Ahead of Sunday’s final match of the 2020/21 season and the return of 10,000 Season Ticket Holders to London Stadium, West Ham United would like to send a message of sincere thanks to all of our loyal and passionate supporters.
Our performances on the pitch throughout this campaign have been fantastic. David Moyes’ team has played a brand of exciting, attacking football that looks set to see us to one of our highest finishes in the Premier League era. Yet this season has been bittersweet. For all that our team has shown on the pitch, and the huge strides the Club has made off it, there is simply no substitute for having our fans fill the London Stadium.
For those who have been successful in the ballot for the Southampton fixture, we can't wait to welcome you home this coming Sunday.
Your enjoyment and - more importantly - your safety are our top priority. As such, please ensure you have completed all Health forms and carefully read the Government process required for your digital tickets to be sent to you and activated.
The challenges we faced through the pandemic saw everyone connected with the Club rally together once again and more than ever. We have all been reminded of what a powerful force a united football club is, when players, staff and supporters all pull in the same direction. Working together, West Ham United has laid exceptional foundations this season, foundations we will all work together to continue to build upon.
We are proud to have a manager, backroom team and squad of players who are talented, committed, care deeply about the Club, and who we all believe in. Our recruitment team has unearthed several excellent signings who joined a team of committed professionals, all of whom understand what this special football Club represents.
Off the pitch, Season Ticket prices were frozen for 2021/22 across both the men and women’s teams - the second year running for the men’s - in full recognition of the unprecedented times and the impact of the past year. Our incredible fanbase once again responded in a way testament to their unwavering loyalty with record renewals - the highest rate in the Club’s history – again demonstrating such fantastic commitment.
You will have all seen the togetherness of the players on the pitch this season and this unity runs throughout the entire football club.
We’re also proud of the tireless work that our players, staff and fans to support our local community throughout this incredibly difficult time.
Poverty and social inequality is a particular issue in east London and there is no question that the impact of the pandemic has been felt in our community here in the London Borough of Newham. At West Ham we felt compelled to act and throw extra resource and energy behind much of the work we continually carry out. Together with a number of our supporters groups we united to help tackle some of issues which were sadly exacerbated in the wake of Covid-19.
By the end of this year, West Ham United will have invested a total of £28million across our local communities, with the purpose of motivating, inspiring, educating and responding to those most in need during these unprecedented times.
Our Joint-Chairman David Sullivan personally donated over £60,000 in direct response to this, while the Club ramped up its efforts, including doubling our commitment to the Holiday Hunger programme, which will mean £100,000 will be put towards the project by the end of 2021, one which has delivered over 9,000 meals to children of school age who require them outside of term time.
We have continued the strong partnership with the local NHS trusts after initially supporting them through the pandemic, in line with their requirements and supporting for their vital campaigns. Meanwhile, alongside letters from captain Mark Noble, over 3,000 calls have been made by our fantastic Supporter Services team, as well as David Moyes and Declan Rice to our over 70s and vulnerable supporters – with some incredible friendships and bonds formed along the way too.
We are committed to ensuring that West Ham United will be a continual force for good, and an equity leader, championing equality, diversity and inclusion.
While we have missed our supporters greatly, a huge amount of work has gone on off the pitch with fans always at the forefront of our thinking to help improve their enjoyment and overall experience upon their return. These include:
Improvements at London Stadium: Fans will return to see the lower tiers of the Bobby Moore and Sir Trevor Brooking Stands reconfigured. The stands have been brought closer to the pitch and squared-off to improve the overall supporter experience. This was a change that fans requested and the Club has delivered, adding to recent enhancements at the Stadium including the naming of the Billy Bonds Stand in 2019 and introducing more Claret and Blue last year. Safety rails have been also been installed for around 3,000 supporters in the Sir Trevor Brooking Stand upper tier while, for those evening fixtures at London Stadium, a new state-of-the-art LED floodlight system is now in place to further enhance visibility and uniformity for players on the field of play and for our supporters in their seats.
125th Anniversary: Monday 29 June 2020 marked the 125th anniversary of West Ham United’s formation as Thames Ironworks FC by local shipbuilders in 1895. The club launched its commemorative 125th anniversary Umbro home kit and announced the commission of a new statue at the London Stadium, honouring its three most famous sons: Bobby Moore, Sir Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, during their 1965 European Cup Winners’ Cup triumph. The formal name of the statue will be chosen by our supporters, via an online vote. Details of the voting process, along with further updates and announcements on the unveiling of the statue, will appear on whufc.com next week.
Premier League Equality Standard: Earlier this year, West Ham United were awarded with the Premier League’s Equality Standard Advanced level, the highest possible accolade awarded by the Premier League in the EDI space recognising the Club’s ongoing dedication and commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. We are extremely proud of this, and commit to continuing to listen to staff, fans and the industry to always reflect our approach to EDI in all that we do.
A new approach to supporter consultation: In January 2021, in response to supporter feedback, we announced the creation of an Independent Supporters’ Committee (ISC). The ISC has been created following regular dialogue and meetings with the Club and the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA), and its structure and format has been created independently by several West Ham United supporters’ groups. It will form part of a wider structure for supporter engagement which includes our dedicated Supporter Services team, 50-strong Matchday Supporter Liaison team, the Hammers Help Twitter handle @westhamhelp, Hammers Help Centre, Disabled Supporters’ Board, Junior Supporters’ Board, and West Ham Women’s Supporters’ Board, as well as regular surveys, personal communication, points of contact, and the recent addition of the Hammers Hub. The ISC and our supporters have already made a tremendous contribution, providing us with their views on a number of issues during Project Restart, the proposed formation of the ESL to take back to the Premier League and advising on the plans for the much-awaited return of supporters. We are all excited at the opportunities that lie ahead for the Club and the ISC to work together to drive forward a constructive agenda that will benefit all Hammers supporters and their matchday experience.
It has been a tough yet superb season and everyone connected with the Club has faced its challenges together. We are slowly getting closer to returning to some semblance of normality and we couldn’t be prouder of how our entire Club, supporters and community have been united throughout.
There is a fantastic feeling of unity and positivity around the Club, and we are looking forward with immense excitement to what the future will bring, starting with welcoming back 10,000 Season Ticket holders to our final Premier League home game of the season against Southampton on Sunday.
This is the first step to all of us getting back to where we want to be, which is filling the London Stadium with a roaring 60,000 crowd from next season.
Thank you, as ever, for your fantastic support.
We are West Ham. United.