While watching your favorite team play is the best thing in the world, there is so much more to the entire idea of the stadium experience. If you’re planning to watch West Ham play this season, the London Stadium provides so much for the fans in addition to Premier League football. It’s been almost a decade since the Hammers moved to their new ground, and the fans finally started seeing the stadium as their own.
Many people, even those who are not fans of West Ham, turn to take a tour of the London Stadium. After all, the ground has been a part of the 2012 London Olympics and is seen as a historic part of London too in addition to what it provides for the Hammers. Yet, the stadium is best felt through and through on match days. So if you’re going to it in a fan capacity, here’s what awaits you.
Before The Match
For any fan travelling to see the Irons play, it is important to know that the turnstiles are opened 90 minutes before the kick off. That’s more than enough time to have fun. In addition to on the field action, most fun happens on the team’s Stadium Island. It has catering facilities of the highest standard, and various entertainment options. Of course, each fan can bring the fun, as is customary these days. Many fans will engage in preparing for a match day by following other results in the Premier League, Championship, and lower leagues, as well as playing games such as Bitcoin roulette on their smartphones. While you’ll find people complaining that sports and gambling shouldn’t bode, it is more than evident that the two have been in a synergy for more than a while. Thanks to smartphones and internet accessibility it is now easier than ever to bet on sports and play your favorite casino games all in one app.
If you find yourself at the London Stadium the best place to do it must be the Heineken Bar. In addition to casual drinks, the fans there are entertained by a DJ who is the best at setting the atmosphere for the upcoming match. Once you’ve had your fair share of liquid refreshments, gaming, and enjoying the music, part of the pre game time could be spent in the club’s official store which is located at the stadium. There, you can buy all things Claret & Blue, from match day kits, shorts, shirts, socks, shoes, and everything in between. While walking around the stadium it is also nice to pay respects to the names such as Bobby Moore, Sir Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters who made the club what it is today, and made thousands fall in love with the club.
As we said, there is plenty to do when you’re at the stadium, and on the days when there are no match being played, you can take the tour of the stands, and even visit the dugout, players locker rooms, and see the insights of the club as if you were one of the coaches and the players. For most fans, this is a dream come true. For others, it would be seeing the club lift the Premier League title in the foreseeable future. While we wouldn’t bother putting money on Bitcasino on the Hammers doing it this year, there’s plenty of things to look forward to next year if you’re a West Ham fan. Let’s talk about the football side of the club.
What to Expect From West Ham This Season?
Expect for the Hammers to be better. Much better! Last season was a disappointing one. It all started poorly with Julen Lopetegui, and Graham Potter failed to make matters better. Yet, as we all know, Potter is a system manager and it takes time for his teams to get up to speed. He was never one to make wonders halfway throughout the season. Now that he got to get to know his players, spend the entire offseason with them, and be in charge of who the club is going to bring in and sell, we’re in for a much better West Ham under the former Brighton and Chelsea manager.
How Will The Squad Look?
It will be different. Kudus has been sold, and while he is going to miss, the Irons have wrapped this deal in a matter of days, giving everyone enough time to work on a replacement, and to get to work without him. The biggest reinforcements for the hammers is going to be Lucas Paqueta. The Brazilian has his betting legal woes behind him, and now, once again fully focused, he will be able to show the signs of his old self, and be the leader that the WH missed in him last season. Even if he is sold, as is rumoured, with the funds from Kudus and Lucas sales, West Ham is going to have a war chest to spend this summer.
While the fans like big splashes in the market, West Ham has been silent so far. They’ve signed Todibo, but he’s been with the club since last year, on loan so he’s not classified as a new signing. The two other names that are on the roster from this season are El Hadji Malick Diouf, a left sided fullback/midfielder brought in from Slavia Prague and Kyle Walker-Peters, brought on a free from Southampton. Big spending is expected in the following weeks, with the names mostly brought up in ties to the London teams are Harvey Elliott, Tyler Morto, James McAtee, Albian Hajdari, Matheus Fernandes, Callum Wilson, and Mads Hermansen.
If any of these transfers were to be wrapped up, it needs to be done quickly as the PL season is almost upon us with only a few more friendly matches left to be played before the football officially returns to England.
From Relegation Struggles to Europe?
West Ham had one of the worst seasons in recent memories, and if the three teams that dropped down to the Championship weren’t as awful they would be struggling to avoid relegation. The fact that they’ve recently won an European trophy is still fresh with West Ham fans, and they will be looking for their team to get back to Europe as soon as possible. Will that be realistic in the 2025/26 season?
To be realistic, it won’t be an easy task. The league is stronger than ever, and West ham will need stability under Potter first and more than a few good transfer windows to fight for top spots that lead to Europe. Considering how silent they were during the first month of the summer, the burden of leading the team to better times will once again fall on Jarrod Bowen, who will hope that the likes of Todibo, Areola, Kilman, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Rodriguez, and Luis Guilherme can hold their own until reinforcements are brought in.
At the moment, the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Brighton, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and even Manchester United are better than West Ham. So ending the year anywhere from 8th to 13th position in the league would be a good year for the current West Ham. If they’re worse it will be the end of the road for Graham Potter.
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