Nominations for our committee were opened on Thursday 5 August via our website, email and Facebook page. All Hammers United members were eligible to stand for the committee and any current committee member wishing to stand again must be nominated and re-elected.
The following individuals have accepted their nomination to stand for the Hammers United committee for the following year; you can read their election addresses below. Once the committee for the coming year is formally ratified at our AGM on August 28, the Joint Secretaries and Chairman will then be elected from that committee.
George Barnard (Moved by Trevor Twohig and seconded by Paul Colborne)
Roy Blane (Moved by George Barnard and seconded by Lee Rogers)
Andy Byrne (Moved by Paul Colborne and seconded by Sanjai Patel)
Paul Colborne (Moved by Trevor Twohig and seconded by Andy McConnell)
Dan Holder (Moved by Lee Rogers and seconded by Andy Byrne)
Andy McConnell (Moved by Paul Colborne and seconded by Andy Byrne)
Sanjai Patel (Moved by Lee Rogers and seconded by Andy Byrne)
Andy Payne (Moved by Lee Rogers and seconded by George Barnard)
Danny Proctor (Moved by Paul Colborne and seconded by Andy Byrne)
Lee Rogers (Moved by Paul Colborne and seconded by Andy McConnell)
Vinny Ryan (Moved by Andy Byrne and seconded by Paul Colborne)
Trevor Twohig (Moved by George Barnard and seconded by Paul Colborne)
Election addresses
George Barnard
I’d like to stand for a position on the committee of Hammers United as I feel this supporters’ group embodies everything West Ham stands for. I follow West Ham home and away and until getting involved with this group, I felt a huge amount of apathy towards the club due to both on and off the pitch matters. Since I’ve been involved with things, I have loved every second and feel it is heading in the right direction. I believe I can further add to this group in so many different ways. It is run by the fans for the fans. I would love to help get a channel of communication open between our board (current or future owners) and the fans. This for me is the key to getting West Ham together again and united as one. For too long we’ve had a disconnect between the hierarchy of the club and the fans. I also feel I could help grow Hammers United by helping to improve fan engagement which would just take them from strength to strength.
Roy Blane
I feel flattered and honoured to be nominated to stand for the HU Committee. I have enjoyed working with the current committee and have relished the challenge of representing HU on the ticketing sub-committee of the ISC. I feel confident that HU can be the conduit that pulls Hammers fans together so that we have a United Hammers fan base after so many years of change and angst. HU will continue to challenge GSB and be ready to work with a new ownership, whoever and whenever that may occur.
Andy Byrne
It has been absolute pleasure to work with Paul and everyone at Hammers United since being invited to join the committee. I have seen the tireless work that the committee dedicate to representing West Ham supporters and it would be an honour for me to continue to be involved with this group. Paul is a truly remarkable leader whose passion for West Ham and dedication to simply doing right by its fans knows no bounds. If elected, I will continue to do everything I can to support Hammers United as they work towards the aims embodied by him, the committee and the membership as a whole. Come on You Irons!
Paul Colborne
Since founding Hammers United, I have been privileged to serve the membership as both Joint Secretary and Chairman. We now have a vision and a clear mandate and if I am re-elected, I will continue to do my best on behalf of our members, my friends and all West Ham fans. I have always been proud to be a West Ham fan. The pride, passion, loyalty and sense of belonging that extends from the West Ham family continues to drive me on. It may be a long road but we will make things better for West Ham fans… LONG LIVE WEST HAM… GSB OUT.
Dan Holder
I would like to stand for re-election to the Hammers United committee. I would use this opportunity to continue our important work on supporter and community engagement and to ensure a better future for our beloved club. I hope that when we welcome new owners to our club, they will see that working alongside Hammers United will help to rebuild the supporter experience at West Ham.
Andy McConnell
I’ve been on the HU committee since December 2019 and have been Joint Secretary since December 2020. I represent HU on the ISC, I have just taken over as chair of the Ticketing sub-committee and I work on the Sellers sub-committee. I have an excellent working relationship and understanding with my fellow HU committee members. The role of Joint Secretary is very labour intensive and requires the ability to act and react to events at a moment’s notice. I have the experience, the will and the time to do this.
Sanjai Patel
As someone who was only 4 years old the last time WHU won a major trophy, I have long reconciled with the fact that supporting West Ham isn’t about glory and success. So when the away fans sing “You’re not West Ham anymore” and “You sold your soul” at us, it hurts deeply. I’m all for progress but not at the expense of our identity. I want a stadium we can be proud to call our home. If elected, I’ll do everything possible reclaim the real West Ham for our supporters and the generations that follow us.
Andy Payne
126 years ago, West Ham United Football Club was founded. It was forged to represent the local community, bringing pride and achievement to the area down the years. The football club was as much about the fans as it was the place and the players. For me it was, and always will be, family and I am proud to say ‘I am West Ham’. But in recent years we have seen key tenets of our culture, our history and our identity be poorly managed and wholly diminished. As fans we need to mobilise and play our part in rebuilding West Ham United, and Hammers United does exactly this. I want to use my commercial and cultural experience as a democratically elected member of the Hammers United committee and play my part in building a better future for all West Ham United fans, now and in the future.
Danny Proctor
I would like to be part of the HU committee to help us gain our identity back and be the West Ham United I grew up with, we are a family and not customers.
Lee Rogers
I was the second person to join Hammers United after Paul or ‘the bloke with a flag’. I went to my first game at the Boleyn in 1972. I would like to stand to continue to try and improve things for all West Ham fans. I could talk about West Ham for ever! You can read the story of my family and our history of watching West Ham here.
Vinny Ryan
I would be keen to stand as a committee member as I believe I can bring a different perspective and engage with the issues at hand. The Hammers United ethos and goals are very much aligned with mine and like all the other members I am passionate about the club and wish to help in anyway, to make it the club that we all hope it can be. I believe I am forward looking but without respect to our past we have nothing.
Trevor Twohig
This year I was pleased to work on a variety of campaigns, most notably highlighting the failures of Karren Brady and bringing home the Boleyn Ground crest. I also have run the HU Instagram page. I would be delighted to stand again as I believe that there is still a great amount of work to be done if we are to restore our great football club to its former glory.
