Daily WHUFC News - 12th October 2016

Ladies brought into West Ham family
WHUFC.com

West Ham United are delighted to announce that, in agreement with the
current Ladies' committee, the Club have this evening been successful in
bringing West Ham United Ladies into the West Ham family. Fittingly, the
announcement falls during FA Women and Girls week, which will see over
60,000 women and girls participate in grassroots football activities across
the country. West Ham United Ladies, who this season celebrate their 25th
anniversary, currently play in the FA Women's Premier League Southern
Division, and have been working closely with the Club fully supporting the
proposals in order to ensure a smooth transition for the side. Key factors
for improvement in the running of the Ladies' side have been identified by
West Ham United, and the teams will now work in unison to ensure the
delivery of these and help maintain their continued progression. The move
will also see the West Ham Ladies Academy set-up, which includes Under-10,
12, 14 and 16 age groups, fully operated by West Ham United.

West Ham United Ladies will also benefit from direct association with the
West Ham badge further cementing their association with the Irons, as well
as the expertise and knowledge of the Club's administrative and football
staff. Hammers Vice-Chairman Karren Brady is delighted that the Ladies are
now set to go from strength to strength. "West Ham United Ladies have
operated separately to the Club for 25 years, and today marks the next step
in building the future of women's football at West Ham United," she told
whufc.com. "The addition of the Ladies into the West Ham family is the
solution my Board and I have long sought. Not only does it secure the long
term future of the Ladies' side, but also guarantees that current and future
supporters, players and staff of the Ladies' team will form an integral part
of the Club's bright future as we move forward "From the top down, West Ham
United is passionately committed to equality, particularly for women, and
that is precisely why women's football is such a high priority on our
agenda. "We are delighted to be able to support West Ham United Ladies'
continued progression, and look forward to building the momentum that will
see the team become an institution that our Club and our supporters can be
proud of."

West Ham United will be releasing more information regarding the exciting
plans for the West Ham United Ladies over the coming weeks, and getting
behind the Ladies as they host Crystal Palace Ladies in the London FA
Capital Cup first round at Ship Lane in Thurrock, next Sunday 16 October.

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Academy of Football plays host to J-League youth bosses
WHUFC.com

Academy directors from Japan's premier football league have visited West Ham
United's Academy of Football to gain an insight into the setup at Chadwell
Heath. Bosses from some of the J-League's top academies spent their time in
East London learning about many different aspects of the club's Category One
academy. Terry Westley and Liam Manning offered their expertise in a number
of coaching sessions throughout the week and West Ham's Head of Academy
Coaching and Player Development said the week was a valuable one for both
parties. "We had a visit from their (J-League's) technical director a few
months ago, who was visiting Category One academies in England," said
Westley. "We showed him some of the work we've been doing, in particular
individual plans for players, plans for staff and development. He liked the
concept and chose West Ham as the base for their visit. "The coaches have
been looking at our club right the way through from operations, our vision
and the strategy of the academy to how we coach the players for nine to 23
year-old"

The visit of some of Japan's top academy coaches has been a worthwhile
experience for the Academy of Football. As a return of favour for West Ham's
hospitality, the Hammers' U17 side have been invited to Japan for a
competition against some of the country's top clubs next year. "The week has
shown them what our structure is, compared to theirs, and our full-time and
hybrid programmes for younger players "They have also been able to see what
our U23 players are like and what their league is like. The Premier League
have also done a talk and they've been able to watch a Champions League
match at Leicester City. "They've had a packed ten days but from a teaching
perspective it's about the learning observations that they've had as well.
"We've been able to learn from them as well; we've asked them lots of
questions about their teams, players and league and it's been a great
experience."

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Digital screen installation begins
WHUFC.com

Work to install largest digital screen in Europe at London Stadium is
underway
Eleven-panel high-definition (HD) screen will be 82m wide by 12m high
Screens will enable West Ham United to show live and recorded content

West Ham United is pleased to update supporters that work is underway on the
installation of the largest digital screen in Europe at London Stadium.
Stadium landlords E20 Stadium LLP are set to announce full details soon and
West Ham United fans can expect to see the first five panels of the 82m wide
by 12m high high-definition (HD) screen being carefully lifted into place at
the Hammers' new home on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and for these to be
operational for the Premier League visit of Sunderland on Saturday 22
October. Following the Sunderland fixture work will then restart
immediately, with the remaining six panels scheduled to be in place for the
Premier League fixture with Stoke City on Saturday 5 November.

Once completed, the digital screen will set a new benchmark in world stadia,
adding another marquee feature to the iconic venue. West Ham United
Vice-Chairman Karren Brady said the new screens will enable the Club to
share its market-leading content with millions of supporters every season.
"This is yet another exciting and historic landmark moment for West Ham
United," she said. "We are delighted that the work to install these
magnificent digital screens has begun on schedule, with phase one to be
completed in time for our next home match.
"These record-breaking screens will not only allow us to share entertaining
and engaging live and recorded video content, but also enable us to keep
fans right up to date with the latest news."

The installation is being carried out by Daktronics, the designer and
manufacturer of computer-programmable display systems who previously
installed the digital screens at the new Wembley Stadium, the Millennium
Stadium, Twickenham and Real Madrid's Bernabeu Stadium. Daktronics project
manager Rahman Amin is the person overseeing the installation, which
initially began with work to strengthen the Stadium's external steel
structure in September. "This is one of the iconic projects we have worked
on and we're proud to be involved," he said. "These are state-of-the-art
screens which can handle HD video quality and they are the biggest in
Europe. "This will be a live video screen, enabling you to run live and
recorded video, animated or static content, which means you can show
pre-event content or highlights, or can even be connected to cameras to show
anything going on inside the Stadium."

The digital screen completes the stunning external branding of London
Stadium, which also features panels showing five West Ham United crests
measuring 6.8m high and 7.5m wide, as well as other Hammers signage and
branding, all of which are uplit during specified hours of darkness. To
complete the eye-catching design that has revolutionised the exterior of the
Stadium, an internally illuminated marquee sign spelling out the words 'West
Ham United' in Claret and Blue has also been installed, which is also
illuminated during specified hours of darkness.

At Champions Place, supporters, former players and managers are all honoured
in a unique walkway of personalised engraved granite stones situated behind
the Bobby Moore Stand – one of two named in honour of the Hammers' greatest
sons, alongside Sir Trevor Brooking. Each turnstile pod is adorned with a
Claret and Blue story relating to the Club's achievements and while inside
the concourse hang giant shirts depicting the Hammers' greatest players,
past and present. With every Season Ticket Holder's name adorning the
Stadium's four Founders Walls on the concourses where they sit and stories
celebrating West Ham's successes to be found everywhere from the Players'
Tunnel to the Club London hospitality areas, London Stadium is proving to be
truly a fitting home for West Ham United.

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From the Boardroom - David Sullivan
WHUFC.com

We all know the importance of the game against Crystal Palace on Saturday
and it is going to be another tough encounter. Palace have started the
season really well, but we have to get something, and I expect us to get
something, from the game. We had a great result at Selhurst Park last season
when we came away with a 3-1 victory and it would be great if we could get a
similar result this time around. I remember the game clearly. It was a
fantastic London derby with lots of chances at both ends, and we came
through late on with goals from Manuel Lanzini and Dimitri Payet. Dimi
celebrated his fantastic finish with a run to the West Ham fans and a salute
- let's hope we see a similar celebration on Saturday. Despite our
frustrating start to the season, the fans have been fantastic and we will
need their great support more than ever at the game on Saturday. We have
suffered a number of injuries since the start of the season and it will be a
big boost to see Aaron Cresswell back in first-team contention. We hope that
both Diafra Sakho and Andy Carroll will also be back in action in the next
few weeks. We also need our club record signing Andre Ayew, but he could
still be a month away from making a first-team return. This will be the
first time that we will be facing James Tomkins since he left the Club
during the summer. James was a great servant to West Ham United and made a
lot of friends during his long spell at the Hammers. I hope that James will
get a great reception as he was always very loyal to the Club and only left
to pursue regular first-team football.
Finally, I just want to touch upon the new Stadium. I have to say I am
getting increasingly fed up with the negative campaigning against the
stadium by some sections of the media. I find it particularly galling when
the journalists who are writing these skewed opinions have not even been to
the stadium! Reading some write ups they give a very different impression of
the Stadium to that which is being reported by people who have actually been
there. To put it into perspective at the Middlesbrough game there were five
arrests - ALL outside the stadium in the public park. It has not yet been
confirmed which of these supporters are West Ham United fans. However, I
fully accept that's too many and we are in the process of identifying and
banning these supporters in line with our zero tolerance policy. I prefer to
listen to the hundreds and hundreds of email I am getting from supporters
who love the new stadium, love that we have made football affordable, and I
am very proud that we have 25,000 families inside the stadium, many new to
football – this is the future of West Ham's support and this is the reason
we made the move in the first place. Things will calm down shortly and it
will all be helped when we start to win a few games. I would like to thank
99.9 per cent of the supporters who are behaving impeccably and are really
getting behind the team. To limit any trouble the Chelsea game is only
available to supporters with a previous buying history.
This game is not on TV and if you have bought a ticket with us in the last
five years I urge you to come along and support us. If we win this game we
are just two rounds from Wembley.

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Ticket Exchange open for Sunderland
WHUFC.com

Ticket Exchange open for the first time for visit of Sunderland on 22
October
Season Ticket Holders can make seats available for Claret Members to
purchase
Scheme will enable supporters to attend otherwise sold out London Stadium
matches

The West Ham United Ticket Exchange will be open for the first time for the
Premier League visit of Sunderland to London Stadium on Saturday 22 October.

With the visit of the Black Cats sold out to Claret Members via a ballot,
Season Ticket Holders who are unable to attend this fixture can release
their seat to the Ticket Exchange for Claret Members to purchase.

Once a Season Ticket Holder's ticket has been exchanged, his or her Season
Card will be disabled for the game, while the buyer's Claret Membership Card
will be activated.

The credit for the ticket sale will be made available in the seller's Season
Ticket Holder account, minus a 10% administrative charge.

For full details of how to release your seat to the Ticket Exchange, and for
terms and conditions, please click here to view our helpful User Guide.

Season Ticket Holder seats which become available on the Ticket Exchange
will be available to Claret Members to purchase online here.

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Ray - We are thrilled to be part of West Ham family
WHUFC.com

Ladies captain Karen Ray is thrilled the team have now been brought into the
West Ham United family and feels it can now help them move through the
divisions and achieve success.

The Ladies team are currently celebrating their 25th anniversary and will
now work closely with the Club to ensure key improvements are made and they
can maintain their continued progression.

The move will also see the Ladies Academy set-up fully operated by West Ham
United and Ray says this will help them grow even stronger and produce
better teams across all age groups.

Ray has no doubts that this big move will help them achieve their dreams of
competing with the top women's teams in the country and says the decision
has been welcomed by everyone associated with the team.

Ray said: "For me it is a no-brainer and it needed to happen. When you look
at the likes of Manchester City and how their programmes run and how their
teams are integrated, it is going to be needed.

"As players we wanted it to happen because it will help us climb up the
ladder towards WSL2 and then WSL1 so nothing but good things can come out of
this and I am excited about the chance and to move on in the right
direction.

"Even if I am not playing then, this is what I would love to see the team
achieve and have a lot of success. I want them to have the same chances that
other people have.

"Having the close connections with the Club can help us achieve that."

The Ladies team currently play in the FA Women's Premier League Southern
Division, but have aspirations to play at a higher level and Ray hopes they
can attract even bigger crowds in the near future.

Ray added: "We will keep sticking together as a team and things will
improve. We will see a massive change after Christmas in terms of our
results and climbing back up the table and making sure we stay up this
season.

"Once we have secured that it will be a case of us pushing for the WSL and
that is what we need to aim for.

"As a Club and a group of players I think we have got the talent and it is a
case of sticking together and to the plan the coach has given us."

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The Big Interview - Sofiane Feghouli
WHUFC.com

Sofiane Feghouli is ready to make his first Premier League start against
Crystal Palace on Saturday and hopes to make a major impact for the Hammers
this season. Feghouli was forced to miss the opening part of the campaign
after picking up a hamstring injury during the Betway Cup against Juventus.
The Algeria international has now made a full recovery and made a big
impression when he appeared as a half-time substitute in the last game
against Middlesbrough.
The 26-year-old is now hoping to play a big part in the big London derby at
Selhurst Park this weekend and help his team move away from the bottom
three.....

You have now been in England for a few months following your big move to
West Ham United during the summer. How are you settling into your new
surroundings and how much do you enjoy playing in the Premier League?

SF: "I am really happy to be in England and playing for West Ham. Playing in
a new league, in a new country and with a new way of life is an incredibly
rewarding experience and one that I am enjoying. "After six years in Spain
with Valencia, I am pleased with how things are going at the Club. "It was
obviously annoying to have picked up an injury so early on in my career with
West Ham, preventing me from starting the season as I would have liked to.
"I am getting back my form and hopefully, in the next couple of weeks and
with some game time, I can get back to feeling 100 percent."

Was it a difficult decision for you to leave La Liga and join the Premier
League?

SF: "It wasn't too difficult to come to my decision. I was coming to the end
of my contract at Valencia and for various reasons, we were unable to
renegotiate and so, I needed to find a new club and consider the offers that
were being made. "I wanted to give the Premier League a go because it's one
of the best leagues in the world and attracts so much attention from around
the world. "In my opinion, every player needs to play in the Premier League
at least once in their career for it to be a truly successful one. "I knew
about West Ham and I had heard a lot about the passion of the fans. After
speaking to the manager and listening to his project, it was an easy
decision for me to join the Club."

You have now played in front of the West Ham fans at home in the Premier
League, how would you describe the atmosphere of this ground?

SF: "It is really exciting for us to play in front of so many fans at home.
We hope that they can continue to support us and push us on throughout the
ninety minutes so that we can start winning games at home. "We will be doing
everything we can to make them happy and to get the win today. We need to
get a win to improve the confidence of the squad and to help us to start
climbing the table."

How much do the players discuss the reasons for the slow start to the season
and how determined are you to turn the season around?

SF: "Of course we are discussing the reasons for our start to the season in
the dressing room. We have suffered due to a series of injuries to some key
players. So that alone has caused us some issues at the start of the season.
"We also had quite a few games in a short period due to the Europa League
and so physically we struggled a bit. "I know personally that I need time on
the pitch to improve my own match fitness and to get back my rhythm. I am
sure that in the coming weeks as we get some of our players back to fitness,
we will start to perform better as a team."

What qualities will you bring to the team and what can the West Ham fans
expect from Sofiane Feghouli this season?

SF: "First of all, I can bring a hunger and desire to win. I can't stand
losing, be that in training or on matchday. "Then, there are my technical
qualities, I am a player that can deliver quality deliveries to the
attackers, I can score goals and I can play in several positions across the
pitch. "Slaven has followed me for a couple of seasons and so he knows how I
play and where best to play me for the good of the team."

At the start of your career, you were often said to be the 'new Zidane',
what kind of pressure did that put on you?

SF: "At that time in France, after Zidane's fantastic career, every player
coming from the Maghreb was likened to Zidane. "For me, there was no
comparison to make between us. We are two very different types of players
with very different styles, so I haven't felt the pressure at all during my
career because of these comparisons."

When you played in Spain with Valencia and now, here in the Premier League,
do you feel like you are representing your country on the international
stage?

SF: "Of course, I know that when I play abroad that I am representing the
Algerian people. "They are back in Algeria supporting me and so I always try
to give my best to give the best impression possible of Algeria and to make
my fellow countrymen and women proud. "The Algerian national game has never
been as strong as it is today and we have a very talented squad. We have
been playing together for a couple of seasons and we are maturing as a team.
"Hopefully, this will show on the pitch in the upcoming tournaments,
especially during the African Cup of Nations next year."

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West Ham United Supporters Trust: an update
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 11th October 2016
By: Paul Christmas

Here is a brief summary of the meeting of the Hammers Supporters Club. There
was broad agreement to work towards two initial aims:

1. To secure the future of the Hammers Supporters Club (HSC), recruit new
members and seek new premises closer to the stadium.

2. To set up an Independent Supporters Association (ISA) or Supporters Trust
with a large membership to act as a voice of the fans and to influence the
club on issues which affect us (maybe a Trust to lead on from ISA as being a
legal entity it takes longer to set up).

Before it can be taken much further the Hammers Supporters Club have to
decide whether they want to expand to accommodate the second of these aims,
bringing in new people and structure alongside their existing committee, and
it would need to be considered whether a change of name is required.

The meeting was very positive and has laid a firm foundation for a voice for
the fans to be heard. Details of those present have been collated to form a
group to work over the next two weeks to take forward the above aims.
Further details will be posted on this and other sites while there is a
dedicated thread on the KUMB Forum.

Any further ideas or suggestions are all welcome.

As mentioned, such efforts have been made in the past to set up an
association/trust. The meeting on Saturday was not staged to re-invent the
wheel and help has been offered with regard to previous efforts/advice and
so on.

This is very much appreciated and a united front is important for this to
move forward. If we can help each other, we will succeed.

Thanks also to representatives of the Hammers Social Club who hosted and
spoke at the meeting and to all who attended - especially one gentleman who
travelled down from Yorkshire.

A number of people were unable to male an appearance due to receiving
relatively-short notice. Therefore the next meeting has already been
scheduled for those to attend.

It will be held on Saturday, 22 October at the Hammers Social Club. The HSC
will be open from 11am with the meeting to start at 12 noon, finishing in
time for us to travel to the OS for the Sunderland match.

After the next meeting on the 22nd we should be in a better position to give
firm feedback on the shape of the organisation(s) and will set up a website
to take membership.

Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the
author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be
attributed to, KUMB.com.

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Newham Council accused in ticket scandal
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 11th October 2016
By: Staff Writer

More than half the free tickets for West Ham United home matches distributed
by Newham Council have gone to their own employees, it has been claimed.
From a total of 5,970 tickets handed out thus far by the Council as part of
their arrangement with West Ham, just 2,728 reached members of the local
community - with the remaining 3,242 being allocated to employees of Newham
Council, according to a KUMB source.

The 3,242 tickets snapped up by Newham employees were used for the Europa
League qualifiers against Domzale (1,433 tickets) and Astra Giurgiu (1,010)
plus the recent EFL Cup tie with Accrington Stanley (799) - resulting in 55
per cent of the available tickets intended for local residents going to
unnamed Council workers. "Newham previously stated that 'the tickets are
used to reward residents for being active and resilient members of the
community'," said the source. "Lead councillors for each of our community
neighbourhoods will have a role in managing these rewards, and settling the
criteria for distributing tickets to their residents who are making a
contribution to their community. "Why is it, that in each of the three
games referred to, there were more tickets given to Newham Council staff
than went to those 'active and resilient members of the community'?"

According to our source, tickets for the first of the three games above were
distributed on "a first come, first served" basis - whilst tickets for the
Astra and Accrington matches were allocated to Newham Council employees via
"a ballot process". "In terms of those tickets being offered to community
groups, relatively few have not been taken - and certainly nowhere near the
number that are then taken by Newham council staff," continued our source.
"For example, a total of 760 tickets were offered but only 60 not taken by
community groups for the Accrington game - whilst Newham council staff used
a further 799 tickets for that game."

Meanwhile a KUMB member has claimed that he is regularly offered free
tickets for West Ham's home matches by a Newham Council employee. "I know
someone who works for Newham and she has text me to ask if I want tickets
when she is offered," said James P. "She gets offered them a day or two
before the game, although It seems to only be the low-interest, non sell-out
games."

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Sullivan 'fed up' with OS negativity
WHUFC.com
Filed: Tuesday, 11th October 2016
By: Staff Writer

Co-Chairman David Sullivan has expressed his frustration at 'negative
campaigning' by some sections of the media. Sullivan, speaking in his weekly
column on the club's website hit out at some sections of the media who he
accused of deliberately presenting "skewed opinions" regarding the Olympic
Stadium. "I have to say I am getting increasingly fed up with the negative
campaigning against the stadium by some sections of the media," he wrote. "I
find it particularly galling when the journalists who are writing these
skewed opinions have not even been to the stadium! "Reading some write-ups,
they give a very different impression of the stadium to that which is being
reported by people who have actually been there. "I prefer to listen to the
hundreds and hundreds of email I am getting from supporters who love the new
stadium, love that we have made football affordable," he continued. "I am
very proud that we have 25,000 families inside the stadium, many new to
football – this is the future of West Ham's support and this is the reason
we made the move in the first place. "Things will calm down shortly and it
will all be helped when we start to win a few games. I would like to thank
99.9 per cent of the supporters who are behaving impeccably and are really
getting behind the team."

To read Sullivan's entire missive visit whufc.com.

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Tore Injury A Blessing In Disguise As Cresswell Eyes Return?
Submitted by nevillenixon on Tue, 11/10/2016 - 08:07
westhamfans.org

Gokhan Tore's loan move from Besiktas to West Ham has been fraught with
difficulties and niggling injuries, so news that the 24 year old has
suffered a quadriceps muscle problem and won't be back for at least next
month shouldn't really be that much of a surprise. Hammers are not able to
send him back to his parent club in January despite the Turkish
International player's poor start to the season, Tore has played five times
so far this campaign, but has made no real impact and has exhibited all the
traits of a player who is either too confident or too circumspect, classic
behaviour associated with a footballer who is completely out of sorts.
Tore's recent performances have divided opinion among the Hammers faithful
with some willing to give him more time to 'bed in' while others think he is
a waste of space! Such considerations are academic now given the player's
current injury and recent poor showing, but it may well turn out to be a
blessing in disguise for a couple of reasons. Namely the enforced break will
open up a place in the team for Sofianne Feghouli who is only just returning
from injury himself, but more importantly Aaron Cresswell's impending return
means that West Ham fans will finally see a sight that they became used to,
that of the diminutive defender bombing down the wing, scaring the hell out
of the opposition's defence and either pinging in a great cross or
attempting one of the left foot piledriver shots at goal that he is more
than capable of delivering. Slaven Bilic's side have won just once so far
this season in the Premier League and lie uncomfortably in the relegation
zone, injuries have been a major issue with at least seven first team
members unavailable, strikers Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho should be back
within the next few weeks along with record £20million signing Ghana star
Andre Ayew who is scheduled to return towards the end of the month after
nearly requiring thigh surgery but avoiding the actual operation because of
the stellar rehabilitation work carried out by the Hammers medical team.
All the above mentioned players returning should provide a fillip for
manager, co-owners and fans alike, but it is the impending return of
Cresswell that is the most crucial element. Not only has the defence looked
shaky without him, but the team has looked bereft of ideas going forward on
the left hand side of the pitch without him, the entire balance of the team
has looked incorrect since his non availability and has been compared to one
of those old christmas cracker toys where you are required to move all the
numbers or letters around but only have one spare space with which to
manoeuvre, and Cresswell is that 'missing' space. The onus on Cresswell is
huge, however if his recent interviews are anything are anything to go by he
is relishing the prospect of the extra width provided by the expanses of the
London Stadium pitch, electric pace down the flank is his preserve, and an
element that has been sorely missed from West Ham United's opening games.
Perhaps on reflection the club concentrated too much on 'marquee' signings
during the summer and would have been better off consolidating the position
of those who were at the club already and arranging back up just in case! Of
course hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it is to be hoped that the
dreadful start to the season can become a distant memory and that West Ham
can return to being the team that 'top' teams were frightened of playing
last season. - Ed

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