Attendances down

[wils]

West Ham v Chelsea would normally be sold out. Had a look online and there are loads of tickets available. I noticed earlier games this season had big gaps in the crowds. I put it down to people still being on holiday. Clearly not the case tomorrow.

What's behind the fall? Prices? Performances? Old geezers dying off?

[Fat, Bald n 50]

We just used to go in the Duke Of Edinburgh and wait for the queue to go down.  

[Mad Dog]

On way back yesterday loads just went through the site anyway as there was a gap.  But we had to climb a fence as there was no gap to get out

[62Hammer]

Only 100ft of greenway is shut.  There is a way round (takes an extra 7 minutes).

did it yesterday 

Go under greenway, turn left into pond road and follow it round, the. Past Abbey road dlr and back onto greenway

 

 

Thanks. I'll give it a go.

[Mad Dog]

Only 100ft of greenway is shut.  There is a way round (takes an extra 7 minutes).

did it yesterday 

Go under greenway, turn left into pond road and follow it round, the. Past Abbey road dlr and back onto greenway

[Gary Strodders shank]

I  was on my own yesterday and  couldn't be arsed with the stop / go boards so went out other way and ended up walking all the way back to Liverpool street taking in Victoria park along the way.

NIght games particularly are a nightmare for me getting back to Stratford for the tube so might go to Hackney Wick station in future.
 

[Fauxstralian]

Didn’t see any laughing as I made my way out through the Stop Go cunts
Most looked frustrated & exasperated at the shit show they’d endured

[62Hammer]

Coming away from a game we've just lost 0-3, seeing a sea of half and half scarves and most people laughing and seemingly unbothered is what depresses me. (And I can't use The Greenway now for 18 months so have to negotiate the crowds and the stewards with their stop/go poles).

[billywhitehorse]

I'm thinking about knocking it on the head as well because of the costs.

Stretch limo from Sandbanks £5,000
A few drinks and a bite to eat in a Michelin starred restaurant £800
A few bets £10,000
Charlie for the day £1,000
Ticket £75
Popcorn £5

Maybe I'll just lay off the popcorn instead.







 

[wils]

That is the crux of it. The souless bowl is like a morgue most of the time as half that go aren't real fans and the other half show no pride or passion. It's all so sanitised, twee and middle class now. Like going to watch a game of tennis at Wimbledon.

Not sure the stadium is solely to blame for that. Most grounds are ‘sing when you’re winning’ mentally now. People turn up expecting the fans to entertain them and don’t see themselves as supporters with a part to play in the game. There has been some good atmospheres when we have played well and game has been enjoyable to watch. When it’s not, like yesterday, then it’s dreadful. Like a shopping a centre. 

Also, I should add that when I took my now wife to her first game at Upton Park 20 years ago we sat in the west stand. There were tourists sitting around us then with their SLR cameras. If we stayed at Upton Park we would still have some of these problems. Maybe a lesser extent but my point is the stadium is not the cause. 

But another factor is the aging demographic. When we were young, bunches of mates who grew up in West Ham areas would meet up at games. You would see people you knew from work or school at the games. With the white cockneys spread out around Essex there is no culture or zeitgeist for the fans to tap into and the fan culture has fossilised. Going to West Ham feels like a memorial to what once was. 

I find it thoroughly depressing most of the time now, and only still go to support the team with my son, as it's one of our father/ son things.

I would go less if it wasn’t for this, too. Both of us would prefer the away days but so difficult to get tickets. 

 

[Come On You Irons]

The place is soulless sanitised  bowl not fit for watching football and full of new age fans and tourists.
Americans with a guide waiting to be picked up by coach at the back of block A yesterday and talking about the soccer.

​​​​​​With ten minutes to go the ground was more than half empty.

A woeful performance on the pitch but there was no real anger or outrage bar the booing at the end by those that remained.

In the eighties and nineties the players and managers would of got dogs abuse for a non performance against  Chelsea but very few around me seen that animated or even bothered anymore.
​​​​​​
A changing fan base as time evolves and most of the passion pride and humour had gone out of it.

Popcorn and foot long chilli dogs FFS 










 

Good post mate, and 100% agree with the sentiment. Especially this "A changing fan base as time evolves and most of the pride and humour had gone out of it"

That is the crux of it. The souless bowl is like a morgue most of the time as half that go aren't real fans and the other half show no pride or passion. It's all so sanitised, twee and middle class now. Like going to watch a game of tennis at Wimbledon.

I find it thoroughly depressing most of the time now, and only still go to support the team with my son, as it's one of our father/ son things.

Palace "ultras" get a lot of stick, but at least they make some noise and get behind their team. Our 'fans' just sit in silence most of the time. It's pathetic.

[Gary Strodders shank]

The place is soulless sanitised  bowl not fit for watching football and full of new age fans and tourists.
Americans with a guide waiting to be picked up by coach at the back of block A yesterday and talking about the soccer.

​​​​​​With ten minutes to go the ground was more than half empty.

A woeful performance on the pitch but there was no real anger or outrage bar the booing at the end by those that remained.

In the eighties and nineties the players and managers would of got dogs abuse for a non performance against  Chelsea but very few around me seen that animated or even bothered anymore.
​​​​​​
A changing fan base as time evolves and most of the passion pride and humour had gone out of it.

Popcorn and foot long chilli dogs FFS 









 

[El Scorchio]

The queues were fucking dreadful at security and the turnstiles today. 

[On The Ball]

Maybe I'm lucky but I never suffer problems getting in. We arrived about 15 minutes before kick off today (one of our group got held up so we were late) and still got in just about on time.

And since the move I've been caught twice by stop/go - which everyone was caught by multiple times every game (if you left via UP station) at UP whether you got it or not.

I don't get how some people struggle so much.

[wils]

West Ham v Chelsea would normally be sold out. Had a look online and there are loads of tickets available. I noticed earlier games this season had big gaps in the crowds. I put it down to people still being on holiday. Clearly not the case tomorrow.

What's behind the fall? Prices? Performances? Old geezers dying off?

Yes. The long, tedious queues to get in the ground and back on the tube after are further wonderful aspects of our glorious athletics stadium.

To be fair, the queue to get into Upton Park tube after a game were more than tedious. Tedious is is an upgrade on that experience.

What gets me is the compliance of the crowds when they turn them to 'stop'. Every time I see the crowd obeying them I think how much we've changed.

Hopefully the new owners after we get relegated this year will redevelop the whole ground.

[Come On You Irons]

West Ham v Chelsea would normally be sold out. Had a look online and there are loads of tickets available. I noticed earlier games this season had big gaps in the crowds. I put it down to people still being on holiday. Clearly not the case tomorrow.

What's behind the fall? Prices? Performances? Old geezers dying off?

Yes. The long, tedious queues to get in the ground and back on the tube after are further wonderful aspects of our glorious athletics stadium.

[RootsRadical]

Went today. Another issue for me apart from the cost is the ball ache of getting in & out of the ground.
Took about half an hour from arriving at the back of the security check que to getting to my seat after then having to qué to get through the turnstiles.
Then you have another half an hour walk back through the stop / go signs to get to Stratford station.
 

[Come On You Irons]

For me it would be:
£75 ticket
£45 travel
£40 beers and a bite to eat
Thats £160 not including anything else, I cannot justify that, not when I have other priorities. It's a sorry state of affairs but I won't dish out that sort of bread for a few hours - I can afford it, I just choose not to pay it

Jeez 160 quid, that goes a long way in Sainsbury's. Couple that with we normally get played off the park and we have the worst football stadium in the country, maybe some are beginning to smell the coffee one sugar.

Yeah. Just like today. I don't know why I still bother sometimes. Fork out all that dough to watch that shit, be surrounded by day trippers and hear Chelsea take the absolute piss for 90 minutes while we all sit in silence. Cheers 'loser Lop'.

[El Scorchio]

My Man City tickets while I was on holiday didn’t sell, which surprised me. They usually do pretty quickly if I ever put them up. 

[only1billybonds]

£160 sounds about right, especially if, like me you live outside London. And like Manny says, half the time that money is being spent on watching some complete dross and going home with the right ump. I've done over 55 years following them all over the place and in all honesty, I'm now at the point where I'd rather spend the time and money with my grandkids.

[Manuel]

For me it would be:
£75 ticket
£45 travel
£40 beers and a bite to eat
Thats £160 not including anything else, I cannot justify that, not when I have other priorities. It's a sorry state of affairs but I won't dish out that sort of bread for a few hours - I can afford it, I just choose not to pay it

Jeez 160 quid, that goes a long way in Sainsbury's. Couple that with we normally get played off the park and we have the worst football stadium in the country, maybe some are beginning to smell the coffee one sugar.

[RM10]

It's all a bit boring, people ain't bothered. 

[On The Ball]

If they're available on the exchange then it's sold out - what's available is people reselling.

[wils]

For me it would be:
£75 ticket
£45 travel
£40 beers and a bite to eat
Thats £160 not including anything else, I cannot justify that, not when I have other priorities. It's a sorry state of affairs but I won't dish out that sort of bread for a few hours - I can afford it, I just choose not to pay it

I can sympathise with this. I was only going to a few games with my son at one point but prices were so stupid I actually bought our season tickets to keep costs down. I go to more games now but I still recoup some of the money by selling it for the ones I don't so paying the same as we were but for more games. Luckily the travel for us is negligible.

But the drop off and gaps in the crowd is really noticeable this season. Noticing it looking at other stadiums on TV too.

[side effect]

When I was a season ticket holder I gave my ticket away for Liverpool manu ad chelsea because I couldn't bear to be in the same ground with the sudden onset of new age fans who know little of their clubs history.

[kylay]

I shudder to think what the 2026 world cup ticket prices will be. For copa america over the summer, I had early access to tickets for the opening game (ARG v. CAN). Was looking to get a ticket for my brother and myself. A few rows from the back were going for about $300 plus another $100 in garbage fees per ticket. So $800 all in. This was also a 78k capacity stadium much more cavernous then a proper football ground. I just couldn't do it on principle. In the states, we have "surge/dynamic pricing" which basically means the venue or ticket agent can charge as much as they want depending on demand. That's not the secondary ticket market, which is also a massive problem, but the box office.