West Ham United fans have not taken to their new London Stadium home.
West Ham are a club in crisis on and off the pitch.
Losing three games on the bounce and conceding 11 goals in the process has seen the Hammers dragged into the thick of the relegation battle.
The 3-0 home defeat to Burnley last time out saw fan unrest come to a head with supporters invading the pitch to protest against the way the club has been run by co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold and vice-chairman Karren Brady.
Homegrown Hammer and captain Mark Noble was seen rugby tackling one of the fans while another took the corner flag and planted it in the centre circle in scenes reminiscent of the Bonds scheme protests back in 1992.
It is all a far cry from what supporters expected when leaving – many reluctantly – their beloved Boleyn Ground home back in 2016.
Supporters are furious over what they feel are a string of broken promises from the board over transfers, ambition, spending and crucially the move to the former Olympic Stadium.
A host of promises were made about what the club would be inheriting at the London Stadium which have not been delivered, chiefly the distance seats are from the pitch and its negative impact it has had on the atmosphere.
Fans want the matchday experience to be improved by making the stadium and surrounding area feel more like West Ham’s home.
West Ham are anchor tenants at the ground on a 99-year lease and the Hammers board have cited the fact LLDC and E20 have a controlling say over the stadium as a hindrance when it comes to making certain improvements.
But speaking to the West Ham United Independent Supporters Association in a meeting following the protests during the Burnley game, Sullivan has revealed for the first time the club has a clause in the stadium deal to make improvements to the ground.
In minutes – which were corroborated by Sullivan in the interests of fairness – sent to members following the meeting on Tuesday (March 20th), Sullivan revealed details of the clause.
“Even at the time of the agreement we did envisage that with the benefit of the platform the Stadium gives us to generate additional revenue over time that increased budget to re-invest would enable us to make some further changes,” the minutes state.
“It is for this reason that our contract has a clause within it around our ability to make improvements and alterations to the Stadium. We are always working with E20 to explore improvements that can be made to enhance the supporter experience.
“Many of the improvements our supporters would like to see also benefit E20 as they benefit all spectator pitch sports. For example we were already exploring some changes to improve some seats behind the goals.
“We have also been pursuing the delivery of changes which will further enhance the look and feel of the Stadium as our home ground along with other improvements, all of which are covered in our contract with our landlord. Their failure to deliver these so far has forced us to pursue a legal route.”
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