In a quite shameless attempt at 'nudging' season ticket holders towards NOT seeking refunds, the Hammers hierarchy via their 'unofficial' web portal have championed the benefit of leaving the monies due as refunds with the club to 'help it through the bad times'.
In an article posted on the 3rd of June the subterfuge goes........."Irons season ticket refund now? Not for me, the club has made it clear (sic) there are two options available on monies owed to season ticket holders with 5/19ths being repayable via a refund or by leaving it in our accounts to be deducted off the next full season. Given this was money I never expected to receive when I bought my season ticket I’ll be leaving the outstanding dough where it is and if that helps the club fair enough." Painfully, like a little child who has lied but then digs themselves deeper by more lies in the hope of not being found out, the 'article' continues with, "This isn’t about supporting Gold and Sullivan but the club and in the current circumstances I find it hard to see an alternative. I just feel It would be hypocritical to have asked others to do what I’m not prepared to do myself which in two words amounts to “HELP OUT.” Cash flow is important in these times and I don’t see any point in asking for a refund when it can be used for the next full season anyway.
Strangely enough, most Hammers fans love the club, it is in their blood and of course they want to see the club survive and heaven help even prosper, they do not need to be led like sheep and are perfectly capable of making the correct decisions without the 'voice of big brother' telling them what to do. The general consensus is that fans will be glad to leave their remaining monies with the club, it is just a pity that the club's powers that be felt it was necessary to sink to such propaganda supposedly generated by fans in order to achieve that which was already attainable, what will be of much more relevance will be what the plans are for the 'next' season with regards to season ticket renewals.
By electing to leave their money with the club, season ticket holders will be helping out, and most will do so willingly, however the Elephant in the room is match day attendance. Unless a miraculous cure for Covid-19 can suddenly be rolled out, football, or at least the live viewing of it as we knew it, will have changed completely and inexorably for potentially years. It is a point we have raised before, but why would anyone want to pay a year's season ticket to NOT be able to attend games? It makes absolutely no sense, the only compensation, although it is a case of schadenfreude is that Hammers will be hit less hard than others by the loss of match day revenue, and also despite having around 55,000 season ticket holders, the income derived is a fraction of that once received by other clubs.
Hammers' season ticket base comprises of around 14% Under 16's, 24% Under 18's and 18% Over 65's, all of which pay concessionary rates, so essentially over half of the season tickets are sold for approximately 'just' £9,000,000 per year, or the equivalent to about double Jack Wilshere's wages for the year!
A bit of truth can go a long long way, we know this site, like many others, is regularly 'trolled' by various 'divisions' of the West Ham United hierarchy, so please take note, treat adults like children and they will 'play up', treat them with respect and they will play the difficulties down. - Ed
