If polls are to be believed around 9,000 season ticket holders will give up their seats this summer. The London Stadium survey suggests that around 18% will not renew when the 1st June deadline passes. West Ham continues to claim there is a big demand to replace these supporters from their waiting list.
In February West Ham Vice-Chairman Karren Brady during a Supporters Advisory Board said the waiting list now stands at 48,000 of those fans who paid £10 for life.
What is unknown is how many of the 48,000 still want a London Stadium season ticket. The list was first launched in August 2014 long before anyone had stepped a foot in the former Olympic Stadium. No-one is given their actual number in the list and the club continues to promote the waiting list this year for more to join.
Some season ticket holders claim they received emails offering them a season ticket even though they already purchased one while others claim they remain on the list after turning down an option of a season ticket last season.
We call on West Ham to be transparent on the waiting list like other clubs by telling supporters their actual number on the list. They should also audit the current list of 48,000 as a matter of urgency removing those who no longer want a ticket and donate the £10 to a West Ham nominated charity.
I received an email saying that I had asked to be on the waiting list too yet, I have never requested to go on the waiting list! I have lived in France for 11 years so a season ticket is out of the question.
I used to be a member though up to 2 seasons ago for occasional home or away games when in UK. I stopped paying the membership fee for two reasons. Firstly I never once received a renewal request. And secondly, the new stadium meant that any chance of occasional tickets stopped.
I even Tweeted David Gold twice asking why they didn’t email asking for Membership renewals but never once got a response.
I wonder how many of this 9,000 are not renewing because of the disasterous season on the pitch ( saved by Moyes; not zorro ), or because of a second season of violence WITHIN OUR OWN SUPPORT in the stands.
These new supporters of which there are 10s of thousands have never seen the violence of the 70s so would be shocked by the mindless minority.
The poll and therefore the figure of 9,000 people not renewing their season tickets is deeply flawed. Reading comments on other blogs, it is clear that there were plenty of people who responded multiple times and perhaps even more who responded but are not season ticket holders at all. Making the poll available to anyone, regardless of whether they own season tickets, cannot produce other than misleading results.
Transparency from the club would indeed be a good thing in deciding whether someone wanted to join the waiting list and informative to the extent that we, “customers” as the club likes to call us, wil have an accurate picture of where we stand on the list and how long we are likely to have to wait.
The club may well argue that such information as we want to see constitutes commercially sensitive information but the reality is that fans, as opposed to customers, don’t change clubs based on such matters and consequently that argument doesn’t hold.
Have you ever thought it’s the new ticket holders who are causing the issue?
I don’t remember seeing West Ham fans fighting each other at Upton Park, so I suggested the new ones don’t know how to behave.
Waiting list is a myth to keep you renewing probably.
The biggest flaw in the waiting list is that not everybody is waiting for the same ticket I bet a huge percentage are for £99 or £250 tickets
I have a season ticket but am still apparently on the waiting list (I get those e-mails) and still get emails encouraging me to join the waiting list!
Hammersforlife Can you send me a copy of the email that you are still on the list to mrwesthamfootball@gmail.com
When did you become a season ticket holder?
I’ll have a look at home later for the e-mails (can’t do that at work), but I may have deleted them. Bought my current season ticket last season (our first in the LS).