I feel awful admitting this, but I’m getting so disillusioned with the current state of West Ham that I just had serious hesitations about buying a ticket for the home leg of the Capital One Cup against the ‘Stars of Manchester City.’ We’re talking serious ‘to be or not to be’ dilemma about buying a ticket for a home game—and I’m not proud of that.
This isn’t like me. I’m the supporter who took a train all the way to Cardiff City for the Play-off final just to watch the game on TV. I’ve had a season ticket for eight years, and in the year I missed getting one (having been in America at the start of the season) I was on the phone to the ticket office as soon as every home game went on sale to members. I go to some away games when I can afford it, and all home cup games – and I feel like that makes me a pretty decent supporter, at least in financial terms.
Then the Manchester City home leg of the cup came up—where adult tickets are ranging from £32- £49 for season ticket holders, and from £42 for non-season ticket holders.
Now, I know that financially speaking, we need some money. We have to buy well in the transfer window, and the bandages that we need to keep applying to our extensive list of injured players aren’t going to pay for themselves.
However, given our current depressive mind-set and difficulty in not just taking the lead, but also then defending it, is charging loyal fans £45 for a—how do I put this diplomatically –presumably ‘difficult’ game the best way to get the ground packed for the Capitol One Cup Semi-final? Especially when considering that the cup really can’t be a big priority, given that we are but one bad roll of the Allar-dice in the transfer window away from relegation.
The only good thing about our club right now are the fans— the ones who kept singing bubbles while we were 2-1 down at Fulham; the ones who still pack the Boleyn even given how we are currently playing; the ones who bought season tickets this year and have seen all of two wins for their money.
We need that ground packed for the semi-final. We desperately need a strong positive atmosphere to send our players into the game—but asking supporters to spend that kind of money on a tough-to-win game is not the best idea, and will deter a lot of people from attending.
What should supporters do in this position? Not go? A low game attendance would send a strong message to the board, but is unhelpful for the players on the pitch and will do nothing for their already (understandably) low morale. I don’t want to pay £45 to watch a team that just lay down to play dead against Fulham, and I personally think Kevin Nolan should be paying me to have to look at him at the moment, but yet I ended up buying a ticket regardless.
I can’t tell you who I’m more disappointed in— West Ham for charging that fee, or me for sheepishly paying it— but I said “West Ham till I die” and I meant it. So even though my finances are on a level with how bad West Ham’s are, I’ll be there at the home leg—but I’m not going to be happy about it.
Will you be at either of the Man City games? Will they be worth the admission fee? Is it more important to send a message to the board, or support the players on the pitch in that moment? Let us know below.
I’ll be there but having bought a ticket if they then do cut price tickets or offer tickets for a fiver to various religous places of worship then I really, really will not be happy.It has nothing to do with me parting with my hard earned cash but more an issue of loyalty, my son and I are forever loyal, patient and suffering with West Ham but for a supposed ‘working class, good old east end boys’ club where is the empathy from it’s owners.The truth is that there is no empathy and as time progresses there is very little respect for the very people who sre the heart and soul of the club I love- the real fans.
show us entertainment and we will pay the money thankfully we all have a choice with this bill
give every fan that had to watch that shower of **** at fulham a freebie thats the least they could do.
It was always going to be the case that as soon as we drew a big club prices would go back to normal. It would have been a master stroke for the Two Dave’s to say “No, we’re not going to screw you over, we’ll keep tickets at £20 for this game too”. But it was never going to happen. They will screw us because they can. I will forever be grateful that they saved us from going under but they don’t half throw our loyalty back in our faces sometimes.
I just checked Man City prices at the Etihad and they start at £25 (on general sale). I make that 42% cheaper than the general sale price at home at £42.
Spot on Darren, £25-30 for a ticket at city. West Ham want £38 just for the coach journey, not being funny but but that’s 2 grand for every full coach. Thought the board might try to give the fans something back by subsiding the travel with Nolans fine! That might show some appreciation and understanding of the dissatisfaction we’re all feeling at the minute.
Our owners at City have to be the best in the prem. They not only provide some of he cheapest season tickets in the league, but are spending a HUGE amount on our new academy and training facilities. There are usually good deals on too for cup games.
Man City ruining football since 2008. (-:
Having been to Old Trafford and Craven Cottage recently I’ve been disappointed to say the least with the appreciation of the support from the players and particularly management. To get back from Old Trafford long after JT had got on the lash in Brentwood and not even get acknowledged by BFS at the final whistle is hard to take given the level of support on the day. Similarly no acknowledgement at Craven Cottage that we were even there. I know he was getting stick from some but it’s not all and a bit of appreciation goes a long way to generate a we’re all in this together mentality.
It’s £25 and a £5 for kids at the Etihad for this game. I am saddened for the west ham fans that their board charge that amount.
I have been a Season Ticket Holder foe many years and it grieves to say. I AM NOT going to the Home or away game. Surely it is better to have a packed Stadium than try and get more money out of us. THANK YOU MRS BRADY. We do not all earn what you do. So no for me i will be watching at home. GREEDY PEOPLE
This is the same team that went to Anfield last year and came away with a point. Brendan Rogers paid us huge compliments in saying that we were a good strong honest team & were well worth our point. We went to old Trafford and only just got done 1-0 when a fluky deflection went in after Collins tried to block a Van Persie shot. Man Utd were relieved when the final whistle went as we were on the ascendancy and were looking like equalizing. When interviewed after the match, the Man Utd players were relieved to have won and said geez West ham have got some big strong lads in their team, especially in defense. Well this season & if we do get relegated, I feel that it will be because other teams have had enough of our big strong defense and have decided to literally try and smash us down. We literally could be kicked out of the Premier League due to the changing nature of the game, which seems to rely more on sheer brute force now, than skill, like it used to. West Ham have tried to play it honest and I am not in any way condoning Kevin Nolan for what he has done, but at the same time I can understand the lad’s frustration, and some of the shite that we have had to put up with this season has probably got to the boiling stage with some of our players. I’m talking about Mark Noble’s unfair dismissal against Everton when we were cruising to 2-1 win. Mark gets sent off, Baines scores & then Lukaku half kills himself to score Everton’s winner. Before that there was the Pennant free kick when Stoke nicked all 3 points against us, the Robbie Brady dive that won a penalty for Hull that also nicked 3 points from us as well because of a Hull player elbowing the ball out of touch in his own penalty area, meaning it should’ve been West Ham winning the 3 points and not Hull, and before the Stoke game, with just the 2nd game of the season at Newcastle, we lost 2 points when James Collins blazed over an open goal centrally from only 6 yards. He missed a sitter, so all up there are about 10 points lost there that West ham should have had marked up for us, which would have put us on 25 pts and not the measly 15 pts that we have. For all of the effort and good performances that West ham have put in so far, they deserve more than 15 pts, and now with all the injuries West ham are getting, it almost seems as if teams have decided to just kick straight through us and kick our strength of defense out of the way. In regards people saying West Ham’s season tickets are not worth the money, I would agree that West Ham do not have enough depth of squad and that more money needs to be spent on signing more players, giving West Ham more depth so that they can ride out an injury crisis, and give fans more value for their money. I mean geez; I don’t blame the fans for being upset when all’s they have seen at home so far are 2 lousy wins. Man City have won every home game so far and reports say that their season tickets are priced as low as £275. Man City must have fantastic sponsorship deals in place to be able to afford to sell ticket prices at those prices, so maybe that’s just the way it is lads. West Ham are not always the flavor of the month with a lot of would be sponsors, so with a possible lack of sponsorship, the club has to rely more on its own fans funding through ticket sales than what other clubs have to. On another note, I cannot understand Johnny Heitinga in not wanting to come to West Ham, when he has been dropped from the Netherland’s national team ahead of the world cup in Brazil, because he hasn’t played a game for Everton all season, that’s his gamble in snubbing us because if he doesn’t get interest from anyone else he’s lost, so we’ll see if he decided right, and West ham don’t like being snubbed, so he can suit himself. This is almost the same team that got a top 10 finish last year, and if it wasn’t for our injuries we be in 10th place again, even with the injuries and with the points not going against us as previously mentioned against Newcastle, Stoke, Everton, Hull & Norwich, well there’s about 12 pts that we were unjustly denied that would have had us sitting in 10th or even in Southampton’s position of 9th even with all of the injuries we’ve had, and we all know that we held the Saints to a 0-0 draw at their ground, so we are as good as the best of them. The lads are not losing points like this on purpose. They need our support now, more than they have ever needed it before, and bye the way, I am absolutely honoured and proud to be a West ham fan & proud to be amongst you all. We will surge again lads. Believe and we will climb the table again and yes, we will get our money’s worth, and no, I am not being paid for saying this. C’mon you Irons!
I’m sorry but all clubs get bad luck in decisions, the ball falls for the opposing team and all get injuries (although we have been very unlucky there). We have been losing predominantly for three reasons – August window errors, tactics and commitment. The pigheadedness of the manager is astounding in who he plays and also his blame diversion. I said West Brom then Fulham were crunch games and Sam failed. The David’s backing their manager is admirable but let’s hope it’s not a Grant repeat. I hope you’re right about us coming back. But this season now has a familiar air to it like our two most recent relegations. Too good to go down but not getting the results. Standing in the rain last Saturday at Fulham may view reversed – relegation probable, survival a big bonus. I hope I’m wrong. All depends on action in the window now.
When I bought the Man City home ticket I also couldn’t believe the price. Weds night game on a second leg where we might already be in a bad starting position. We need a full house. Unless we get a good result at the Eithiad, the support at the second leg may be an embarrassment. I’m not critical of my season ticket price at £700 and my lad’s at a ton. But the football this season had been, in the main, very poor.
I completely understand Heitinga’s decision. Any players we buy in the window will almost certainly require BA-style relegation exit clauses. If you take away the emotions, it’s plain to see we are in serious relegation danger. Again. How did we get here again. No decent striker at start of the season.
This is the same team that went to Anfield last year and came away with a point. Brendan Rogers paid us huge compliments in saying that we were a good strong honest team & were well worth our point. We went to old Trafford and only just got done 1-0 when a fluky deflection went in after Collins tried to block a Van Persie shot. Man Utd were relieved when the final whistle went as we were on the ascendancy and were looking like equalizing. When interviewed after the match, the Man Utd players were relieved to have won and said geez West ham have got some big strong lads in their team, especially in defense. Well this season & if we do get relegated, I feel that it will be because other teams have had enough of our big strong defense and have decided to literally try and smash us down. We literally could be kicked out of the Premier League due to the changing nature of the game, which seems to rely more on sheer brute force now, than skill, like it used to. West Ham have tried to play it honest and I am not in any way condoning Kevin Nolan for what he has done, but at the same time I can understand the lad’s frustration, and some of the rubbish that we have had to put up with this season has probably got to the boiling stage with some of our players. I’m talking about Mark Noble’s unfair dismissal against Everton when we were cruising to 2-1 win. Mark gets sent off, Baines scores & then Lukaku half kills himself to score Everton’s winner. Before that there was the Pennant free kick when Stoke nicked all 3 points against us, the Robbie Brady dive that won a penalty for Hull that also nicked 3 points from us as well because of a Hull player elbowing the ball out of touch in his own penalty area, meaning it should’ve been West Ham winning the 3 points and not Hull, and before the Stoke game, with just the 2nd game of the season at Newcastle, we lost 2 points when James Collins blazed over an open goal centrally from only 6 yards. He missed a sitter, so all up there are about 10 points lost there that West ham should have had marked up for us, which would have put us on 25 pts and not the measly 15 pts that we have. For all of the effort and good performances that West ham have put in so far, they deserve more than 15 pts, and now with all the injuries West ham are getting, it almost seems as if teams have decided to just kick straight through us and kick our strength of defense out of the way. In regards people saying West Ham’s season tickets are not worth the money, I would agree that West Ham do not have enough depth of squad and that more money needs to be spent on signing more players, giving West Ham more depth so that they can ride out an injury crisis, and give fans more value for their money. I mean geez; I don’t blame the fans for being upset when all’s they have seen at home so far are 2 lousy wins. Man City have won every home game so far and reports say that their season tickets are priced as low as £275. Man City must have fantastic sponsorship deals in place to be able to afford to sell ticket prices at those prices, so maybe that’s just the way it is lads. West Ham are not always the flavor of the month with a lot of would be sponsors, so with a possible lack of sponsorship, the club has to rely more on its own fans funding through ticket sales than what other clubs have to. On another note, I cannot understand Johnny Heitinga in not wanting to come to West Ham, when he has been dropped from the Netherland’s national team ahead of the world cup in Brazil, because he hasn’t played a game for Everton all season, that’s his gamble in snubbing us because if he doesn’t get interest from anyone else he’s lost, so we’ll see if he decided right, and West ham don’t like being snubbed, so he can suit himself. This is almost the same team that got a top 10 finish last year, and if it wasn’t for our injuries we be in 10th place again, even with the injuries and with the points not going against us as previously mentioned against Newcastle, Stoke, Everton, Hull & Norwich, well there’s about 12 pts that we were unjustly denied that would have had us sitting in 10th or even in Southampton’s position of 9th even with all of the injuries we’ve had, and we all know that we held the Saints to a 0-0 draw at their ground, so we are as good as the best of them. We will surge again lads. Believe and we will climb the table again and yes, we will get our money’s worth, and no, I am not being paid for saying this. C’mon you Irons!
I also want to say that “The lads are not losing points like this on purpose. They need our support now, more than they have ever needed it before, and bye the way, I am absolutely honoured and proud to be a West ham fan & proud to be amongst you all. C’mon you Irons!