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Capacity court case looms for West Ham

West Ham face their latest legal show down with London Stadium owners E20 next month.

London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) who own E20 previously confirmed “There is a dispute with West Ham about what the contract says in terms of capacity. West Ham have absolutely said that they want to increase the capacity to 60,000. And actually, they want to further increase the capacity to 66,000. LLDC and E20 disagree with their interpretation of the contract. We feel that actually if West Ham wants to enjoy more seats then they should commensurately pay more.”

A club spokesman previously told Claret and Hugh earlier this year: “West Ham United is seeking use of all seats in London Stadium to initially reach a capacity of 60,000, as was promised publicly to our supporters by all London Stadium stakeholders.

“The seats in question are not ‘additional’ or ‘extra’. These seats are in London Stadium already, have always been there, and have already been paid for under the terms of our concession agreement.

“Having sought a resolution of this matter for many months, West Ham United are seeking a legal declaration because we have almost 50,000 patient and loyal fans on our season ticket waiting list who are being denied the opportunity to support their team. We wish to make the Stadium accessible to all supporters in our community through our firm commitment to affordable family football.

 “The benefits of West Ham United using all available seats to E20 and the taxpayer are tangible, generating a range of additional revenue, including the vast majority of catering revenue, which generated £6m of income for E20 last season from West Ham matches alone, whilst also bringing a significant increase in visitors to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.’’

Freedom of information requests to E20 and LLDC has revealed that the public bodies have spent close to £6m in external legal services in relation to the former Olympic Stadium.

The concessionaire agreement signed by both West Ham and E20 Stadium LLP in 2013 defines a minimum football capacity of 54,000 but is mute on the subject of a maximum capacity despite having over 66,000 seats available. The agreement does infer that West Ham have the full use concessionaire areas of the stadium on match days which the club have interpreted to include all the seats within the stadium.
 

About Sean Whetstone

I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball, I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh. Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons! Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

5 comments on “Capacity court case looms for West Ham

  1. Good luck hammers and the sooner this is cleared up by the stupidity of the lldc and e20 the better. I guess will win this like all the other cases these two idiots that obviously are trying to get a better deal from West ham after the stupid Boris clowns tenure in London as mayor and getting a bad deal for the stadium which in all honesty was the only deal available due to wanting the Olympics in London given to us. Anyway the way out is to sell the stadium to West ham move the athletics to Birmingham or upgrade c palace and get some cash back for the taxpayer without arguing and costing the tax payers more money.

  2. Seems like the Contract was rushed through because of other Clubs wanting a share of the Pie . Now that we have secured the Stadium there are legal wrangles still outstanding . Badly negotiated in my opinion ., just to win the Rental . Looks as if the only solution is a buy out by some big corporate company or Billionaire . It a solution we want , obviously .
    The question should be ; why not move the Athletic’s to another Location and let West Ham install the seating that was promised due to interpretation of contract . No roll out roll in seating ,, it needs to be permanent . LET WESTHAM buy it outright and strike a deal . We’ve got 99yrs to sort out the bill .

  3. Laughable that the owners still claim to have a season ticket waiting list of 50,000.

  4. I think going beyond 60,000 is a mistake..And I hope it never happens. We don’t even fill the ground at present. How many of these new people are genuine West Ham. I certainly don’t believe the rubbish about 50,000 on the waiting list itching for a season ticket to go every week. It’s utter rubbish.

  5. If we have 50000 waiting for a seat why stop at 66000? There is room for 100k plus inside there with a bit of redevelopment work. We can move the seats closer to the pitch at the same time. Afterall, we are a much bigger club than the people who comment on here who are actually spurs fans would have you believe.

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