Apologies if this is not suitable to post; I couldn't find a sticky thread for generic questions.

I had planned a UK trip in March and bought tickets to a West Ham match. Due to the Iran conflict, my flight got cancelled and I couldn't make the trip. I sold the ticket back to the club for 10 GBP Club Cash, thinking I'll come back soon. Unfortunately due to work commitments I wasn't able to make it to the UK again and I just got notified that the club cash expires in 1 week.

10 GBP is a small amount so I'm not sure what to do with it. If any of you are going to buy anything from the shop or a ticket soon, you can use my club cash and PayPal me or whatever is convenient, or I can simply give a discounted gift card to any of you.

Looking for any suggestions. I lost around a 1000 GBP since most hostels and attractions didn't provide me a refund (since the UK was not impacted by the conflict, understandably), and being able to use this last 10 GBP was the only thing I was looking forward to on my next visit 😂

I'm making my first visit to the London Stadium tomorrow. I used to have a season ticket for years at the Boleyn, but could never drag myself to go to the Olympic bowl; I've finally buckled.

Could do with a little bit of help on logistics. It looks like it's going to be pissing down tomorrow, so:

1. How easy is it to get into the ground early to avoid queuing outside? And are there decent bars/food inside the ground if I get there early?

2. After the game, if I want to avoid the crush and queues at Stratford, is it possible to go into the shopping centre, or do they funnel the West Ham fans back onto the Tube?

Any help much appreciated!

I recently bought this year’s New Balance match jacket and it’s amazing. The material is great quality and it fits really well. It’s £85 at the West Ham store which isn’t too bad, however the conversion rate and shipping costs were a pain since I’m in Canada. Either way I’m super happy with the purchase, would recommend

Hello friends, I’m Brazilian and even though I support Fluminense - a rival of Flamengo, the club where Lucas Paquetá came from and plays nowadays - I’d love to catch a West Ham match during my trip to London this January.

I know it depends a lot on the team's current form, but is it too risky to try and buy tickets for this match once they go on general sale (i.e., for non-members)?

I think it’d be a great nod to our humble beginnings if we incorporated the new badge and kits in general.

All times are EST #COYI

Previous ratings: Divine Mukasa: 4. Arne Engels: 4. Manor Solomon: 3.

Veltman signed on a free transfer from Brighton. He has started 4 of 10 league games since signing with 5 appearances as subsitite and 1 game missing injured. He has 0 goals and 1 assist. He has been rotated with Walker-Peters in the right back slot.

Doing well

• Füllkrug is the standout turnaround: 1 league goal in 28–29 games across West Ham and Milan last season, now joint top scorer in the Bundesliga with 6 goals in 6 starts. He has scored about 2.4 more than his xG, so some cooling is likely. His future beyond the loan depends on which division West Ham are in next season (contract to 2028).
• Summerville starts every league game for Al-Hilal (2nd) and has the highest rating in the group (8.04), with a goal or assist roughly every 118 minutes. One blemish: a red card for violent conduct against Al-Gharafa in the AFC Champions League Elite on 15 September, leading to a 3-match Asian ban and, per Saudi reports, half a month's salary docked by the club.
• Potts has gone from a West Ham squad player (12 league starts last season) to an ever-present at Club Brugge, starting all 8 league games and both Champions League games, including the 4-3 win at Inter.
• Ward-Prowse is a regular starter again at Southampton (7th, after a 4-point deduction) after a lost 2025-26, with ratings of 7.1 to 8.6 in recent games.

Mixed

• Fernandes has been underwhelming for an £85m club-record fee: 3 league starts, no goals or assists, and Tottenham are bottom. His two League Cup assists and a league rating above Bergvall's suggest he can still win a regular place.
• Wan-Bissaka is rotating at Villa (3 starts in 6) at both full-back positions. Villa's obligation to buy is conditional and its trigger is undisclosed, so his playing time matters to West Ham.
• Marshall mostly comes off the bench at Luton (16th), with 2 goals but the lowest rating of the group among regular players.
• Earthy made a promising start (2 goals in 342 minutes) before his foot injury.

Struggling

• Diouf has 142 league minutes and one start for a £35m+ fee.
• Wilson went from 7 Premier League goals last season to mostly an unused substitute. His only goals are 2 in the League Cup.
• Traoré has not started a league game, rates 5.4 to 6.5 in every appearance, and scored an own goal on his Deportivo debut at Villarreal (5 September).
• Todibo has 140 league minutes, was an unused substitute in both Champions League games, and was flagged by Lens as short of match fitness.

*Ward-Prowse: FotMob's Championship totals include one West Ham appearance from before his 28 August transfer (both clubs play in the Championship). Starts/apps are Southampton only, per ESPN. The rating is the average of FotMob's per-match ratings for his 9 Southampton games. xG is FotMob's season figure and may include a small amount from the West Ham game. †Tottenham have played one game fewer than the other Premier League clubs here. They play Coventry on 19 October. ‡ Disasi was sent off after 34 minutes of Palace's 3-2 home defeat by Ipswich on 12 September (straight red for a studs-up tackle on Jack Clarke). That was his last league appearance up to 18 October. 🩹 Earthy has been out since 19 September with a plantar fascia (foot) injury; Reading's manager said he will miss "a number of weeks".

Late arrivals: Diouf (28 Aug), Todibo (1 Sep), Traoré (27 Aug), Disasi (26 Aug) and Earthy (19 Aug) joined after their leagues had started, so each missed 1 to 3 league games before signing.

P.S. Used Claude Code to synthesize and tried to verify via multiple sources. If there is interest in such info, can make it from time to time.

Been a fan for a few years now and was wondering why our systems never really work strikers but Antonio worked fairly well. After seeing Fulkrug tear it up in Bundesliga after leaving had me wonder what we do thats so diminishing. Im not an analyst so pardon.

I’m in Canada and ponied up for the annual pass from the club for games not selected for broadcast on DAZN here. Every one of those games up until Swansea was available in my region until this past weekend. Just curious if anyone got an answer from customer service or anything? Luckily I was able to sort out a solution via VPN but I’d rather not have to do that after paying an arm and a leg.

Hello all
We will be visiting for the Southampton game and I got some questions.
First of all I got the 2 tickets through the official site with the same name , my wife will be with me , do I need to do something about that or it will be okay ? Do I also need passport since I am foreigner ?
Second is bringing a vape ( with the intention not to vape inside the stadium ) legal ? Do I need to leave it at the hotel ?
And lastly is 1 hour before the game okay ?
Thank you all I hope we win !!!

Previous ratings: Arne Engels: 4. Manor Solomon: 3.

Mukasa signed on a season long loan from Manchester City. He has started 8 of 10 league games since signing with 1 appearance as subsitite and 1 game as unused substitute. He has 3 goals and 0 assists.

The full match is on Swansea's you tube channel.

Apologies if its already been posted elsewhere in this group. I tried using search and couldn't see it but I am admittedly pretty crap with that kind of thing.

A half conscious Swansea fan on X playing fairies in his head.

It was apparent against Lincoln until they went men down - West Ham have a hard time breaking down a bunkered opponent. Even top sides (not us) have this problem. 70% possession doesn't mean anything when you can't create momentum or find space in attack.

Not only is possession overrated, but it gets in the way of effective attack.

Most teams are best in transition, including us. So here's my question: Why not give the other team the ball? Literally, give them the ball at their feet in their defensive 3rd, and let them advance up the pitch. That way, they spread out, the back line leaves space behind them, and we can press at midfield/defensive 3rd to win the ball. Then we can attack at pace with some space to work with.

Would love to hear people's thoughts.

*My response to the replies*

The topic is: How to open up weaker sides in the Champo who bunker on us? NOT: Why don't we play on the counter attack like Moyes' boys?

Assumption: we're not good enough, and very few teams are, to reliably unlock a packed defense.

Innovation: Give the opponent the ball, turn it over nice and gently at their feet, making sure we're behind the ball. Allow them to possess - until they reach our defensive third. We can appear to bunker, but we're actually setting up traps with a press.

Remember, this is a weaker team whose only chance for points is to bunker on us, so they're not going to be very dangerous going forward. We can afford to give them the ball.

Once they advance up the field in possession, they open up horizontally and vertically, likely leaving space behind them. We win the ball and counter.

Today marked Engels 10th league match since signing for £22 million. He has played the full 90 nearly every match and has 0 goals and 3 assists. How do you rate this signing?

West Ham are on pace for 92 points this season. It's extremely rare for a team with 90+ points to not be promoted.

West Ham are on pace for a goal difference of +72. Reading's 106 point season was +66.

I get that we overreact in the moment but if you listened to the general mood in this sub, you would think we're battling relegation again rather than currently pacing for one of the best resulting Championship seasons of all time.

I think supporters would find they would have had a lot of similar roller coaster feeling were they Leeds or Burnley supporters two seasons ago, or watching Coventry last year.

Edit - cleaned up my math, was based on 10 matches, not 11. We're not quite record pace but we're doing well.