West Ham protest march cancelled

The proposed protest march under the banner of West Ham Groups United on 10th March has been cancelled it has been announced tonight. Minutes of yesterday’s meeting released by RWHFAG reveal that the club has agreed to reimburse expenses anyone who has already booked travel or accommodation that was non-refundable. The club also agreed to match RWHAG’s donation to Isla’s fund.

A statement from the Real West Ham Fan Action Group on twitter said:

CANCELLATION OF MARCH  STATEMENT

“RWHFAG was set up in November to galvanise the board into recognising that the REAL West Ham had died in the move from Upton Park to the Olympic stadium, that the promises made to keep the spirit alive had not been met and that with no evidence of meeting those promises despite the efforts of various supporter groups over time something had to be done differently.

Our aims were encapsulated in the saying “a stadium fit for football an experience fit for fans”. Broadly speaking that incorporated potential uncovered seating pitch side, stewarding, heritage, the memorial garden, disability access and the overall fan experience – big flags in the ground, half time, statues, walkway to the ground etc. The march was put forward as an option as we had little traction following a meeting in January where we outlined our aims and given other groups similar experiences after meeting club representatives.

The threat of the march has indeed brought Karren Brady to several meetings and David Sullivan to one and the agreement to work with the RWHFAG on finally delivering in a meaningful way on the groups aims. We hoped when we set out to get to this position – that we have achieved this much in such a short time is a testament to the power of each and every member of this group. 

The reason we called the march – to get the board to listen to us to acknowledge our legitimate concerns and to work with us have been achieved – on this basis the RWHFAG see no further reason to march, which some individuals found difficult to accept but is nonetheless the position. This  means that £20K plus – the vast bulk of the money raised – less expenses for stickers, flyers etc – will now be going to the Isla fund and presented at half time at an upcoming game. We will be contacting our founder members to discuss a way ahead for the group in our ongoing dialogue with the club to deliver on the commitments made to us. We would like to thank everyone for their support -RWHFAG members and the supporters and admin of all the other groups we have worked with to get us to this position where the board are listening to and working with the supporters for the benefit of the club as a whole. We believe that the club and the board want to deliver these changes and see the power of working together on this. This is a great opportunity for unity of purpose between the club and West Ham fans and that we can all work together for the common goal of making West Ham as great as it can be.