‘It’s fatal’: Brady claims West Ham are losing £2m per game

Will Ford

Karren Brady claims West Ham are losing £2million a match while spectators are banned from attending amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Fans have not been allowed to watch games inside stadia in England since football returned in June, leaving many clubs in serious financial strife.


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And the Hammers’ vice-chair insists the situation is “fatal” for Premier League clubs as well as the wider football pyramid.

“It’s fatal for everybody. West Ham is losing £2million a match in lost ticket revenue and corporate revenue. Some clubs are losing as much as £10million a match,” Brady told the BBC.

“You talk about the pyramid of football but there is also a pyramid within the Premier League. Right at the top you have clubs owned by sovereign states and right at the bottom you have those who are not.

“Everyone is suffering but just like smaller businesses, whether football or non-football, they don’t have many cash reserves and that is what is happening to the smaller football clubs.”

Brady said she was frustrated because outdoor stadiums are closed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus but matches were being screened at cinemas, adding that the “atmosphere is suffering” without fans in attendance.

“We couldn’t have our supporters in which is literally why football exists but you could watch a game at the cinema, the O2 was open, the Royal Albert Hall was open, the London Palladium was open but open-air Covid-free stadiums aren’t,” she added.

According to sources, Prime Minister Boris Johnson privately indicated to MPs on Monday that re-opening turnstiles as soon as possible was “a personal priority”.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is working on allowing fans into stadia in areas where rates of infections are deemed sufficiently low – possibly before Christmas.

On Tuesday, the government said it had held “constructive” talks with football leaders on the return of fans.

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