02/07/2007 16:45
The ticket office is pleased to announce that, at close of business on
Saturday 30th June, a record number of season ticket holders had renewed for
the new season.
Last season West Ham United enjoyed its highest ever number of season ticket
holders, with a total of 24,300 reached by December 2006. This figure looks
certain to be exceeded before the start of the 2007-08 campaign, with over
21,000 renewals already accepted.
The Club can confirm that, due to the high demand, it may be necessary to
cap season ticket sales at some stage prior to the start of the season. This
is necessary for a number of reasons.
Firstly, although the stadium capacity is 35,300, an element of this seating
is made up of corporate hospitality areas, plus, depending on the
opposition, up to 3,000 seats are allocated to visiting supporters for each
league match.
Secondly, for home cup ties, we may need to allocate the visiting team the
maximum 15% and so we must have sufficient seating available to relocate
home supporters.
Finally, we do feel that it is essential to have a certain number of seats
available for members to purchase on a match-to-match basis, and a cap will
ensure that this is the case. In addition to season tickets, the new look
official Club memberships are selling quickly and demand for match tickets
will certainly be high.
Should it prove necessary to impose a cap, a waiting list will be
established for those supporters unable to purchase a season ticket and
supporters who join the waiting list will then enjoy priority (after those
renewing) for 2008-09 and subsequent seasons.
Now that the renewal date has passed the ticket office is currently
processing seat change requests from existing season ticket holders in the
order of when received. All remaining season tickets will go on general sale
at 9.00am on Wednesday 11th July.
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Players back for pre-season training -WHUFC Official Site
02/07/2007 15:43
Alan Curbishley welcomed his players back to Chadwell Heath for the first
day of pre-season training on Monday morning, as the preparations for our
2007-08 Barclays Premier League campaign got underway.
Sporting their new Umbro training wear, the Hammers stars began their summer
fitness work on the freshly re-laid pitches at our training headquarters,
and will spend the next fortnight building up their levels before the
opening pre-season friendly, against Dagenham and Redbridge on Saturday,
July 14.
A few familiar faces were missing as the squad reported back - Lucas Neill
is currently away on international duty with Australia, while England
under-21 stars Mark Noble, Anton Ferdinand and Nigel Reo-Coker have been
handed an extended break after their recent exploits in the UEFA European
Championship finals.
However, Curbs and his staff will have been delighted to see Dean Ashton and
Matthew Upson back out on the training field as they look to put last
season's injury frustrations behind them, while our latest new signing,
French international midfielder Julien Flaubert, will meet up with his new
team-mates later this week...
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Curbs delighted by Faubert arrival -WHUFC Official Site
03/07/2007 09:49
Alan Curbishley has revealed his delight at the capture of French
international midfielder Julien Faubert.
The 23-year-old signed from Bordeaux on Sunday after Hammers pounced to beat
off interest from several other clubs and make him our second new arrival
this summer.
"I am delighted that Julien has agreed to join us," says Curbs. "There was a
lot of strong interest in the player from other clubs but we acted quickly
and he was very keen to come.
"Great credit must go to Eggert Magnusson and Scott Duxbury for their work
in ensuring that the transfer took place quickly and smoothly, and we look
forward to Julien joining up with us later this week.
"He is a young player, very strong, quick and athletic, who is comfortable
at right-back or right-midfield, and can also play high up the pitch as part
of a 4-3-3 if required.
"He has a great pedigree having progressed through the Cannes academy, and
scored on his international debut for France last year, so we are very
excited about the impact he could have here."
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Reo-Coker deal not agreed - agent - BBC Sport
Reo-Coker is Villa first major signing of the summer
Aston Villa have not yet come to an agreement regarding the fee for West Ham
midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker, according to the player's agent.
Earlier reports suggested that Villa's bid had been accepted and that the
23-year-old had undergone a medical.
But Reo-Coker's agent Tony Finnegan told BBC London 94.9: "Where we are at
now is that we are waiting for the two clubs to agree a price.
"There has been no medical. The lad is been waiting to go on holiday."
He added: "We thought there may have been a deal last week. Everybody knows
Villa are interested in the lad. We're just waiting to get the agreement
between the two clubs."
Villa had tested the Hammers with a £7m bid for the England Under-21 captain
but the London club were said to be holding out for a fee nearer the £10m
mark.
Reo-Coker handed in a transfer request to West Ham at the end of last
season.
The midfielder, who played at the 2007 European Under-21 Championship, cost
West Ham £500,000 when he moved from Wimbledon in 2004.
Last season, some supporters and critics blamed Reo-Coker for the Hammers'
slump, that saw them in the bottom three for much of the season and then
narrowly avoid relegation.
Reo-Coker's addition will come at a welcome time for Villa boss Martin
O'Neill who is currently light in midfield with Gavin McCann having moved to
Bolton and Steven Davis set to join Fulham.
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Blades set for relegation verdict - BBC Sport
Sheffield United will learn from a Premier League arbitration panel on
Tuesday if they have won the battle to regain a place in the top flight.
The Blades claim West Ham should have been docked points for breaking
transfer rules over the signings of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.
West Ham stayed up at the Blades' expense on the final day of the season,
leading to Sheffield United's appeal.
West Ham had earlier been fined £5.5m for their handling of the duo's deals.
The panel cannot order the League to deduct points from the Hammers - but
they do have the power to insist that a fresh independent disciplinary
commission looks at the case.
Such a ruling would throw the league into disarray - because it would be
impossible for a new disciplinary hearing and any subsequent appeals to take
place before the start of the new season.
A third option would be for the tribunal to declare that there are no
grounds to order a new disciplinary commission for West Ham but that
Sheffield United could have a case for compensation.
However, that verdict too would open a can of worms by effectively saying
that the original commission acted inappropriately.
The Premier League maintains it handled the affair by the rulebook.
It has consistently argued that the independent commission's original
decision to fine West Ham rather than dock points should not be overturned
simply because another club does not agree with it.
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Teddy linked with States move - Sky Sports
By Carla Hilton - Created on 2 Jul 2007
Former West Ham striker Teddy Sheringham could be moving to America,
according to his agent Barry Neville.
Sheringham's future has been subject to much speculation after being
released by the Hammers, with the 41-year-old recently linked with a move to
Championship side Colchester United.
But Neville says the veteran striker may not even be playing in England next
season.
"We're currently talking to teams in America and other countries," Neville
told EADT. "There is no guarantee that Teddy will stay in England."
Sheringham, whose impressive career to-date consists of 51 appearances for
England as well as club stints for Millwall, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham,
Manchester United, Portsmouth and West Ham, says he still has a few years
left in him.
"I'm determined to go on playing for as long as I can," said Sheringham.
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Hammers show duo the door - ITV-football.co.uk
West Ham have released Teddy Sheringham and Shaun Newton after manager Alan
Curbishley turned down the opportunity of renewing their contracts.
Sheringham, the oldest player to have appeared and scored in Premier League
history, joined the Hammers in 2004 from Portsmouth and scored 28 goals for
the east London club.
The 41 year-old former Millwall, Tottenham and Manchester United striker has
been linked with Championship outfit Crystal Palace and League One side
Bournemouth.
Newton joined the club in 2005 from Wolves but was loaned out to
Championship team Leicester in March 2007.
The 31-year-old defender found himself at the centre of controversy in July
last year when he was banned for seven months having tested positive for
cocaine following an FA Cup semi-final clash against Middlesbrough.
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Hammers chase Ghana skipper Appiah - The Daily Mail
Last updated at 10:12am on 3rd July 2007
West Ham are leading the chase for £5million-rated Stephen Appiah from
Turkish giants Fenerbahce.
The 26-year-old Ghana captain, who has two years left on his contract, came
close to joining Arsenal last summer.
Now Hammers boss Alan Curbishley is ready to swoop for the former Juventus
star in order to add Appiah to his new-look midfield, according to reports
in The Daily Mirror.
Meanwhile, Randy Lerner flew into England last night to push through Nigel
Reo-Coker's £8million transfer from West Ham to Aston Villa.
Villa owner Lerner has become frustrated at the protracted negotiations
after the Hammers demanded an extra £1m for the midfielder, who has
completed his medical and agreed personal terms with Villa.
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Appiah targeted by Curbishley - EatSleepSport.com
Tue, Jul 03 2007 10:41
West Ham have been linked with a £5million move for Ghana skipper Stephen
Appiah from Turkish giants Fenerbahce.The 26-year-old is said to be keen on
a move to the Premiership and he almost joined Arsenal last summer.
The midfielder has two years left on his contract at Fenerbahce but it is
believed they would be willing to let him leave if they can recoup up to
£5million for him.
Appiah, who joined Fenerbahce from Italian giants Juventus two years ago,
has 41 caps for Ghana and has attracted attention from several top sides
across Europe.
It is thought his combative style would suit the Premiership and Hammers
boss Alan Curbishley has targeted Appiah as a possible replacement for Nigel
Reo-Coker, who is all set to leave Upton Park for Aston Villa.
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Sheffield United clutching at straws in trying to replace West Ham in the
Premiership - Sportingo.com
Tue, Jul 3, 07 08:18
Just think of the chaos for Arsenal, Liverpool and several other clubs if
the appeal of a relegated club is upheld.
'The £5.5m fine meted out to West Ham was a record, and related exclusively
to the withholding of documentation that related to the ownership of the
world-class pairing'
After weeks of wrangling, the Premier League arbitration panel is today due
to give it's long awaited verdict on whether West Ham should be demoted to
the Championship, and whether Sheffield United should retain their
Premiership place at the Hammers' expense.
When Argentine pair Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano were unveiled as West
Ham players last August I was as shocked as the rest of the world at the
audacious swoop for two players who, you would be forgiven for thinking,
were punching well below their weight by signing for a club who were more
than likely to be fighting at the wrong end of the table.
It was clear then that the deal was slightly confusing. My concerns, like
those of many others I'm sure, were more that they were using Upton Park as
a shop window and that their stay would be brief, even as short as the
approaching January transfer window. I could not have imagined that there
was far more to the deal than was at first apparent. The pair, it was clear
at the time, were pretty much "owned" by Media Sports Investments and MSIs
former head Kia Joorabchian (who, it is clear now, is a bit of a shady
character to say the least).
By the end of the season Carlos Tevez had, with a little help from the rest,
pretty much saved West Ham from relegation to the Championship. And tis in
the one season when being relegated from the Premiership was to prove more
costly than any other to date, due in no small part to the extra cash being
injected from a new TV rights contract. Mascherano, on the other hand, had
done little to earn a place alongside Tevez in the West Ham cult hero
stakes, and was doing far better on Merseyside, where he found himself in a
Champions League final with Liverpool.
The £5.5m fine meted out to West Ham was a record, and related exclusively
to the withholding of documentation that related to the ownership of the
world-class pairing. The Hammers accepted the fine, more in the hope of not
wanting to 'rock the boat' than to any feelings of being unfairly punished.
Sheffield United, or indeed any club who found themselves below Alan
Curbishley's side and therefore relegated, were going to try their luck at
getting the verdict re-opened. And let's be clear, that's all the panel can
do as they wield no power beyond referring the matter back to have the case
re-opened.
It seems doomed to failure, and even though the panel have sat for longer
than anticipated, one can only feel that the verdict will find in West Ham's
favour. Sheffield United's board are threatening to take the case to the
European Commission should they not get the result they want. This may be
just a bluff and I fear they will have to accept that they will sit out next
season in the Championship which, I'm afraid, is where they deserve to be
for, to quote another cliché, the League table does not lie.
Can you imagine what would occur should West Ham be docked points? It would
lead to all clubs who suffered at the hands of Carlos Tevez to appeal a
result that might have gone the way of the Hammers. Surely those teams have
as much right to protest as Sheffield United?
Tevez was not much of an obstacle when the Blades carved up West Ham 3-0 in
April, but the forward did put many other teams to the sword. He helped his
side to a 1-0 win at the Emirates so does this mean that Arsenal can seek to
overturn the result and therefore finish above Liverpool in third place? I
am sure there are a good few clubs who could feel equally aggrieved and
would deserve some recompense should Sheffield United succeed in their
appeal.
To me, it appears that the real issue is with rules concerning contracts and
"ownership" of players. In which case the financial punishment is far more
appropriate. When you throw into the mix the mystery surrounding two
Sheffield United signings, Jon Stead and Steve Kabba, there is even less of
a case to be heard.
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