Danny Dyer went through a rollercoaster of emotions that ended with The Football Factory star watching his son-in-law Jarrod Bowen miss a crucial penalty as West Ham crashed out of the FA Cup on Sunday.
The Hammers superfan, 48, cheered on Nuno Espirito Santo’s side at the London Stadium as the East London club took on Leeds in the quarter final, with a trip to Wembley the prize for the winner of the tie.
It all looked bleak for the hosts who trailed by two goals to Daniel Farke’s visitors heading into injury time, before quickfire goals from Mateus Fernandes and Axel Disasi took the game to extra time.
With neither side able to land the knockout blow the match was taken to penalties, with Hammers skipper Bowen – who is married to Dyer’s daughter Dani – missing his effort from 12 yards.
Danny Dyer suffered FA Cup heartbreak as West Ham lost on penalties to Leeds on Sunday
Dyer’s son-in-law Jarrod Bowen missed a penalty kick as the Hammers were knocked out
Bowen is married to Dyer’s daughter Dani and the couple have three children together
Bowen’s team-mate Pablo also missed his spot kick and the Hammers were punished by Leeds, with Pascal Strujik striking the winning penalty to book their place in the FA Cup semi-final for the first time in 39 years.
Dyer has a strong relationship with Bowen and has lavishly praised his son-in-law at every opportunity.
‘It’s how humble he is. He doesn’t watch Match of the Day,’ he told eSPORTY.
‘Footballers, they obviously can’t watch themselves on tele and Match Of The Day is only on tele once a week, so I thought he’d watch it, but he doesn’t.
‘I love the fact that he doesn’t watch it. He plays his game, he gets on with it, he doesn’t really like talking about it.
‘We rarely talk about football. I give him a little message every now and then after a game or before a game – sometimes he blanks me and fair enough, but he just gets on with it and that’s what I love about him.
‘There’s nothing stereotypically footballer about him.’
