West Ham United will finally get to use the full capacity of their London Stadium home.
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After moving into the venue used for the 2012 Olympics in London for the 2016-17 season, the Hammers have seen their capacity capped to a maximum of 57,000 for home games.
Amid plenty of unrest about the stadium move from home fans, the light at the end of the tunnel was that the Hammers could compete better financial with the perennial giants of the Premier League as they would almost double their attendances at Upton Park.
The east London club released a statement on Monday confirming they can now expand their capacity to a maximum 66,000 seats and will be able to start selling 60,000 tickets for games straight away.
“West Ham United and its landlord E20 have today agreed a plan which allows the Club to sell additional seats for their matches thereby ending the litigation surrounding the capacity at the London Stadium. Both parties are delighted to have taken the first step towards the Stadium reaching its potential of up to 66,000 capacity, to their mutual benefit, and would see it become the largest in London and the second largest in the Premier League.
“The arrangement means that, subject to regulatory permissions, the Club will be able to sell up to 60,000 tickets for their games as soon as possible and leaves scope to expand up to 66,000 seats for future matches.”
This is pretty huge news for West Ham, who will able to add almost 10,000 extra seats on a matchday.
If the stadium does reach the 66,000 capacity level in the coming months, it means that only Old Trafford will have a larger capacity among club teams in the UK. West Ham will jump ahead of Arsenal and Tottenham in London in terms of stadium size and will have the biggest home venue of any London team.
Bragging rights for this type of thing is a big deal and West Ham have been hoping to expand ever since they moved in.
With a waiting list for season tickets after 50,000 were sold following their move from Upton Park in 2016, more of the Hammers faithful can now watch their team week in, week out.
Whatever their feelings on the move to the London Stadium, if West Ham’s fans are 100 percent behind their team then this venue has the possibility to be extremely intimidating.
