Three out of four aint bad

Three in four season ticket holders have renewed their seats for the forthcoming Championship season.

With West Ham facing a season in the nation's second flight, season ticket numbers were expected to fall dramatically. However a recent KUMB poll suggests that a whisker over 75 per cent of existing season ticket holders booked their spaces ahead of the club's extended deadline.

With more than 15,000 supporters already signed up, according to a club source, the club are well on course to beat the number of season tickets sold last time United were relegated eight years ago (some 17,000).

However the figure of 24,000 tickets sold for last year's Premier League season is extremely unlikely to be matched barring a late, unexpected clamour for tickets.

It had been feared that a good many of supporters would refrain from renewing this year as a result of a string of discounted tickets offered by the club and agency Viagogo last season. However that particular concern appears to have failed to materialise.