The general principles for all ticketing should be fairness, transparency and honesty.
Big issue is transparency. Club doesn’t communicate what is happening well. It needs to share information with us. We also need to have joint meeting with Ticketmaster and understand the commercial restraints imposed in that partnership.
The ending of concession pricing has become the biggest issue among West Ham fans of recent years. There is an outcry that the so-called “home of affordable family-friendly football” should unilaterally take such action against the young and old. It has been made worse by existing families with discounted tickets being told they cannot even pass on their discounted tickets to younger siblings.
Read MoreWest Ham fans have started a petition to oppose Season Ticket price rises & changes To Concession Tickets.
New concessions are now restricted to bands 5 & 6. If you want to relocate your existing concession season ticket that is treated as a new ticket and you don’t get the concession.
These changes are forcing families, friends and groups of loyal West Ham fans who have sat together supporting our Club for decades to split up and some will probably never see West Ham play at home again.
Getting tickets for away matches is not a closed shop. You’ve just got to start putting in the miles and getting tickets when they are available - you soon start accumulating points to be able to purchase away tickets for more matches.
If you only started getting priority points from the 2021/22 season you would be starting next season (2024/25) on 31 points - only 4 off the maximum anyone would have.
The headline news is that West Ham is raising season ticket prices by between 6% and 14%, ignoring the rapidly falling rate of inflation (3.4%). This is worsening the cost-of-living crisis for Hammers fans.
The biggest rises hit the discounted two-year deals for band five and six tickets, with the two-year band five ticket rising by 14%. The cheapest annual season ticket is rising more than 11% (£35) to £345 and the kids’ season ticket by 10% (£10) to £109.
At the other end of the scale the top priced ticket (excluding Club London) is rising just over 6% (£100) to £1,720.
The West Ham United Supporters’ Trust (WHUST) has called on MPs scrutinising the Football Governance Bill to make sure the regulator’s powers cover ticket prices.
WHUST has demanded:
1. The proposed independent regulator for English football must have the power to intervene on ticket pricing
2. Proper fan consultation must include ticket pricing
3. There must be protection for concessionary ticket pricing
Brady goes back on her promise of affordable family football. Writing in The Standard when season tickets first went on sale at the London Stadium:
For me, however, today’s most important announcement affects our young supporters.
We are committed to offering the next generation of West Ham the chance to come and watch their team and we want to make it easier for families that may currently be unable to watch football together regularly, to do so at the new Stadium.
