We have looked into West Ham’s much maligned Season ticket waiting list comparing it to the other London Premier League Clubs.
Most of you will know it costs £10.00 plus £2.00 booking fee to go on the list. This is refunded off the price of season ticket if and when a season ticket is allocated.
West Ham also run a membership scheme whereby Claret Members pay £42.00 each season. The primary benefit of Claret membership is ‘priority’ in buying match tickets. It is completely independent to the Season ticket waiting list.
Let us compare West Ham’s Membership/Season Ticket waiting list to other Premiership London Clubs:-
Arsenal: Red Membership is £34 each season. Season ticket waiting list £12.00 for 3 seasons. This is refunded off the price of a season ticket if and when a season ticket is allocated.
Chelsea: Membership is £28.00 per season. There is no season ticket waiting list. Members build up loyalty points towards applying for a season ticket.
Crystal Palace: No waiting list. On July 22nd season tickets still available to anyone.
Spurs: One Hotspur Membership is £48.00 each season. There is no season ticket waiting list. One Hotspur Membership can be upgraded by £5.00 to £53.00 for One Hotspur plus one membership which places holder on the season ticket waiting list. Members build up loyalty points towards applying for a season ticket.
Watford: Season ticket waiting list is free. It opens in September for 2020/21 season. Membership is also free. Members build up loyalty points towards applying for a season ticket.
It is difficult to compare like for like, also although we have done our best it is difficult to collate this information accurately. One must also factor in that demand at some clubs exceeds that at others, whilst some clubs are considerably more successful than others . We will leave you to weigh up whether West Ham’s fans get a good deal or not in relation to the other London clubs.
The bone of contention is not perhaps so much the price but the quality and indeed the fairness of service West Ham fans receive in return for their money.
Season Ticket holders have been offered extra season tickets, effectively meaning they can get friends and family to bypass those already in the queue. Surely this cannot be fair.
Some who have been in the queue a short while are being offered tickets in front of those who have been on the list much longer. Some, who already have season tickets, are down as still being on the waiting list and being offered tickets and some who have asked to come off the list are nevertheless being offered tickets.
In short, the list is a shambles.
Perhaps the most baffling thing of all to our supporters is that the club seem unable-or unwilling to produce a list of exactly where applicants are on the list.
When researching this we noticed that Spurs supporters have only to enter their membership number to get their position on the list.
Of course supporters have been moaning about this for a long while now. There is no point moaning about it more. What we are all doing is going round in circles as every month or so some bright spark reminds everyone of the problems we already all know about.
What we have to do is challenge the club on this and get them to get their house in order and create an efficient system. Surely this is not too much to ask for. Surely it cannot be difficult.
We will be going into this in more detail and will be writing to the club asking for them to look at this as a matter of priority. We will also be drawing the matter to the attention of the Football Supporters Association.
Thank You.
Hammers United Committee.
