West Ham in £100m legal dispute
Club sue landlords in loss-of-earnings claim Parties also in talks over preventing fan violence
The full extent of the toxic relationship between West Ham United and their London Stadium landlords is laid bare today with The Daily Telegraph able to reveal the two sides are locked in a £100million-plus legal row that will bring them to the High Court in November.
West Ham and the publiclyfunded London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) spent yesterday in talks over how to prevent a repeat of Saturday’s violent protests during the game with Burnley, but they are also in a bitter dispute over the capacity for football matches at the former Olympic Stadium.
When West Ham moved in to the stadium last season under the “deal of the century”, they believed it would entitle them to a capacity of 60,000, but LLDC said the figure was just 53,500. A compromise was reached that guaranteed West Ham an additional 3,500 seats. However, West Ham want permission to fill all of the stadium’s 66,000 seats, which could be worth millions of pounds each year to them in increased ticket revenue. With LLDC demanding payment for anything above 57,000, the club has brought the lawsuit against the authority.
The legal dispute is a new low in a relationship that has been increasingly complex since West Ham became tenants at the Olympic Stadium for an annual fee of £2.5 million. There were serious security issues during last season’s Carabao Cup tie with Chelsea and West Ham have now demanded both an increased police presence and that they are allowed to take over stewarding after the shocking events of Saturday, which included repeated pitch invasions and fans hurling coins at David Sullivan and David Gold and verbally abusing the co-owners.
The two parties were yesterday locked in discussions over how to ensure there was no repeat of such scenes over the final five games of the season, but the fact that mediation in the legal dispute has proved unsuccessful and the matter is going to the High Court demonstrates the depth of ill-feeling.
The additional seats could provide West Ham with significantly increased ticket revenue and one element of their lawsuit is a loss-ofearning claim for being prevented from using those seats this season.
Over the course of their 99-year lease, that would multiply into hundreds of millions of pounds, something the LLDC argues the taxpayer – the primary funders of the stadium’s transformation into the club’s home – is entitled to a share of. One source last night told The Daily Telegraph the total amount of money at stake was “well in excess of £100million”, with another revealing legal costs for both sides had already hit £2 million and could end up being triple that.
The club are also aggrieved the stadium still lacks the look or feel of a West Ham home, having failed to strike an agreement to alter the colour of the pitch-surround from green to claret or secure a greater say over signage during the season.
No decisions were taken at yesterday’s meetings over how to prevent a repeat of Saturday’s events at the club’s next home game with Southampton in three weeks’ time and there will now be another summit on Thursday, at which new proposals will be considered.
Options such as sealing off parts of the ground – particularly the concourse below the directors’ box, where angry fans congregated and threw coins at West Ham’s owners – having a police presence inside the stadium, and additional stewards provided and paid for by West Ham, could be on the table. The main priority of those in charge of safety is to avoid a repeat of people being knocked over in the stands and children being forced to flee.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who is ultimately responsible for the stadium, condemned the scenes as “disgraceful”, his spokesperson said, and called for West Ham to “take proper action against those supporters who misbehaved”.
Khan announced in December that he would take full control of the stadium, with the London borough of Newham withdrawing from the partnership which owns it, following the publication of an independent review.
Newham Council, which remains the certifying authority for the stadium, said in a statement yesterday: “Newham Council is extremely concerned about the violent scenes witnessed during Saturday’s match, and utterly condemn the actions of the small minority of troublemakers responsible.
“In December last year, Newham Council completely withdrew from its position as part-owners of the London Stadium, but retains the role of certifying authority. In that capacity, the council, along with the Sports Ground Safety Authority, is urgently reviewing the safety management plans and procedures and staffing of the stadium.
“The evidence gathered and the revised safety management plans will be discussed at an emergency Stadium Safety Advisory Group (SAG), which includes the Metropolitan Police, E20 and West Ham United FC. The discussion at the SAG will assist the council before any decision is made regarding future sporting and other events.”
That will involve all parties working together and, as one source put it, West Ham’s tenancy has been undermined from day one by “a series of relationships and contracts that mean people don’t work with each other but against each other”.
Jim White: P16