Ok let’s get down to business beause there is too much going on to play games anymore!
So much has been made of the standing/sitting issue that bigger problems are disappearing off the radar and given the dangers involved that is not on.
ClaretandHugh Facebook Group member Marion Boswell has detailed her anxieties and fears at life in the new stadium explaining she was a supporter of the move.
We are giving her views here in her own words as we believe we have a duty to do so given the fears that she mentions.
Marion writes:
I was one that wanted the move as I thought we had outgrown the Boleyn but I really am so disappointed with way things have gone.
We get treated like second class citizens by Westfield stewards, who are okay when aking your money to park there but then you have a mile trek to get back to your car after the game as they won’t let you through the centre.
The stewarding at the stadium is appalling. One game they search your bag (with which I have no problem) but on Saturday I had to ask if they wanted to look in my bag to which they replied “no.” It appeared they didn’t search anyone’s bag.
With some of the idiots that are around a knife could easily have been brought into the ground. On speaking to some of the stewards it seems what action they can take depends on the colour bib they wear.
Some are not allowed to touch you, others can go to see what is happening but then have to call the response team in. It is a joke. Police presence is really needed before someone gets seriously hurt.
ClaretandHugh is attempting to remain neutral on the divisive Stadium situation but we are ready to publish your views and experiences. Email claretandhugh@gmail.com. You should be ready to have your name published.
Join the CandH Facebook Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/363174467150521/ to have your say on this and all things Hammers.
Totally agree with all Marion has said at the moment the place is as I have posted before TOXIC
While the club does bear some degree of responsibility (I maintain that they wanted everything too soon), clearly the bulk of the issue lies with the stadium operators, who have not had to deal with football, and clearly don’t have the first clue about how to run such an event – there’s a difference between an international rugby crowd, and an incredibly partisan domestic football crowd. The people that they’ve brought in need to undergo rigorous, proper training, preferably by the people that we had last season at the Boleyn. But they also need to look at the quality of the people doing the stewarding. We all know the problems with the stadium, and I have no doubt that they will all be solved eventually. But these are the kind of things that shouldn’t be solved “eventually”; they should be solved before commissioning.
I showed my buddies who also take their kids to the OS all the headlines today about the stadium & the huge issues being reported on here after Seans piece this morning..They decided amongst themselves they either went to a different ground or they were blind after reading the glorified negativity on here.
It ain’t TOXIC,what a load of rubbish.If it was TOXIC i & my friends wouldn’t take our kids anywhere near the place.This is the problem,over dramatic statements by a few!
So all that fighting between fans was in my imagination?
My god this is getting tiresome now reading this day in day out.99% of problems have a solution,so let’s get it sorted out,which it will be.With regards to the place being toxic well I guess we all have different levels of what we consider as toxic or frightening,intimidating or provocative but I have not at any point felt in danger or intimidated while there with my boy.I certainly don’t find it toxic in any shape or form.
Yeh , mate ; media crap all over the place .
We needed something to happen . We had The Bolyen Ground stuffed rafter to rafter every home game .
The major let down for me is that Newham Council wouldn’t grant Ground expansion . Maybe it should have been more rigoursly persued???. But big money was always going to be the issue and the Dave’s were well into Thier stride . ” a bit blinded by the light imo “.
In retrospect the money now available with TV rights would have had us in seventh heaven with ground expansion.
Shame now ; cos it’s all gone . We have to make the LS our new home no matter how painful the transition may be . COYI.
I am curious as to who gave the security contract to LS185 in the first place.Was it the cheapest quote to be offered and was the company not vetted before giving them the contract? It seems that most of the problems revolve around their operation.
At the end of the day the stewarding is crap atm but if I started worrying about people carrying knives or worse then I wouldn’t drink in most the pubs I go to lol.I probably have more chance of getting stabbed by some of the junkie nuts in my local shopping centre than I do at the OS.I know there are serious issues but it is starting to get totally blown out of all proportion imho.Fans who have never been must think it is like Baghdad which it ain’t,it just ain’t 🙂
The place ain’t toxic and it ain’t like Baghdad but somewhere down the line it’s been forgotten that it’s a football club with fans that believe it or not swear 🙂 It ain’t a new thing it’s been going on for years since I was a kid when the old fella took me so those getting wound up by it maybe arn’t at the right place:)
Yeah shock horror,grown man swears at a football match lol.Dont get me wrong I try to not swear in front of kids but I’m afraid in the heat of the moment during the game it just flies out sometimes.My old man always used to say to me when I was a kid you are going to hear a lot of swearing just dont go saying the words you hear to your mum later lol 🙂
I have been to all the home games and seen fights at all the games.
On Saturday my sons couldn’t make it so I took my 2 grandchildren aged 12 and 9.
Most of the problems in the Upper East Stand have been caused because parents didn’t like their children hearing the swearing and turning on the people swearing.
These parents would be better off staying away until family areas are installed.
You can’t expect to sell 10,000 children’s season tickets without having a family area.
We obviously need standing areas as well.
Obviously all the thought went into selling the tickets not how to accommodate the fans.
We simply cannot have standing areas unless the laws are changed
Reduce the away allocation to stop seeing 3000 stand
But this will result in tit for tat by the other teams reducing our allocation
I have no idea where everyone is getting the idea that there is no family enclosure? I had 6st’s in the STBU and have 6 ST’s now in the BMU. We went to the Westfield appointment and said we are in the family enclosure and want to be again. We have 2 oldies who can’t stand, 2 adults and 2 kids who won’t see if people stand. The guy booking is in said that the family enclosure is now the BMU and he went through everything and knew his stuff, we got almost identical seats to the Bolyen and have not had a second of trouble. The atmosphere is great as is the view. Not as close obviously but it never was going to be. I am getting sick of the club and board getting roasted over things out of their control and those that are not doing as they are asked and fighting. Far from being fans they are causing no end of damage to the club.
Sean replied to you on that on your earlier post wjo.Dont know if you saw it but he said you are talking sh*t.Ok he didnt,not really but he replied to you anyway 😉
Lol. Cheers Radai. That was my experience of the ticket office. Maybe just lucky then.
, it will never be a football stadium unless we as a club have total
Control of the stadium
From top to bottom
This should happen within five years time IMO
I thought I was getting tired of this on here until I just read the sister site.Man some of them go on.Is there anything about the club they are not experts on.
There struggling with the lack of Mary Berry releasing a new bake off book but Xmas ain’t far off so they’ll soon quieten down 🙂
Maybe we could club together & by them a megaphone for Xmas so more people can hear them.It must be frustrating to be so knowledgeable but not be able to spread your expertise on all things West Ham to a bigge audience..
Maybe a WHTID Experts Q&A could be arranged at the stadium 😛
I cant get enough of the ones on there who aint never been near the reservation: centre,never tried buying a ticket,never got within about 1000 miles of the ground but they are the ones with the most to say on it.It must be all their first hand experiences they are calling upon.
They don’t need first hand experience,just any excuse to get the bingo wings flapping.
“as I thought we had outgrown the Boleyn”
Stopped reading at that point. No Genuine West Ham fan would ever say that imho.
6/1 on all the published ones will be the negative ones because the fans who have had no real problems stories will be far too bland & not juicy enough lmao
If I for one moment started to worry about people carrying a knife in to the ground I would probably never leave my house.I truly can’t be bothered to think that way or have that sort of mentality of worry or fear.If you go through life thinking that way you would never go anywhere or do anything!!
Lol… If there was one thing I learned reading all these articles about safety of the OS, it’s that Iraq is a safier place today… when I decide to go there, I’ll wear a bulletproof vest, a helmet and a shotgun under my trench coat, you never know… haha 😉
Loool Matte 😀
Yeah it’s a war zone in there.The next story will include hand grenades & pepper spray.Machine gun carrying police & all fans being made to go in naked so as not to conceal anything.Maybe they might let us keep a scarf on lmao
Noooo don’t come over for a game Matte it’s far,far,far too dangerous.I don’t want your figas to be left without you if something went wrong lol.But if you do come to a match apparently you can play Pokemon Go with Seans lads if you get bored 🙂
Matte you can’t come to the ground.It seems the ante has been upped on Wet Ones & now we should be worried about terrorist attacks not just knives.That lot on there are too much for me ha ha
Haha… Perhaps it would be wise to review the name of the new stadium… Alcatraz Arena would be more suitable… lol 😀
Why dont they just call it the Gala bingo arena it seems plenty of old women go already and moan about bloody everything 🙂
But they might try to take a bomb in under their headscarfs 🙂
Haha… nice name GW… it’s perfect. Then I’ll get a white wig, a cane and a shawl… I’m just so excited… lol
Spot on Rick. I would have my grandsons corralled in my garden rather than let them venture out. I pay for a ticket and i should decide if i want to sit or stand. Not the young fella in front. If he wants to stand fair play to him but some of us behind are incapeable of standing 4 the whole game. IM 66 and im a carer for my brother who is almost 70. I very nearly came to blows with a young ***** at the Bournmouth game because he kept standing up and declaring “We’re West Ham and we stand when we want to ” When i tried to say we were all West Ham but some of us cant he’s just ignored myself and the other older fans, which i thought was very ignorant. as i said im not a violent person but i felt like punching his fu#king lights out. Eventually , his mum made him sit down before he got smacked. There’s a time and a place for everything. Have respect for your elders. been going for58 years. Im not a newbee. Cos we can’t stand up don’t mean we don’t love the Hammers. Why else would we be there? COYI X
I bet all the little snots like him won’t have so much bravado if the police come into the stadium 66.His mummy will have him sat from the start 🙂
Did the stewards swoop down and tell him to sit down or is that honour for those nasty men that swear 🙂
He was an idiot ,but luckily he had a someone round him to calm him down. And no stewards were in evidence so they’re inviting us to take it in our own hands. G
Great stuff.
The more Hugh tweets to stir and restart such a conversation the more he makes from advertising and related Income through his website.
The continued negativity about this subject has ceased to be of any benefit to West Ham United or us the fans. The website alludes to support the Club not damage it.
Maybe when the FA come in with sanctions or punish the club because of a minority within the 50,000+ crowd certain people will realise change takes time.
Yes there are teething problems, yes there are safety issue, yes it should have been perfect but there have been many occasions at Upton Park when it’s been far from perfect.
I think you can see from the comments we don’t all agree with this ott reporting.But hey Hugh publishes what gets a click.At the same time we can take it seriously or with a pinch of salt.I think it is pretty clear that most are really not buying into all the drama being associated with this.Yes of course there are issues but they will be addressed.In the meantime it’s a free for all for the gossip mongers & those who thrive on getting their teeth into a bit of drama ha ha.The ground is after all TOXIC Ha
Why not go the whole hog and have a seatbelt on every seat and the stewards strapping you in 5 mins before kick off, end of row swear boxes, a full blown cavity search on arrival, weight watchers cuisine and low calorie protein shakes to prevent bloating and weight gain and being deliced in a communal sheep dip when leaving 🙂
Lmao GW.I was just thinking that Hugh probably cant kick the ass out of this subject much longer when I saw another article on it.Im all stadiumed out.I dont have the strength to read another one.The Wetlands must be in heaven right now 😀
Haha… if there’s a little problem, the Wetlands turn it into a existential drama in no time… they are real experts at it… lol 😉
Stan there will be a steward formation posted on Deidre’s daily journal at any minute and 200 comments discussing how the stewards should be set up on a Saturday 🙂
The strange thing is,some people have had a fantastic experience, and some have had the most scary atmosphere. Now being a claret and slow ticketing allowing me to only go to the Juve game (brilliant, all round),I sort of forgot there would be away fans.If it ain’t sorted before the Spud’s or chelski arrive Iraq might be a good weekend break.COYI
Perhaps in a couple of years orient might let us ground share with them