West Ham have sparked controversy ahead of their Premier League clash with Brentford by sending a message to supporters announcing extreme action.
West Ham’s actions haven’t gone down well with supporters who have taken to social media to slam the under-fire board.
After just one win from the opening eight games of the season in all competitions, the Hammers are in trouble.
Nuno Espirito Santo has a massive task on his hands to turn West Ham around following the sacking of Graham Potter.
There have been signs of encouragement in Nuno’s first two games and West Ham’s players have been speaking out, almost to a man, to rave about their new boss.
Nuno facing crucial run to save West Ham’s season
After tough back-to-back away games at Everton and Arsenal, the Irons face a run of matches they simply must pick up some wins from.
After the international break, Nuno’s side welcome Brentford to the London Stadium before going to Leeds.
The Hammers also face Burnley before the November international break.
The situation on the pitch comes against the backdrop of a major uprising from the club’s supporters against the owners.
Over 4,000 West Ham fans lined the road leading to the director’s entrance for a protest against the board – particularly David Sullivan and Karren Brady – before the last home game, a defeat to Crystal Palace which proved to be Potter’s last.
Prominent fan group Hammers United have announced a season-long campaign of activism to force the owners to step aside, sell up or make top-to-bottom changes to how the club is run.
Hammers United and other fan groups are planning a boycott of the next home game against Brentford, which is live on Sky Sports.
That match takes place on Monday October 20th – and it is West Ham’s first game after the October break.
West Ham send controversial message to fans ahead of Brentford
Notably, it is also Nuno’s first home game in charge.
It emerged West Ham were willing to leave Potter in post until the October break before appointing Nuno as they didn’t want a new manager to have Everton and Arsenal away as their opening matches.
Cynics believe West Ham were hoping appointing a new manager during the break would all but kill the boycott.
Nuno wanted to take on the challenge, though, hence Potter’s sudden sacking after he had taken a pre-match press conference for the Everton match.
Hammers United have doubled down on the Brentford boycott, insisting it is still going ahead despite it being Nuno’s first game.
Now West Ham have sent a controversial message to fans ahead of Brentford and have taken unprecedented action.
As part of the Hammers United-led Brentford boycott, the fan group is urging supporters not to relist their seat to be resold to someone else on the club’s ticket exchange system.
West Ham give supporters ‘club cash’ when they resell their seat using the exchange system, essentially an e-balance that can only be used on Hammers tickets or merchandise while the club then sell the seat on for cash.
The group wants empty seats on display for the world to see on TV and to hit the board in the pocket too by stopping the owners making more money from the fixture.
Ahead of the game, season ticket holders have received a text message from West Ham personalised with their first names and urging them to relist their tickets if they aren’t attending.
Hammers board take extreme action ahead of protest
“Can’t be there for Brentford? Relist your seat early on Ticket Exchange and let another Hammer take your place under the lights for Nuno’s first home game on Monday 20 October. Earn Club Cash today,” West Ham say in the message alongside a link to the ticket exchange site.
There are still thousands of seats available for the game against the Bees.
Traditionally West Ham have only opened the ticket exchange when a fixture is already sold out.
While that does appear to have changed this season, this is still extreme action from West Ham’s board to try and quell the impact of protest.
Hammers fans have been posting screenshots of the message on social media, slamming the owners and accusing them of plumbing new depths.
At a meeting with unpopular vice-chair Brady last month, West Ham fans demanded action on how the club was run.
In response, instead of promising action to meet those demands, West Ham released a 1,382-word statement largely defending the record of the current owners and board.
