Hammers United Statement - Concessions

The Club has now announced its decision on concessions and ticket price rises for the 25/26 season.

How It All Panned Out

In June 2024, West Ham Fans launched a petition calling on the Club to restore concessions and limit ticket price rises to no more than the prevailing rate of inflation. Hammers United threw its weight behind the petition which quickly gained unanimous support across the fan base, delivering a damning verdict on the Club’s new policies. At the time of writing the petition stands at 22,681!

Hammers United members played a key role in supporting the campaign against inflation-busting ticket price rises and the withdrawal of concessions, with the likes of Paul Colborne, Andy Payne and Andy McConnell putting in thousands of hours between them.

Hammers United also played a key role at the FSA’s AGM, seconding the motions on ticket prices , while Chairman, Paul Colborne, delivered a rousing and inspirational speech to all the delegates, setting the tone for the battle which lay ahead of us all.

But this was not solely a Hammers United campaign - help and support came from across the fan base in an unprecedented reaction to what was seen as the Club’s attack on its youngest, oldest and disabled supporters.

Chris Mills quickly launched the Boycott The Betway Cup campaign which saw fans demonstrate their solidarity, the result of which was the lowest ever turnout for the Club’s pre-season showcase event.

Alex Kirby launched Save Our Concessions, which raised awareness of what was being done by the Club and how fans were campaigning to make the Club see sense.

Former journalist, Terry Messenger, offered his invaluable services to the campaign garnering the support of local and national press, former players and celebrities, and support from 11 local MPs who wrote to the Club questioning its decision and calling for the ticket prices and concessions withdrawal to be reversed.

Andy Payne, Hammers United’s joint-secretary and co-chair of the Fan Advisory Board (FAB), worked tirelessly appearing on podcasts, local and national radio and television, liaising with the FSA, working with fans’ groups from the majority of Premier League clubs, and played a pivotal role in bringing together fans of opposing teams to protest side by side, home and away, in support of each other and the campaign against the ticketing and concessions policies of clubs nationwide - more of this below.

In addition to all of this, the amount of written work relentlessly carried out by so many individuals involved in the campaign which appeared across multiple social media outlets was phenomenal and reached beyond national boundaries, ensuring the message about what was being done to fans, by the very Clubs they support, was unforgivable and had to be stopped.

Hammers United wrote to Vanessa Gold, Daniel Kretinsky and Tripp Smith, and had ongoing correspondence with David Sullivan.

We also marshalled dozens and dozens of fans for a mass leafleting campaign at home games which saw over 20,000 leaflets put into the hands of fans who were otherwise unaware of what the Club was doing.

At home and away games we were there in the blazing sun and the pouring rain and all points in between, side by side with opposing fans under the Stop Exploiting Loyalty banner, and we played a key role in what became known as the Black Bubble Protest which saw hundreds of thousands of black balloons released in football grounds up and down the country.

Most recently, Johnny Kay began posting superb videos critical of the Club’s withdrawal of concessions, which received tens of thousands of views on TikTok and reached a much younger but no less important demographic, many of whom would be directly affected by the Club’s pricing and concessions strategy. Johnny did this despite having worked with the Club on a series of projects and knowing full well that his actions could jeopardise his future relationship with the Club.

All of the above contributed toward the case on behalf of the fans and demonstrates what can be achieved when our brilliant fans get behind a hard working, professionally organised campaign, backed by independent groups who represent their members on the FAB.

But Be in no Doubt About Two Very Important Things:

1 Nobody wants to have to do this.

2 This is only one half of the equation.

The Club itself must be recognised for playing its part on the FAB, for taking on board the views of fans, and working to achieve a satisfactory outcome for the 25/26 season. The benefits will be felt by the fans and the Club, and we can all look forward to an exciting and successful season.

At the end of the day, if West Ham United is to succeed both on and off the pitch, harmony and union between the fans and the custodians of the Club must prevail, and this can only be achieved by meaningful engagement between the Club and fans’ representatives which comes in the form of the FAB.

Therefore it is absolutely crucial that fan engagement is not just a means by which fans can air grievances, rather it is for the Club and the fans to work together across a wide range of issues. The recent announcement on tickets and concessions came about as a result of the FAB working exactly as it should and will be noted by Clubs across the Premier League.

West Ham United should be seen as the example for other clubs to follow, and going forward there is every reason to believe that we can work together on other projects, for example improving the match day experience - proposals for which are already in progress - that will be mutually beneficial to the Club and the fans.

Hammers United will obviously continue its work with the FAB but we are not stopping there. The unprecedented solidarity among fans across the Premier League, which undoubtedly played a major part in our campaign, must and will continue to be built upon. Hammers United will be at the forefront of a nationwide Stop Exploiting Loyalty campaign to ensure fans of all clubs are valued and treated with the respect they deserve.
The work starts now!

Hammers United would like to thank everyone who supported the campaign including, in no particular order:

And most of all we thank the fans of West Ham United, the vast majority of whom actively supported the campaign.

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COYI and Long Live West Ham.

On behalf of Hammers United Committee

Paul Colborne - Chairman Hammers United.