I remember addressing the 130 West Ham supporters who came to our first Hammers United meeting at the Plaistow club. I shouted ‘failure is not an option’ and I continually reiterate that sentiment.
In the months that have gone by since, we have not failed. But neither have we succeeded, and we must redouble our efforts on behalf of our members and all West Ham supporters.
We HAVE made progress.
When we formed some said that the fanbase was broken, West Ham United was dead.
Well, we have proved that the fanbase was not broken, damaged maybe, but not broken and certainly not dead. Others said there was no chance that West Ham fans would rally and march demanding a change of ownership.
We got over 8500 out. Others said we could never mend the rifts in the fanbase. There is still division but to nowhere near to the degree it was previously.
KUMB coverage of the protest on the Greenway – Hammers United
We were told that affiliation to the Football Supporters Association would be difficult as ‘they have such a high bar’.
We now have full affiliate, as opposed to associate, membership. The FSA campaigns tirelessly for ALL football supporters. It will play an active part co-ordinating a response to the proposed new Policing bill, which could well have a profound negative effect on football supporters.
We played our part in the successful campaign against the Premier League introducing Pay for View.
We were told that West Ham would never recognise us or talk to us. They invited us to join the much maligned Official Supporters Board and we refused at the request of our members - with some other supporters saying this was a mistake on our part. We now form part of the Independent Supporters Committee and engage in regular meetings with the club. I will re-visit the ISC later.
We have surveyed our members and have a clear mandate.
We have a vision for supporter engagement at West Ham United for years to come.
We have had small successes. We played a pivotal role in convincing the club to offer the 30% deposit option on season tickets; not perfect, but better than the original deal offered to supporters.
We played a big part, with others, in rescuing the giant club crest which will soon be on display.
We got the club to refund booking fees for the Southampton match.
Last and most important, we have helped many members with ticketing and relocation issues, and others needing advice on stewarding issues and club bans.
I remember travelling to Stratford with Lee Rogers with a box of home made leaflets. Hammers United had two members: us. We now have around 18200 members. Recruitment, of course, slowed due to us not being able to attend matches, but we continued to share our aims and objectives via social media. West Ham had a great season on the pitch, yet there remains huge dissatisfaction with the board, plenty to do to improve the supporter experience, and membership continues to grow.
INEDEPENDENT SUPPORTERS COMMITTEE
We are determined to play an active part in the ISC. Hopefully, it will lead to positive change under the current owners. If not, it needs to be in place for the fans to engage with future owners. The Memorandum Of Understanding enables us to meet West Ham as part of the ISC and individually under ‘Structured Dialogue’.
The club are committed to a minimum of at least four meetings with the full ISC each year and meetings with sub-committees or individual supporters groups who request Structured Dialogue, as the need arises.
The ISC has now set up sub-committees to address stewarding, the look and feel of the London Stadium, sellers on the approaches to the stadium and ticketing.
It is fair to say that progress has been slow. There are signs, however, that progress can be made and things improved for West Ham supporters. We are determined to make this work and we will not let the club use the ISC as a box ticking exercise. The jury, of course, is the West Ham support and they are welcomed to express their verdicts on the progress we make every step of the way. It is them, and only them, who we are accountable to.
PROTESTS
Our survey was taken against a background of West Ham being 4th in the Premier League 2020.
Indeed 80% said they felt positive about things on the pitch, yet only 5% were positive about things off the pitch.
Question 10 of our survey gave eleven (all very worthy) options for supporters to prioritise. ‘A campaign for change of ownership’ came top. We continue to support the ‘GSB OUT’ campaign until either our members tell us otherwise, or GSB leave the club.
We had approximately 1500 at our first demonstration. We had a successful flag and black balloon protest at Anfield, and we had a verified number of 8500 on the march. There were no arrests at any protest and the team, as ever, received our full support after each event.
A follow up march was being arranged at which we expected 15000, but the COVID pandemic intervened. We had a presence at every game, home and away throughout 2020-21, where government restrictions allowed.
Before the Manchester City game we arranged 10 simultanious Covid friendly and legal protests
The three main protests were followed by a decent draw and two of our best performances of the season.
The protests did not, and will not, affect the performance of our team. Rather, perhaps it inspires the team to know that so many care so much about our great club.
We will have our ‘GSB OUT’ flags at every home and away game this season. We will be arranging a larger scale protest to be held before the Man United game and details of this will be published at a later date.
HAMMERS UNITED SURVEY
As stated previously, this survey was taken against a backdrop of West Ham standing 4th in the Premier League.
Three priorities stood out across all groups, with the highest levels of support:
1.A campaign for change of ownership.
2.The look and feel of the London Stadium.
3.Bringing back local businesses & sellers to the London Stadium.
The full survey results can be found here
We now have a clear mandate from our membership.
Some committee members, together with the son of a West Ham supporters legend, spent huge amounts of time and effort on this survey and I thank them. I must also thank the FSA for their valued advice and expertise.
GOING FORWARD
Friends, we must push on.
Many thousands of our friends and fellow supporters have walked away. Many of these followed the Hammers home and away for decades, as did their parents and grandparents before them.
Five relegations did not deter them, but the actions of GSB have caused them to walk away, no longer feeling an attachment to our great club.
For me personally, that is the greatest sadness. I always thought our fanbase was constant and would always be there. I was wrong.
We must do all we can to make West Ham a happier place and get some of these Hammers back.
You can all play a part leafleting, chatting to mates in the pub, spreading the word.
We will push on to 20,000 members. Lets get to that figure and then push on to 25,000-and 30,000. The bigger our membership the greater our influence. It is each and every one of you who gives this group and our fanbase its collective strength and identity.
We have laid out our path for progress with you and with the club.
At a Structured Dialogue meeting with the club on March 24, Hammers United raised the 3 top priorities as identified by supporters in our survey.
Hammers United met with the club again on June 2, following a request from the club to discuss our Supporter Vision. At this meeting, the club reaffirmed their commitment to working with Hammers United and the ISC on ‘the look and feel of The London Stadium’ and ‘bringing more local businesses and sellers to The London Stadium’.
SELLERS
The ISC has formed a sub-committee, made up of representatives from Hammers United and other FSA affiliated supporters’ groups.
This sub-committee is now in dialogue with the Metropolitan Police and Newham Council. The LLDC and Freeman events have also been contacted with a view to trading on the island.
Although Newham Council currently have a “no traders policy”, they agreed to include an item on the agenda for discussion at the Safety Advisory Group meeting on August 3.
Our proposal was that a season long trial of local sellers trading on the approaches to the London Stadium be carried out.
The SAG have subsequently agreed to review the street trading policy around the footprint of the stadium and to set up a working group with the private landowners around the stadium to explore fees & feasibility. We will be on that committee.
LOOK AND FEEL OF THE LONDON STADIUM
Following our meeting with the club the ISC has formed a sub-committee made up of representatives from Hammers United and other FSA affiliated supporters ‘ groups.
This group has both a short term focus and long term aim.
This sub-committee sets out to achieve the following for West Ham supporters:
- Explore the possibility of enhancing the atmosphere through structural change. This includes (but is not limited to) exploration of the possibility of moving seating closer to the pitch, increasing the rake of the stands and redesigning stands so that gaps between tiers and sections could be closed.
- Develop and implement an action plan for enhancing the atmosphere through aesthetic or minor design changes. This includes (but is not limited to) an action plan for introducing rail seating, removing some restrictions on banners, adding additional West Ham related décor and West Ham related memorabilia to the stadium.
STEWARDING AND TICKETING
Sub-committees have also been formed to discuss stewarding and ticketing. They simply have to make progress in these areas. We have taken, and will continue to take, plenty of feedback from members on these topics that we can present to the club.
There is also much more to be done, not least the creation of a West Ham United Museum and finding a permanent home for the West Ham United Supporters Club.
PROPOSED TAXI RANK AT LONDON STADIUM
Hammers United are making good progress with our work to have a taxi rank in place, right next to the London Stadium. If we can achieve this it will benefit disabled supporters, those of us who aren’t getting any younger, or indeed any supporter keen to avoid the walk from public transport or the nearest parking. It would, of course, also be great for those who want to make the most of their time in pubs or cafes a little way away from the stadium before a game. Hopefully, this in turn might also benefit those pubs and businesses left behind by the stadium move.
Paul Kershaw visited the stadium to identify a possible site. We went to have a look and subsequently (with the help of Jon Trevor) made contact with the London Taxi Drivers Association. The LTDA are in support of the proposal, as are Transport For London.
Newham and the London Legacy Development Cooperation have been informed of the plans and the stadium operators are now looking into how we get cabs through the soft vehicle checkpoints. We will keep you informed of developments. We are confident this will get the go ahead and we believe this is another small step taken by Hammers United towards improving the supporter experience.
Thanks to Paul and Jon, and to Paul Brennan of the LTDA, whose assistance has been crucial.
WEST HAM UNITED CREST UPDATE
We are delighted to report that that we making progress with having the crest being mounted on the outside wall of the old supporters club, behind what was the Southbank / Bobby Moore Stand at Upton Park. This is a fantastic location as it will be only a few yards from its original home at the Boleyn Ground and it will stand proud as a fitting reminder of the great West Ham occasions there; and some not so great!
We thank the West Ham United Supporters Club and their present tenants, UK Fitness Club, for permission to display, and for their assistance in bringing this project to a favourable conclusion. UK Fitness Club will be submitting an application for planning permission to allow the installation to take place.
Rubin has now collected the crest from Sanjai’s house, where it had been held in storage. It has been taken to Sean Burke’s workshop where it will be restored to it’s former glory: free of charge.
Sean will be surveying the Upton Park site to prepare for fitting the crest to it’s new home. Sean will undertake this work free of charge, though he will be looking for help if the survey indicates scaffolding is required.
Sean and Rubin join the long list of West Ham fans who have made this possible. Terry Jewel, the Under 5s, Andy Payne (with his considerable donation), Ben & Jason Hayes, Sanjai, Trevor Twohig, West Ham United Supporters Club, UK Fitness Club and all the many West Ham fans who chipped in .. BRAVO! And thank you.
West Ham’s owners had no interest in saving the crest so the West Ham family rallied round and saved it themselves.
The original article about the crest can be found here.
We will let you know when final arrangements are made and hopefully some of you can come along and witness this piece of Hammers history being restored and celebrated.
HAMMERS UNITED VISION
Committee members, again aided by the son of a West Ham supporters’ legend spent huge amounts of time and effort on this.
The Supporter Vision is a blueprint by supporters for supporters.
The Vision is built on six distinct principles with an overarching goal of clearly defining what is important to West Ham United supporters and rebuilding the supporter experience at the club.
This will serve Hammers United, all West Ham United supporters and the club itself.
The six principles that have been defined are:
Responsibility and Trust
Identity and Heritage
Stadium and Experience
Community and Supporters
Service and Loyalty
Engagement and Communication
Hammers United members and other West Ham United supporters wanted to see these areas of importance represented and explained in their Vision.
The vision explains in detail what our objectives are and underpins everything we do.
At the point, I must thank Ann Harris at the Plaistow Community Centre for agreeing to host our AGM. We support Ann and all the pubs in Plaistow and Upton Park. They are an important part of West ham’s history and we cannot afford to lose them.
(www.hammersunited.com/plaistow-pubs-use-em-or-lose-em/)
I thank Doc, our legal advisor, Lee our Membership Secretary, and all our Committee Members for their support and efforts on behalf of the membership.
Also due for thanks are ‘friends’ of Hammers United who support us behind the scenes. Thanks also to Kevin Barke, Joe Cowley, Amanda Jacks, Gary Marling, Andy Payne, Phil Stringfellow and Mark Telling who all served on the committee and continue to help whenever they can. A very special thanks to Tross, who worked tirelessly as Secretary, putting in hundreds of hours and who I leaned on as consigliere. Tross was pivotal in creating the new ISC and in organising our successful march. He has had to move on due to work commitments but continues to help out and will be at the AGM - buying the drinks!
June 4 2020 saw the passing of our Committee Member Dennis Lepine. Was there ever a finer man –or a better Hammer?
(www.hammersunited.com/goodbye-and-god-bless-dennis-lepine/)
God bless you Den, tell Bobby to get the beers in.
We now have Joint Secretaries Andy Byrne and Andy McConnell leading, and putting huge amounts of time in on our behalf.
Hammers United is in good shape. Our struggle for a better West Ham was never going to be easy, so we redouble our efforts. In the words of one of England’s most famous ‘Once more unto the breach dear friends’, or in more modern language ‘Stand yer ground West Ham’.
Friends and fellow Hammers. It is my privilege to present this annual report to our members. Without you, Hammers United is nothing.
Onwards and Upwards, Come on You Irons
and…
LONG LIVE WEST HAM.
Paul Colborne (Bubbles)
Chairman
