As you are all aware by now I’m sure. West Ham United’s pre-season is well and truly under-way. We were one of the first clubs in the Premiership to get to work and hopefully that is a sign of Mr Allardyce trying to get the squad as sharp and as fit as possible.
With the announcement of the fixture list for the upcoming Premier League campaign, many have been salivating over the more appetizing match ups (At HOME vs Arsenal – Oct. 6, Away at Newcastle – Nov. 10, Away at Tottenham – Nov. 25, Away at Man Utd – Nov. 28, At HOME vs Chelsea – Dec. 1, etc, etc…), but what my gaze is fixed on is our first four fixtures.
Over the course of last season, there was a worrying trend. It started as a small, unruly minority, but it slowly grew over a stretch of successive draws and defeats, both home and away. People who called themselves West Ham fans were booing. Journalists, managers, players, and fellow fans were dumbfounded. While one can argue that cagey long-ball performances are not the West Ham way, no one can argue that booing is the West Ham way.
As expected, Sky Sports and ESPN have announced the fixtures they’ll be showing live coverage of for the first few months of the season.
Amazingly, the Hammers will be on the box for five of their opening seven fixtures.
The most significant changes to our schedule as a result of these TV announcements are that our visit to QPR has been moved to Monday 1 October and our home fixture with Stoke City will now take place on Monday 19 November. Both of those will be 20:00 kick-offs.
Below is a complete summary of all the fixture, kick-off times and TV changes:
| Date | Fixture | Time | TV? |
| Sat 25 Aug | Swansea City (A) | 12:45 | Sky Sports |
| Sat 1 Sep | Fulham (H) | 12:45 | Sky Sports |
| Sat 15 Sep | Norwich City (A) | 12:45 | Sky Sports |
| Mon 1 Oct | QPR (A) | 20:00 | Sky Sports |
| Sat 6 Oct | Arsenal (H) | 17:30 | ESPN |
| Sat 3 Nov | Manchester City (H) | 17:30 | – |
| Mon 19 Nov | Stoke City (H) | 20:00 | Sky Sports |
| Sun 25 Nov | Tottenham Hotspur (A) | 16:00 | – |
| Wed 28 Nov | Manchester United (A) | 20:00 | – |
Last season was a funny ol’ season, wasn’t it? We were favourites to bounce straight back up as Champions. Favourites in every game we played. Favourites do what Newcastle did only a couple of seasons before.
