West Ham’s hierarchy have risked the wrath of supporters once again, serving up a cynical response to the single biggest issue tearing the club apart, insisting winning games is the only thing that’ll bring back the 30,000 fans who have walked away.
It’s a decade this summer since the controversial switch from Upton Park to the London Stadium. And the proof that so many still ain’t buying it? A staggering 30,000 long standing Hammers, including former season ticket holders have simply stopped going.
You’d think that figure, enough to fill a decent sized ground on its own, would have alarm bells ringing in the boardroom. Instead, the message back from the top is brutally short sighted: win more matches, and they’ll come flooding back.
The details emerged from the latest Fan Advisory Board meeting, where vice chair Karren Brady was pressed on the deepening disconnect. For years now, supporters have pointed to a cocktail of problems, the soulless stadium, the ticket prices, the atmosphere, the growing sense the club’s soul was left behind in the East End.
But when the board was asked what they plan to do to win back the thousands who’ve voted with their feet, the response was as blunt as it was revealing.
According to the minutes published by the West Ham United Independent Supporters’ Committee, the club said “winning matches is the only thing that matters in encouraging supporters to return”.
Let that sink in. After a decade of fractured relationships, protests, and surveys piling up with evidence that fans are crying out for engagement, pricing reform and a stadium experience that doesn’t feel like a rented athletics venue, the answer is just… win.
Of course, no one’s daft enough to pretend results don’t matter. A winning team lifts the place. We’ve seen it in recent months as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side has turned a corner. The buzz returns. The turnstiles spin a bit quicker.
But to suggest winning is the only thing? That’s either delusional or deliberately dismissive. Possibly both.
Because here’s the thing: thousands walked away before a single ball was even kicked at the London Stadium. They saw the move for what it was, a trade off that swapped the intimacy, identity and raw soul of Upton Park for a running track and corporate boxes. Results didn’t come into it. Not then, not now.
The supporters’ committee didn’t mince words in their report, pointing out that fans cite “multiple reasons for disengagement, all backed up by surveys, including: ticket prices, stadium experience, atmosphere, wider club culture”.
They added: “The club currently sees on pitch performance as the primary solution to declining attendance.”
And when the board was pushed on whether there’s a wider plan to address the likes of pricing, atmosphere and stadium design? Apparently, there wasn’t one offered.
No review of ticket structures. No roadmap to fix the disjointed atmosphere. No acknowledgment that for many, the London Stadium still feels like a temporary home, a decade on.
It’s a staggering blind spot or perhaps it ain’t a blind spot at all. Perhaps it’s a sign that David Sullivan, Daniel Kretinsky and the rest genuinely believe results alone can paper over the cracks.
The irony is thick enough to choke on. This was meant to be the grand vision, a shiny new home to propel West Ham into a new era. Instead, you’ve got 30,000 former regulars staying away, empty seats telling their own story, and a fanbase that feels more disenfranchised than ever.
Winning helps. It always does. But it ain’t a magic wand.
Trust, connection, a sense that supporters are being listened to, those are the things that bring people back and, more importantly, keep them coming. Right now, that’s what’s missing. And until the board wakes up to that reality, the disconnect will only get wider.
The Hammers are showing signs of life on the pitch. Off it? The same old problems remain and this latest response suggests the people in charge still don’t have a clue what the real issue is.
