Away Fans + Day Trippers @ the OS (in the LOWER TIER!!)

[hammers1954]

Don't forget where the away support is scheduled to be located can be directly accessed from the onsite coach parking and a dedicated bridge and route back to Stratford station can be used after the game.

So no reason why supporters of London teams cannot have their own route to and from Stratford station with the minimum of policing needed.

[leveller]

Not that that will happen of course, with away fans likely to be limited to 2700. Still, dont let that fact stop those of you knickerwetting about hordes of away fans in the OS.

According to whom are they going to be limited to 2700? Wouldn't they need special permission for that since the normal minimum is 3000? From a commercial point of view, which is what they will be thinking about, it makes no sense to set limits on away fans in a 54,000 capacity ground.

[Knighter10WHU]

Everton. Allocation. 3,000. Sold out > 110 loyalty points.
Southampton. Allocation 3,120. Sold out to ST holders with 174 or more loyalty points.
Man Utd. Allocation 3,000. Sold out > 90 loyalty points.
QPR. Allocation 1,757. Sold out ST holders with 293 loyalty points.
Sheff Utd. Allocation 5,500. Sold out > 90 loyalty points.
West Brom. Allocation 2,709. Sold out > 115 loyalty points.
Crystal Palace. Allocation 2,861. Sold out ST holders with 165 loyalty points.
Chelsea. Allocation 3,000. Sold out > 129 loyalty points
Villa. Allocation 3,000. Sold out > 109 loyalty points
Arsenal. 2,900. Sold out ST holders > 268 points.

Those figures are quite impressive if accurate.

[Knighter10WHU]

According to whom are they going to be limited to 2700? Wouldn't they need special permission for that since the normal minimum is 3000? From a commercial point of view, which is what they will be thinking about, it makes no sense to set limits on away fans in a 54,000 capacity ground.

According to the planning documents which show a 5% zone. 5% is assumed to be 5% of 54,000 = 2,700. It could however be 5% of the total stadium capacity (including the areas at the top of the upper tier behind the goals which are set to be closed off for West Ham games) so around 3,000?

[gavrosh]

The club have stated that they expect to have 40000 season ticket holders compared to 23000 now, and the 'plus 2' thing is certain going to help them achieve that. With around 4000 tickets going to Newham residents every game, that leaves about 10000 tickets to be sold on the day and to away fans, ie less than currently. Why would the club want to give most of those to the away fans when they know demand will be there from home fans? I'll answer it for you; they wont.

[taffhammer]

40,000 season ticket holders, but currently a ground with an average crowd of 34,000 including floating supporters and away fans.........they would quite happily give a 10,000 away allocation every game in the OS.

[leveller]

According to the planning documents which show a 5% zone. 5% is assumed to be 5% of 54,000 = 2,700. It could however be 5% of the total stadium capacity (including the areas at the top of the upper tier behind the goals which are set to be closed off for West Ham games) so around 3,000?

The planning document itself says "The percentage of seating required for the away supporters will vary from a minimum of 5% for football league, 15% for premier league". Nothing in that document indicates that they will have a 5% restriction for Premier League games. However I'm not actually sure why it says 15% minimum for Premier League since the minimum allocation for the Premier League is 3000 or 10%, whichever is lowest.

Gavrosh, I'd be surprised if it were true since they have struggled to sell out Upton Park for the last season but I may be wrong. In any case there's still a reason why they don't want season ticket holders in that end of the ground and I still suspect that the main reason is having the option of selling extra tickets to away fans. It may or may not be in the first couple of seasons whilst the novelty aspect of a new ground is high, but they probably want to keep the option open.

[gavrosh]

The club would be totally shooting itself in the foot giving away massive away allocations and they know it. They may be business-minded, but theyre not idiots.

[leveller]

The club would be totally shooting itself in the foot giving away massive away allocations and they know it. They may be business-minded, but theyre not idiots.

The practice is relatively common place in grounds that have a lot of empty seats. Wigan used to regularly offer 5,000, and they once gave us half their stadium for a last day of the season Championship game. The old Wimbledon are another club that also used to give us half of Selhust Park, Watford when they were in the Premiership used to give about 5,000 I think. A lot of championship clubs do it, not so many Premiership Clubs but only because they don't have the empty seats.

[gavrosh]

Perhaps its a worst case scenario, but everything I've heard from the club suggests they are confident of filling the place out with West Ham fans.

The moment they start having to rely on large away allocations to fill the ground is the moment that they realise theyve screwed up the move.

[hammers1954]

Really don't get this argument that the club are struggling to sell out the Boelyn. The fact is that the club are at the top or very near the top of the capacity/attendance league by having something like a 99,8% capacity across the season. The Everton is already a sell out (I've had the ticket trader email) as was the Burnley game.

[WestHamIFC]

I've read some very disturbing stuff recently which suggests the club are actually contemplating the accommodation of opposition supporters in the LOWER TIER at the OS!!

This would be mind-bogglingly stupid, even by West Ham standards.

It's well-known that with few exceptions, the Lower Tier tickets, closest to the pitch will be the most highly sought-after. Given that there's apparently only going to be 19,000 Lower Tier seats available, would the club really be so retarded as to not address the home support demand first, before even thinking about away fans??

I'm a Lower Tier STH @ The Boleyn, and this would be the tipping point for me. If I don't get a Lower Tier seat @ the OS, I'm not going at all. It's as simple as that.

Quite apart from anything else, why would you even wish to disadvantage your own team @ home by putting rival fans as close as they possibly can be to the pitchside??

Put your home fans first and for the away support stick 'em in a Corner of the Top Tier, where they can be the least bothersome and effective:

And so it comes to pass.

I'm currently Band 4 Lower Tier Betway Stand (Chav Corner). I have my Reservation Appointment on Tuesday.

They call me this week, and it's revealed that if I wish to add my son as a one of my "+2's", then we will be forced to go into the Upper Tier.

Meanwhile they are giving Lower Tier seats not only to Away Fans, but also a huge allocation of Matchday Ticket Holders and Day Trippers.

Absolutely effiin' fuming!

[AlfieG]

I am sure that this has been mentioned many times in previous threads and people who have been in the stadium will confirm.....

This upper and lower for away fans is due to the design of the stadium.

It has a single (central) walkway that goes completely around the stadium so for proper segregation they have to separate the upper and lower tiers because the away fans come in on the central (turnstile) level.... Just like the rest of us will......

[WestHamIFC]

This upper and lower for away fans is due to the design of the stadium.

They re-designed it to add the world's biggest roof of it's kind. To add re-tractable seating. To completely re-fit and double the size of our current corporate area.

I really don't think re-configuration to ensure that loyal ST holders get first dibs on Lower Tier seats ahead of Away Fans and Day Trippers would have been impossible??

[MD_HM]

Aren't they just limited the plus 2's to ensure that all current lower tier band 4's get a lower tier seat?

They didn't say you could have a lower tier seat did they?

Club can't really win on that front.... There are moans when they allow plus 2's then moans when they limit them!

There were no comparable seats reserved for band 2 appointments, it seems they have learnt from their mistakes to me

Sounds like band 3 and 4 have gone pretty well reading on here, when I went for my band 2 appointment in only the 3rd week of sales there was **** all comparable left as they allowed plus 2's everywhere and didn't match lower for lower or upper for upper like they are now.

[sutts07]

There are not many stadiums in the Premier League that do not give lower tier tickets to an away team and it has been pointed out on many occasions that segregation would be impossible between the upper and lower as they share a concourse.

Feels like people are moaning for the sake of moaning sometimes.

[sutts07]

I'd be surprised if it were true since they have struggled to sell out Upton Park for the last season

What is that based on? We have never struggled to fill our ground. We were getting over 30k week in, week out without fail in the championship (most weeks sold out on the day) and the average was only that low due to some of the away attendances!

We always sell out in the Premier League and our ground is only 1k smaller than Spurs. I really can't understand why people assume we will struggle to fill a 54k stadium yet nothing is said about the Spurs 55k stadium... surely if we will struggle, by the same logic, they will struggle too??

All the nonsense about waiting lists and club members is little more than spin. Both clubs will have no issues in selling out for Premier League games, just as Arsenal and Chelsea do.

[Beavis Danzig]

+2s means you don't get your dream seat is fine by me, how it should've been from the start. give everyone who isn't saving a seat for their friends and family first pick.

[WestHamIFC]

+2s means you don't get your dream seat is fine by me, how it should've been from the start. give everyone who isn't saving a seat for their friends and family first pick.

I agree with that. Season Ticket Holders renewing their own seats should have first dibs.

What I object to is Home Section Day Trippers and Away fans getting priority over the rest of the STHs. My son is now 8 years old, and the right age/maturity to start coming to support West Ham every home game. I just think it's wrong I'm then forced to move to the Upper Tier if I want to get him a Season Ticket, while the club give to entire South Stand Lower Tier to people who don't even own a Season Ticket!!

Even if we focus only on the Day Trippers. Why are they being given Blocks 120, 124,125,127 while loyal season ticket holders are forced upstairs? If those sections are filled with STHs and then I still have to go to Upper Tier, then fair enough I have no argument. But that's simply not the case!:

http://www.claretandhugh.info/wp-content/uploads/OSSeatingplanv6.jpg

[WestHamIFC]

There are not many stadiums in the Premier League that do not give lower tier tickets to an away team and it has been pointed out on many occasions that segregation would be impossible between the upper and lower as they share a concourse.

Feels like people are moaning for the sake of moaning sometimes.

With all due respect given some of the feats of engineering and design converting the stadium post-Olympics, to configure a solution to separate fans on a concourse simply is hardly rates the biggest challenge the stadium designers have faced since 2012 is it? Saying it's "impossible" - really??

It's also disrespectful to say that legitimate concerns shared by a great many loyal STHs "are moaning for the sake of moaning". Please try and have some class.