A new era of supporter governance
The West Ham United Fan Advisory Board (FAB) was established in line with the Football Governance Act of 2025 to provide structured, senior-level supporter input into how the Club is run off the pitch. Crucially, it was established to ensure that supporter experience isn’t treated as a “nice to have” when the pressure is on elsewhere.
Since the FAB’s formation, we have worked to move the conversation beyond sentiment and into measurable commitments: clear timelines, named owners, and simple questions that can be answered with a “yes” or a “no”. A core achievement to date has been creating a more disciplined, evidence-led agenda. Supporters have never been short of passion; what’s often been missing is a mechanism that compels clarity.
The FAB has pushed hard to define what “transparency” actually means in practice: what information will be shared, when, by whom, and in what format. That approach has shaped the way we’ve framed our engagement with the Club, including insisting on binary questions where appropriate, because the easiest way to avoid accountability is to hide behind warm words, process, or perpetual review.
The gap between sold tickets and actual attendance
One area where this has mattered is attendance reporting. Using information obtained through formal channels, we’ve highlighted the growing gap between tickets sold and people actually entering through the turnstiles across multiple fixtures. This is not about point-scoring; it’s about a real operational and reputational issue. When a stadium looks and feels emptier than the headline numbers suggest, it affects atmosphere, matchday experience, and the credibility of the Club’s communications.
The FAB has pressed for a straightforward commitment: that the Club should publish actual attendances, not simply tickets sold, so the conversation can be honest and solutions can be targeted.
Concessions and the Ticket Exchange friction
Ticketing and supporter value have remained at the centre of our work. The FAB has consistently raised practical barriers that supporters experience. There’s the friction in the Ticket Exchange process, lack of genuine cash refunds instead saddling season ticket holders with highly restrictive and unfair so called ‘Club Cash’ – West Ham being only one of two Premier League Clubs who insist on not offering season ticket holders a cash refund on tickets resold.
And then there’s the resulting disincentive to release seats back into the system. These issues don’t just inconvenience fans – they compound the very attendance gap the Club then struggles to explain. We have also pushed on wider pricing policy and fairness, including the logic and consequences of concessions removals and changes, and the broader question supporters keep asking: is the Club treating loyalty as an asset to be respected, or a revenue stream to be maximised?
Building a West Ham home at the London Stadium
Another concrete contribution has been to focus on the matchday experience as a system – not a series of isolated complaints. Supporter surveys run by supporters for supporters have given clear evidence of the changes needed inside the stadium. Why is there no safe standing for home fans throughout the stadium?
Furthermore, supporters have advocated for like-minded supporter areas to improve atmosphere and belonging, such as actual home ends, family areas and neutral/corporate areas, and ensuring that accessibility and inclusion are treated as fundamental design requirements rather than afterthoughts. These are not “culture” issues in the abstract; they are operational choices that shape whether the London Stadium feels like West Ham’s home or a venue that happens to host West Ham.
Navigating governance and the £100m loss
Governance has been a major thread of FAB activity, because it underpins everything else. We have asked the Club to set out its governance and leadership structure and to present its strategic vision in a way that supporters can understand. Not because supporters want to run the Club, but because supporters live with the consequences of weak governance: inconsistent decisions, poor communication, and a sense that accountability is always deferred.
When the Club’s direction is unclear, it’s not just the FAB that feels it – the fanbase feels and sees it in the stands, and the wider football world sees it online and in the media. Linked to governance is financial transparency. In recent months, the FAB has sought a direct briefing with the Club’s CFO to understand the financial position given that the most recent financial results have been held back.
The chairman himself has made it public that the Club is set to lose £100m last year. He has also inferred lack of investment in players in the summer with a potential breach of PSR. This will ensure supporters aren’t left reading between the lines of accounts with no context. Where there have been public questions – including around PSR/SCR risk – we have pushed for a written summary and risk register. This isn’t about creating headlines; it’s about ensuring the Club has internal grip, and that supporters aren’t treated as the last to know when issues become too loud to ignore.
Challenges in proactive consultation and continuity
We’ve also had to be candid about process and responsiveness. There have been repeated instances where supporter questions have sat unanswered for long periods, or where meetings have been postponed for reasons that don’t withstand basic scrutiny. When a key meeting is moved “because of the transfer window”, it inevitably raises questions: is the FAB being treated as a priority stakeholder group, or as an optional engagement that can be pushed back whenever inconvenient?
There have been many examples of lack of proactive consultation and communication on the Club’s part with key policy changes that were rolled out at little or no notice. The FAB has made clear – firmly but constructively – that meaningful engagement requires predictable cadence, preparation, and senior attendance.
Addressing staff churn and the road ahead
This brings us to a current and significant challenge: reduced capacity and continuity on the Club side. The departure or reduced availability of key personnel – Catherine Smith and Tara Warren being obvious examples – has created an additional strain. Relationships, context, and momentum matter in supporter engagement. When experienced contacts move on, it is too easy for dialogue to reset, for commitments to be “revisited”, and for unresolved issues to drift.
The FAB recognises that staff changes happen in any organisation, but the effect at present is tangible: fewer established routes to answers, more reliance on interim arrangements, and a greater risk that supporter engagement becomes reactive rather than strategic.
The current FAB priorities
So what is the FAB working on right now? Three things stand out. First, converting open-ended evidenced based advocacy into explicit commitments: dates for governance and strategy presentations, clear routes to financial briefing, and simple “yes/no” answers on key supporter priorities.
Second, fixing the mechanics of matchday participation: Ticket Exchange reforms, attendance reporting, and practical steps to rebuild atmosphere through supporter-led seating approaches. Third, rebuilding the working relationship with the Club amid personnel change, ensuring that supporter engagement isn’t weakened by churn, and that advocacy does not depend on a small number of individuals.
The FAB’s approach remains frank but fair. We understand the pressures on a Premier League club, especially when performance is under scrutiny. But we are also clear that “on-pitch” and “off-pitch” are not separate worlds: decisions about pricing, transparency, and supporter experience shape trust, and trust shapes the environment the team plays in. Our job is not to inflame – it is to insist that West Ham United is run with the respect, competence, and clarity that supporters have earned and deserve.
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