Safe standing could be London Stadium saviour for West Ham after new report

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As tensions reach fever pitch between West Ham United fans and the club’s owners could there be a flicker of light breaking through the dark clouds?

If you are not aware of the unrest amoung Hammers supporters and the growing resentment towards co-owners David Sullivan, David Gold and their vice-chairman Karren Brady you must have been living under a rock.

Bridges have been well and truly burned between terrace and boardroom. Perhaps irreparably so.

West Ham fans are desperate for Sullivan and Gold to sell up.

Recent speculation has suggested there might be interest too (Claret & Hugh).

Fans are the children of a broken home

A major bone of contention at the heart of this miserable forced marriage is West Ham’s home.

On the whole fans – both home and away – cannot stand the London Stadium.

The athletics bowl nature of the stadium simply does not work for a club like West Ham where after 40 years without a major trophy, let’s face it, the supporters ARE the club.

West Ham have had the second most season ticket holders in the country for the last four years – behind only Manchester United.

The club packs out away allocations and sold out in the Championship. There aren’t many football clubs with such a large, fiercely loyal following let alone one that has never won the top tier league title and has not lifted a major trophy for 40 years (sorry Intertoto).

The London Stadium is – very occasionally – capable of a raucaus atmosphere.

Stadium will always be major bone of contention in current state

But the chasm between the stands and the pitch means it will never truly be West Ham’s home, no matter how much claret carpet you chuck down.

The club has announced plans to follow through on proposals to square off the stands behind both goals this summer (whufc.com).

The reality is that will bring a very small section of seats slightly closer to the pitch and nothing more.

However a development on Friday could offer West Ham a glimmer of hope that might transform the stadium experience for football fans.

According to Sky Sports safe standing in stadiums has ‘moved a step closer’ after an interim report found seating areas which incorporate barriers have a “positive impact on spectator safety”.

Could safe standing be London Stadium saviour after new report?

The interim report from the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) found installing barriers in a seated area “mitigated the risk of crowd collapse” (Sky Sports).

The report concludes: “The research is ongoing and we will publish the final report at the end of season. In the meantime, we will work closely with the Government on the implementation of its manifesto commitment to introduce safe standing.”

And that will be of huge interest to West Ham. Co-owner Gold is a big advocate for safe standing and has been involved in the process of trying to add a non-seating section to the London Stadium to help improve atmosphere and ensure like-minded supporters have more choice to stand together.

Back in 2017 West Ham discussed the idea with the same company who installed the Ferco Seating system at Celtic Park, as reported by The Sun.

“I have been speaking with the people who put in the rail seating at Celtic Park,” Gold told The Sun back in 2017.

“I have been an advocate of this for many years and it is something I am working on. We are working on it. I believe in it, we are in touch and we will do everything we can to resolve the issue.”

Safe standing could potenitally transform the atmosphere at the London Stadium and may even mean the club could bring fans closer to the pitch one day.

West Ham have 95 years to run on their 99-year lease. So if nothing else the prospect of safe standing is certainly something positive for supporters to cling on to during a negative period for West Ham.