West Ham United – along with all other Premier League clubs – have the chance to pull of a public relations masterstroke when season ticket renewal time dawns.
It will take a lot of organising but if it can be achieved the affected fans really will know they are part of what we like to call the West Ham family.
Various questions surrounding the issues involved are being considered:
O How to compensate fans for a lost first month,
O How to select those who can attend matches once public gatherings are again allowed given that there could be a 40 per cent reduction in crowd size.
The club say all will be revealed when they make their announcement but there is one other huge question which needs to be solved as sensitively as possible.
There will be many fans who have had season tickets for years who given everything may choose not to renew. With no vaccine available, plus the risk of travelling on public transport they may choose to stay at home as we have been urged for so long in order to stay safe.
Given too, the prediction of a possible second wave over the winter months the club has a great opportunity to ease the worries among those who may choose to put health considerations first.
Given they are all more than good reasons for not renewing, does this mean they will never be able to do so again given that’s currently the case even though they may have been ST holders for donkeys’ years.
Maybe the answer is a letter to all season ticket holders – and definitely the over 60s who are the higher Covid risk group – finding out if they require a season’s ‘holiday’ before renewing.
It would be a praiseworthy move rather than accepting that as they haven’t renewed that’s an end to them.
I think they should definitely hold off until a start date is confirmed and have special dispensation for at risk season ticket holders. I doubt knowing GSB that will be the case, money in the bank is the safest option but they do surprise us from time to time. As for the Spuds lottery system, that’s not fair, there should be a fair selection of games offered for all ST holders to ensure they get a decent spread of matches. Maybe we can only see 40% of matches either 7 or 8 or they could add some cup games in also ? Am sure there will be a way they can work it out to get 40 – 50% of the cost of the ST’s ?