“West Ham is losing its identity!”

Blogger Nigel Kahn discusses Club London and rings a warning about the changes that distress him as a lifelong supporter

So the club this week have finally started to reveal their plans for the migration of fans from the Boleyn to the Olympic Stadium & their first port of call happened to  be with the Bond holders and Corporate members.

Quite why they never had the SAB there as well as they are the clubs own fans forum is for the club to answer but at least they have started to reveal their plans.

The club though have made no official announcement, nothing on the club’s website. It has been left to ClaretandHugh and social media site leaks for the info to emerge.

And so far the Season ticket holders in the lower west are the big losers. They are being shifted out of the way in a form of “social cleansing” to pave the way for the corporate high rollers.

These people are  willing to pay up to 3 ½ grand to sit in the best seats behind the manager, in a copy of the club Wembley set up, which you can’t miss as they are the seats that generally are still empty as the second alf kicks off with the prawn sandwich brigade are still finishing off the half time drinks.

This area is to be named Club London, not Club West Ham or (my choice) Club Irons but London again. This, in my view, shows  how far the marketing department are determined to reinvent the club as a team from or for the whole of London not just the East side.

So for all those fans in the lower west by the centre, the club are showing their gratitude for your staunch support buy shunting you over to the east or to the side.

Not only that, but perhaps more worrying for the general season ticket holders was that their ticket price will not drop from their current Boleyn price, they may even rise. One of the big selling points put out by the owners on taking over the club was that by moving they could make it more affordable.

Yet the first time the club actually reveal to a supporters group ticket costs, it’s not downwards. This does  not bode well for the other Bands does it.

Many of you who took part in the club consultation may have voted to support the move in the belief of cheaper tickets. How will you feel if that is a false claim?

The club is changing, some say modernising, I say losing its identity. The removing of the castle, the adding of London to our identity, the move to the OS which is as far removed from any football stadium in this country – that’s apt as the club is being removed from the very fabric that made it so special.

We are an East London club, made in Canning Town by working men who lived in the community and shared it with the fans.

It is  quite damning that those supposedly in control claim to be cut of the same cloth while overseeing the biggest wholesale rebranding exercise ever seen at this great club.

What  is left once the move has taken place remains to be seen but for me it will be a pale imitation of the club I was born into supporting?

These views are entirely those of the blogger and are not necessarily shared by CllaretandHugh.