in the Chicken Run wants something different from a kid who thinks the London Stadium is what a football ground looks like. Most of what's below leans towards the old place. I've been honest about what I'd skip.
Old ground
A seat from the Boleyn. The ground came down after the club left, but seats from it still turn up second-hand. Ask the seller to show where it came from. One from the stand he actually sat in is about the best thing on this list.
Programmes are where I'd spend the money, though. The finals are the obvious ones: 1964 against Preston, 1965 against 1860 Munich, 1975 against Fulham, 1980 against Arsenal. That last one is my pick. West Ham were a Second Division side that day and Arsenal were the holders, and Brooking won it with his head. eBay's full of them, so check the photos and buy from sellers who show the actual copy, not a stock picture. If you know the date of his first game, find that programme instead. Ask his brother or sister, because asking him gives it away.
The Boleyn's flats now. A framed shot of the turrets on Green Street, or the view from the North Bank, does the job a seat can't, and it fits on a wall. Look for one from his era.
If he says he doesn't want anything, believe him for once and give to the Bobby Moore Fund. Stephanie Moore set it up after Bobby died of bowel cancer in 1993, and it raises money for bowel cancer research through Cancer Research UK. A note in a card is enough.
Books
There are two good Bobby Moore books. Jeff Powell's biography is by a journalist who knew him well. Matt Dickinson's Bobby Moore: The Man in Full came out in 2014 and goes into the harder years after he stopped playing. I'd give Powell to the fan who saw him play and Dickinson to the one who's only heard the stories, though if I could only buy one it would be Dickinson.
Trevor Brooking's My Life in Football (2014) covers nearly two decades at the club, England, and that header in 1980. For the fan who cares more about the away days than the trophies, Robert Banks's An Irrational Hatred of Luton is about following West Ham through the 90s, and it's the one he won't already have.
Shirts and records
Skip the club shop's new-season stuff. It's the one present they'll buy themselves.
A retro shirt is better, as long as it's the right decade. The Pony shirt with Dagenham Motors on the front is the Ludo and Julian Dicks years. The Dr. Martens shirts go with Di Canio. Remakes are easy enough to get hold of. For a younger fan it's whatever they wore in Prague.
The 1975 cup squad put out I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles in May that year, around the final, and it got to number 31. The Cockney Rejects version reached 35 in 1980. Either one looks good framed, and a second-hand single costs very little.
Days out
The London Stadium tour takes you into the dressing room, down the tunnel and out to the side of the pitch. Tours don't usually run on match days, so check the dates. I think it's better for the Upton Park lot than for kids. The kids have already seen the place every other Saturday, while the older ones get to see the bits they've never been near.
Tickets work too. A train to somewhere new beats another home game.
Prague
The Europa Conference League final in June 2023 was West Ham's first major trophy in 43 years. Bowen's winner came in the 90th minute, and Rice lifted the cup in his last game for the club. A scarf from the night, a ticket stub or a programme is a lovely thing to have. Buy from sellers who show the actual item.
A framed XI
Full disclosure, this bit's ours. You build a team sheet and we print and frame it.
For the older lot I'd do the 1980 final. Devonshire crossed, Cross's shot was blocked, Pearson's effort went across goal and Brooking stooped to flick it in. Paul Allen was 17, at the time the youngest player to appear in an FA Cup final at Wembley.
Parkes; Stewart, Martin, Bonds, Lampard; Allen, Devonshire, Brooking, Pike; Pearson, Cross. John Lyall was the manager.
For a younger fan, Prague. West Ham beat Fiorentina 2-1, with Benrahma scoring a penalty before Paquetá played Bowen through for the winner. Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Rice, Souček, Paquetá; Bowen, Antonio, Benrahma, with David Moyes in charge.
Or do an all-time XI and settle the left back row. Frank Lampard senior or Julian Dicks? I'd have Dicks. My dad would hit me for saying it.
Two quick ones
What do you get a West Ham grandad who has everything? A programme from his first game, or a seat from the Boleyn.
Anything under £50? Any of the books, a second-hand Bubbles single, or an old programme.
Build your own
Make the 1980 side, Prague, an all-time XI or their Sunday league team in our team builder, at £99 for 12x16 in or £149 for 18x24 in, in a black or white frame. There are ready-made sides in our West Ham prints from £69.