by Ciarán O’Donoghue, Newham and East London Socialist Party and West Ham supporter
The West Ham United board has shown little appetite for ending its attack on reduced-price tickets for the young, pensioners, and disabled people.
The campaign to reinstate concessions, led by fan group Hammers United, is still going strong. Members of the Socialist Party have stood alongside Hammers United at many of their protests. 22,000 people at the time of writing have signed a petition calling for an end to inflation-busting ticket price rises and the restoration of concession tickets. The campaign has received support from fan groups of rival clubs who have stood alongside outraged West Ham fans at every home game since the start of the season.
before a game against Wolves in December.
Photo: James Ivens
The club prices its tickets by bands based on their quality. Bands 5 and 6 are the lowest, and offer appalling views where it would be a good idea for a fan to bring binoculars so they can actually see the pitch! Against the big clubs these bands are sometimes discounted while the club charges £70 minimum for tickets with an adequate view. This is quite frankly appalling considering the spiralling cost of living facing working-class fans.
Aside from the ticket price issues, there is the issue of the cost of food and drink at the ground. Fans will find themselves having to pay ridiculous amounts for poor-quality food. On the footballing side of things, the ownership has been criticised by fans constantly for poor decision making as well as misuse of funds, general incompetence, and unfitness to run a football club.
Many fans lament the move from Upton Park, which many believe has robbed the club of its soul and ripped it out of the working-class community by which it was built. The new stadium in Stratford is not built for football and consequently the atmosphere has suffered, as has the general matchday experience which has become sanitised. Many lifelong season ticket holders have decided to stop going to games. These are but some of the many grievances held by fans.
This all paints a picture of a club in turmoil — and it most certainly is. But this story is playing out at clubs all across the country at every level. Clubs like Bury have gone out of existence. Oldham Athletic have sunk from the heights of the Premier League all the way into the National League due to poor ownership. Manchester United are now in the hands of Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos, who have begun to make staff redundant en masse.
Football should be democratically run by the fans – but to achieve this it needs to be taken out of the hands of big business. Control and ownership of clubs should be in the hands of fans, players, staff, and the wider community they serve through democratically elected committees. The current greed and corruption of football under capitalism cannot be allowed to stand — we must fight for socialism and to reclaim the game!
- ‘Reclaim the Game’ — a socialist programme for football by John Reid, new edition coming soon – available from leftbooks.co.uk.