Exclusive: West Ham ask for away Boxing Day fixture as local station too busy due to post-Christmas sales
West Ham requested that the Premier League give them an away fixture on Boxing Day because Stratford station could not cope with the combined effect of fans attending a game at the former Olympic Stadium and crowds for the post-Christmas sales at Westfield shopping centre.
It is the latest disadvantage associated with West Ham’s move from Upton Park to the London Stadium last year and it is a problem that is likely to continue with Dec 26 a key trading day for Westfield Stratford.
This year the struggling club have been given an away fixture at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium. When they asked for the same provision last season, their first in the former Olympic Stadium, West Ham supporters were given a trip to Swansea City’s Liberty Stadium, 230 miles away from the club’s new home.
In the past, the Westfield Stratford mall has opened at 8am on the Boxing Day bank holiday and although football fans arriving at the Stratford station are filtered around the shopping centre and across the bridge to the stadium it is not feasible to accommodate sale shoppers and fans. The Premier League has confirmed to Telegraph Sport that West Ham have requested special dispensation to play away on Boxing Day.
It is not uncommon for clubs to make requests that are factored into the Premier League fixture generator software, which usually relates to planned shut-downs of transport networks or competing major events that would make a home fixture difficult. There are also separate agreements with different police forces including one that dictates the two Manchester clubs do not play at home on the same day.
West Ham’s restriction on home games on Boxing Day is likely to further anger supporters who have criticised the poor planning behind the club’s move to their new stadium last year. At the start of this season they began with three consecutive away games, all of which ended in defeat, because the stadium needed time to be converted back to use for football after the athletics World Championships
They began their first season in the new stadium with large numbers of fans having to be reassigned their seats because fights broke out between those wishing to stand and sing, and families whose view of the action was blocked. There was originally no police radio system installed in the stadium which meant that the Metropolitan Police would at first not station officers in the ground unless there was an emergency.
West Ham are tenants in the former Olympic Stadium which is jointly owned by Newham Council and the London Legacy Development Organisation via the company E20 Stadium which is understood to be in financial difficulties.
West Ham have been contacted for comment.
