Any West Ham fan will know of the disastrous PR stunt that was man city at home on the 19th of October. First we were asked to pay 52 pounds to come and watch 'city's superstars' as if the reason the upton park faithful turned up on a Saturday 5:30 KO that was also on TV was to see Sergio Aguero and Joe Hart. If that wasn't embarrassing enough the club committed to a policy that can only be describe as positive discrimination. Members of the 'local community' were given seats behind the goal in the Sir Trevor Brooking lower right next to the away supporters. The best seats in the house... For FIVE pounds. Surely after receiving such a brilliant subsidised ticket in these harsh economic times the receivers of these tickets would be grateful and feel a need to get behind the team out of decency for the kind deed West Ham had bestowed upon them. Well in short no, not at all. These local community 'fans' did not even stand for I'm forever blowing bubbles, the clubs beloved anthem, I get that most of the ground sits down during games but the fact that a noticeable section of the crowd did not stand at a time when the rest of the stadium is on its feet and singing it's heart out shows lack of understanding about the culture of the club. To make matters worse there were a few admittedly a small minority who decided to cheer when man city scored. After seeing their team lose quite heavily many West Ham fans were outraged to see this and asked police and stewards to eject them from the ground only to have their demands refused. If that was any other ground in the country they would have been removed. What is more frustrating is that since this scandal has made the press, they have demonized us fans with the 'racist' tagline due to most of the tickets going to members of the Asian community. Anyone who goes west ham know the local area is dominated by the Asians and most people and accept this and have little problem with this. However it is an outrage that certain community groups are given priority and discount over loyal support, and that frankly does not sit well with me. As a season ticket holder in the STBL myself I had never seen anything like it in my seven long years of having that seat. West Ham try to portray themselves as a community club, I get that, but offering 90% discount to people who are clearly not fans of West Ham shows disregard to the West Ham community and the football community as a whole. Where is the subsidised ticket for the dad of two paying over 80 pounds in tickets and sitting in the corner of the Bobby Moore upper? Where is the reward for following your club up and down the country out of love for the team?where is the reward for the season ticket holders of 7 years having to watch relegation battles, 0-0's with stoke, 1-0's with stoke you name it but whatever the result still turning up whatever time sky decide to make us play at and however bad the team is playing? West Ham's board members and PR loons need to take a look at what they mean by community and who they should really be helping. Do they mean the surrounding area? Or do they mean the traditional London working men who have been there through thick and thin that give us a reputation as one of the best fan bases in the country? What we are demanding is that if West Ham's 'community' schemes are to continue, then loyalty must be rewarded. It is a disgrace to fans who paid over fifty pounds and non fans pay 10% of that have better seats. If West Ham want to offer community tickets don't give premium seats for dirt cheap prices to non fans. It is a disgrace that loyalty shown by season ticket holders is never appreciated, the owners may want to point out the fourth year renewal discount however that was brought in by the previous Icelandic owners. Make reward schemes for members, ST holders, and frequent buyers. Reward them for turning up make them what to come back more. I feel the board must address these issues or they may lose their traditional support and have to appeal to a much wider 'community' End the genocide of traditional football supporters.

Links