Karren Brady meets with supporters
The two-hour meeting was attended by West Ham supporters representing Bondholders, 1966 season ticket holders, West Ham United Independent Supporters’ Association, disabled supporters, young & elderly supporters, away season ticket holders, the West Ham Supporters Club Pride of Irons as well as large supporters groups and ClaretandHugh.
West Ham Executive Marketing director Tara Warren, Head of Ticketing Nicky Keye, Chief Operating Officer Ben Illingworth, Operations Director Steve Gotkine, Disability Officer Julie Pidgeon, Supporter Services Manager Jake Heath, as well as a representative from London Stadium 185 and the Met Police, were also on hand to answer supporters questions.
A wide range of topics were covered including stewarding, catering, the concourse, accessibility and away games.
Among questions asked and answered by the club were:
– More shelving will be installed at the London Stadium in the near future.
– The Champions Statue should move to the London Stadium next season pending final approval by Newham.
– The third phase of Champions Stones would be installed in March 2018 at Champions place.
– Wifi at the London Stadium was only an ambition but there is no immediate sign of it in the near future.
– Mobile operators are looking to improve reception at the Stadium and surrounding areas.
– Stadium capacity increase plans are reliant on stadium operator submitting a request to Safety Advisory Board which has yet to happen.
– The West Ham flag initiative would be extended using more areas of the London Stadium, digital flags will be displayed for the first time from the Leicester game.
– The club will explore the possibility of soft drink bars with the catering contractor to allow shorter queues for those who do not want to drink alcohol.
– The club will be investing a further £3m into Chadwell Health training ground and extending the facilities.
– Stadium operators have purchased another 140 search wands to speed up searching but overcrowding was sometimes experienced on bridges 1 & 5 despite bridges 2, 3 and 4 being largely empty. Supporters should listen to stewards and follow mobile electronic signs to avoid queues.
– The club will look at introducing Sky Sports News and previous West Hams game onto the TV’s around the concourse area.
– The club will be releasing full minutes from the Supporters Advisory Board in seven days time at http://www.whufc.com/fans/supporter-advisory-board