Europa fixture clash at the Olympic Stadium

Should West Ham qualify for the Europa League by virtue of Manchester United winning the FA Cup they will face a new challenge in where to play early home games in the early rounds.

UK Athletics have exclusive use of the former Olympic Stadium until 1st August meaning the Hammers would need to find another ground or ask special permission to swap a possible home and away tie for the third round.

Should West Ham qualify, they would join the competition in the third qualifying round with the first leg scheduled on 28th July and the second leg on 4th August. It takes seven days to transform the stadium from athletics stadium to football mode and West Ham are set to play their first game there on the 7th August against Juventus in a pre-season friendly.

The Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games will see a two day Diamond League meeting take place on Friday 22nd July and Saturday 23rd July, with an IPC Grand Prix coinciding with National Paralympic Day on Sunday 24th July.

With the minimum seven day turn around, the very earliest the stadium could be ready for a football game is 1st August. West Ham would need to fit in another home match in August should they progress to the play-off stage with the first leg scheduled on 18th August and the second leg on the 25th August.