Date: 15 October 2025 Location: Virtual
On 15 October 2025, West Ham United held the first of the FAB sub-group meetings on matchday experience.
Fan Representatives:
Andy Payne, Hammers United and FAB Co-Chair
Alex Kirby, Ironworks Alliance
Cathy Bayford, Disabled Supporters Association
Robina Ahmed, West Ham United Supporters Trust
Sarthak Kumar, Ironworks Alliance and West Ham United Supporters Trust
Club Representatives:
Catherine Smith, Head of Supporter Services and Fan Engagement
Ben Illingworth, Head of Operations
Darryl Morgan, Safety and Operations
Paul Taylor, Director of Brand, Marketing and Digital
Kerry O’Shea, Fan Engagement Lead
Apologies:
Austin Gigg, Junior Supporters Board
Paul Christmas, West Ham United Supporters Club
Agenda:
Welcome and introduction
Vote for Co-Chair / Vice-Chair
Review of supporter led survey results and key asks - including stadium changes to enhance the atmosphere - safe standing/rail seating
Review of fan-led activity and current status
Ingress and egress review
Accessibility lanes
AOB
Vote for Co-Chair and Vice-Chair
Following a vote by Supporter Representatives, Paul Christmas was elected as Co-Chair of the Matchday Experience sub-group in his absence, and Cathy Bayford elected as Vice-Chair. The Club would like to acknowledge their commitment and look forward to continuing to work with them.
Andy Payne agreed to Co-Chair the first meeting in Paul’s absence.
Review of supporter-led survey results and key asks
Supporter Representatives gave some background on the supporter-led survey on matchday experience, which was still open and had received around 9,000 responses. They shared that the view from the survey was that the matchday experience at London Stadium was suboptimal. The suggested improvements fell into two broad categories: infrastructure and people. It was agreed that the purpose of this Matchday Experience sub-group should be to focus on delivering practical improvements to the matchday experience at London Stadium.
Supporter Representatives emphasised strongly that they wished to see railed seating introduced at the stadium, particularly in the areas behind the goals. They noted there was already pockets of standing in the stadium anyway which was against the ground regulations so railed seating would help to manage this. They asked the Club to consider having a plan for the infrastructure of the stadium rather than quick fixes and asked where responsibility lay for infrastructure decisions. The Club agreed that no infrastructure plans would be led by other stakeholders without the Club’s approval.
The Club confirmed that London Stadium was licenced as an all-seater stadium except for a small section for away fans. The Club also noted the risk of safe standing sections ‘spreading’ to other sections which may then have wider impact on fans with accessible seating or who did not wish to stand.
Supporter Representatives acknowledged the need to be mindful of fans with accessibility requirements who would still want to sit near their friends and existing groups. They agreed that not everyone in the stadium wished to stand, but suggested that fans were already self-selecting the areas of the stadium which suited them, and that railed seating would help to signpost these areas and help fans choose the most appropriate area.
The Club suggested that, given there were no plans to introduce railed seating, the group could work to more clearly articulate the different zones in the stadium to help people sit with like-minded fans. The Club acknowledged this had worked well for the pre-season match against Lille OSC where Ironworks Alliance fans had purchased tickets in blocks 145 and 146. It was agreed that any zones would need to be fan-led and defined rather than Club-led but that they could be advertised to fans ahead of the renewal window. Supporter Representatives welcomed the suggestion and agreed the sub-group could work on plans, consult on them and share at a Fan Advisory Board meeting.
Supporter Representatives noted that there had been strong appetite for designated family areas in the survey and that this would be somewhere where the next generation of fans would start coming to matches. There had also been support for ‘neutral’ areas of the stadium in the survey, but representatives considered that people coming to London to watch a Premier League match may want to be among the West Ham fans so this was less clear cut.
Supporter Representatives suggested that the gap between the upper and lower stands was too big and that this had an impact on atmosphere.
The Club also acknowledged there would be Fan Advisory Board representation on future Safety Advisory Group meetings.
Review of fan-led activity and status
Supporter Representatives outlined how Ironworks Alliance had been trying to improve matchday atmosphere at the stadium. Recent activity included purchasing tickets in the Bobby Moore Lower stand and bringing telescopic flags to the Lille OSC pre-season match and holding pre-match concourse meetups. This activity had been well received by fans and had a positive impact on the matchday experience as well as atmosphere in the stands.
The Club agreed that the work with Ironworks Alliance had been positive, with the group having built up trust with matchday safety and operations teams at the Club and Stadium. The Club confirmed it was happy to continue working with Ironworks Alliance and awaited their future plans. The Club also confirmed that it had been speaking to staff at other clubs to learn from best practice in managing fan-led displays.
Supporter Representatives noted that Ironworks Alliance were not planning to run any displays for the foreseeable future but that they would continue with concourse meetups, asking fans to bring scarves and taking advantage of relocation windows to move into the Bobby Moore Lower stand. Supporter Representatives agreed this showed small positive steps being taken towards improving the wider atmosphere.
The Club noted that in the absence of fan-led activity then the Club may run its own displays at particular matches, such as on Remembrance Day. There were no objections from Supporter Representatives on this.
Ingress and egress review including accessible lanes
The Club outlined previous Fan Advisory Board discussions on ingress and egress from the stadium including details of previous audits (which can be viewed here), with the priority being to ensure that all fans arrive safely at the match and get home safely. The Club also reiterated the invitation for one or two members of the Fan Advisory Board to join one of these audits to view the process from an operational perspective.
It was acknowledged that a lot of the delay in leaving the Stadium was linked to the maximum capacity of Stratford Station and that the stop/go boards were intended to prevent any overcrowding. The Club noted that this process was successful at ensuring that there had not been any emergency station closures and that TfL and the station were an important part of the operational team on each matchday. Supporter Representatives noted that there had been discussions at the FAB about asking Westfield to allow supporters to cut through the shopping centre after a match.
The Club said that it had been working with London Stadium to introduce an early bird offer and a new BrewDog outdoor fan zone area to encourage people to arrive earlier at the stadium.
Supporter Representatives suggested that ‘late bird’ offers would be a good idea to keep people at the stadium longer to stagger the crowds on exit. The Club agreed there was a number of ‘late bars’ inside the stadium and that these could be promoted more widely. Supporter Representatives suggested that Ironworks Alliance could be part of these conversations to help build the atmosphere of the late bars, which the Club welcomed.
The Club outlined the purpose of the accessibility lanes, which was to give a route for disabled fans to enter the stadium without joining the main queues. Supporter Representatives acknowledged there was some confusion with these lanes, including for supporters with invisible disabilities and stewards not understanding their purpose. The Club noted that more staff had recently been added to help with this, but agreed to re-brief the stewards. Supporter Representatives agreed to add this to future Disabled Supporters Association agendas, including looking at re-communicating the purpose of the accessible lanes with the wider fanbase and the importance of keeping these clear for disabled fans.
Supporter Representatives raised specific egress issues that disabled fans had been facing, including not being able to get through the barrier to access the shuttle buses. The Club agreed to look at this with the Disabled Supporters Association.
Agreed Actions
Supporter Representatives to look at how to more clearly articulate the different zones in the stadium to help people sit with like-minded fans.
The Club to re-brief stewards on the importance of the accessibility lanes.
Supporter Representatives and the Club to decide how to better communicate the purpose of the accessibility lanes to the fanbase.
The Club to look at ‘late bird’ offers and promotion and to include Ironworks Alliance in these discussions.